Joshua 2:1

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men,.... Or "had sent" (p); for this was done before the above order to depart: it is a tradition of the Jews (q), that they were Caleb and Phinehas;

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

JOSHUA CHAPTER 2 Joshua sends two spies to Jericho; they are sought after; Rahab hides them; deceives the messengers, . She acknowledges that God had given them the land; her reasons, . The covenant between her and them, . Their return and relation, . Sent; or, had sent, as that tense is oft used. See Poole "". Shittim; called also Abel-shittim, . Two men; not twelve, as Moses did, partly because the people of Canaan were now more alarmed than in Moses’ s time, and more suspicious of all strangers; and partly because those were to view the whole land, these but a small parcel of it. To spy, i.e. to learn the state of the land and people, and what way and method they should proceed in. It is evident enough that Joshmi did not this out of distrust, as the people did, Deuteronomy 1; and it is most probable he had God’ s command and direction in it, for the encouragement of himself and his army in their present enterprise. Secretly; with reference not to his enemies, which being the constant and necessary practice of all spies, was needless to be mentioned; but to the Israelites, without their knowledge or desire. And this seems added by way of opposition unto the like action, Deuteronomy 1, where it was done with the people’ s privity, and upon their motion; and therefore an account was given, not only to Moses, but also to the congregation; whereas here it was given to Joshua only, , which was a good caution to prevent the inconveniency which possibly might have arisen, if their report had been doubtful or discouraging. The land, even Jericho, i.e. the land about Jericho, together with the city. Heb. the land and Jericho, i.e. especially Jericho. So and is used . They obeyed Joshua’ s command, even with the hazard of their own lives, considering that they were under the protection of Divine Providence, which could very easily many ways secure them; or being willing to sacrifice their lives in their country’ s service. An harlot’ s house; so the Hebrew word is used, 16:1 and so it is rendered by two apostles, ; such she either now was, or formerly had been; and such a person’ s house they might come to with less observation than to an hostess, as some render it, or to a public victualling-house. And such a course of life was very common among the Gentiles, who esteemed fornication to be either no sin, or a very small and trivial one. Lodged there, or, lay down, as the same word, is rendered, , intended and composed themselves to rest; but they were disturbed and hindered from their intentions upon the following discovery.

Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’ s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.Ver. 1. And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim.] Where the people then encamped, and where the Midianites sometime, by the counsel of Balaam, Satan’ s spell man, outwitted the Israelites by setting fair women before them, who soon drew them into those two sister sins, idolatry and adultery. Two men.] Not twelve, as Numbers 13:2-3, for those were too many by ten; and did much harm among the people. To spy secretly.] Heb., Silently. Silence is oft no small virtue; and he is a rare man who can both keep and give counsel. Go view the land.] Of which though God had promised to possess them, yet Joshua knew that means was to be used. So 2 Samuel 5:24. David had a promise of victory over the Philistines; but yet so as that he must fetch a compass behind them; and when he heard "the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberries," then he was to bestir himself. Into a harlot’ s house.] Or, Hostess, as some render it; but such as stuck not familiarly to entertain strangers. Upon her conversion she was advanced to become grandmother to Jesus Christ; who by his purity washeth off all our spots; like as the sun washeth and wipeth away all the ill vapours of the earth and air.

(1) There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were.—A falsehood which evidently left no stain on Rahab’s conscience, although all falsehood is sin. The same may be said of Jael’s slaying Sisera. The Divine standard of sin and holiness never varies; but the standard of man’s conscience, even when faith is a dominant principle in the character, may vary to a very considerable degree. In Jesus Christ “all that believe are justified from all things;” but “by the deeds of the law no one. Here, as elsewhere, the application of the law only brings the discovery of sin.

CHAPTER II Joshua sends out two spies to examine the state of the inhabitants of the land, particularly those of Jericho, who are entertained at the house of Rahab, 1. The king of Jericho is informed of their being in the town, and sends to Rahab, commanding her to deliver them up, 2, 3. She hides the spies, and tells the messengers that the men were departed and gone towards the mountain, 4, 5. When the officers of the king of Jericho were departed, she took the spies to the house-top, and covered them with flax, 6, 7. She relates to them that the fear of the Israelites had fallen on all the inhabitants of the country on hearing of their victories over the Amorites; that she knew none could resist the God of Israel, and therefore desired them to give her an oath that, when they took Jericho, they would preserve the lives of her and her family, 8-13. The spies swear to her, 14. She lets them down by a cord from the house-top, and gives them directions how to proceed, in order to avoid the pursuers, 15, 16. She is to tie a scarlet line to the window, through which she had let them down, which should be the sign to the Israelites to spare that house and its inhabitants, 17-19. Having bound her to secresy, they depart, 20, 21. After three days' stay in the mountain, they return to Joshua, and make a favourable report, 22-24. NOTES ON CHAP. II Verse 1. Joshua - sent - two men to spy secretly] It is very likely that these spies had been sent out soon after the death of Moses, and therefore our marginal reading, had sent, is to be preferred. Secretly - It is very probable also that these were confidential persons, and that the transaction was between them and him alone. As they were to pass over the Jordan opposite to Jericho, it was necessary that they should have possession of this city, that in case of any reverses they might have no enemies in their rear. He sent the men, therefore, to see the state of the city, avenues of approach, fortifications, c., that he might the better concert his mode of attack. A harlot's house] Harlots and inn-keepers seem to have been called by the same name, as no doubt many who followed this mode of life, from their exposed situation, were not the most correct in their morals. Among the ancients women generally kept houses of entertainment, and among the Egyptians and Greeks this was common. I shall subjoin a few proofs. HERODOTUS, speaking concerning the many differences between Egypt and other countries, and the peculiarity of their laws and customs, expressly says: Εντοισιαἱμενγυναικεςαγοραζουσικαικαπηλευουσι·οἱδεανδρες, κατ' οικουςεοντες, ὑφαινουσι. "Among the Egyptians the women carry on all commercial concerns, and keep taverns, while the men continue at home and weave." Herod. in Euterp., c. xxxv. DIODORUS SICULUS, lib. i., s. 8, and c.

Ch. Joshua 2:1-7. The Mission of the Spies to Jericho 1. sent out] Or, had sent. Comp. ch. Joshua 1:11, Joshua 3:2. This was probably on the same day that Joshua received the Divine command to cross the Jordan. out of Shittim] Comp. Numbers 33:49; Numbers 25:1; Joshua 3:1; Micah 6:5. The full name of the place is given in the first of these passages, “Abel Shittim” = “the Meadow” or “Moist Place of the Acacias.” It was in the “Arabah” or Jordan valley opposite Jericho, at the outlet of the Wâdy Heshbon, about 60 stadia = 3 hours from the place of crossing the river. “We were in the plain of Shittim, and on climbing a little eminence near, we could see the rich wilderness of garden, extending in unbroken verdure right into the corner at the north-east end of the Dead Sea, under the angle formed by the projection of the mountains of Moab, where the Wady Suiweimeh enters the lake. It is now called the Ghor es Seisaban.… Among the tangled wilderness, chiefly near its western edge, still grow many of the acacia trees, ‘Shittim’ (Acacia sayal), from which the district derived its appropriate name of Abel ha-Shittim, ‘the meadow or moist place of the acacias;’ ” Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 524. two men] “Young men” according to the LXX. and ch. Joshua 6:23. Brave, doubtless, and prudent, such as Joshua, who had himself been one of the twelve spies (Numbers 13:16), would be likely to select, knowing, as he knew, all the dangers to which they would be exposed. Jericho] “The first stage of Joshua’s conquest was the occupation of the vast trench, so to speak, which parted the Israelites from the mass of the Promised Land,” and which was dominated by the city of Jericho, a place of great antiquity and importance. It derived its name, = “the City of Palm Trees,” from a vast grove of noble palm-trees, nearly three miles broad, and eight miles long, which must have recalled to the few survivors of the old generation of the Israelites the magnificent palm-groves of Egypt. The capture of Jericho was essential for two reasons: (a) Standing at the entrance of the main passes from the valley into the interior of Palestine,—the one branching off S. W. towards Olivet, and commanding the approach to Jerusalem, the other, to the N. E., towards Michmash, which defends the approach to Ai and Bethel—it was the key of the country to any invader coming as Joshua did from the East. (b) It was for that age a strongly walled town and “enjoyed the benefit of one, if not two, of those copious streams which form the chief sources of such fertility as the valley of the Jordan contains.” Its reduction, therefore, must have been the first object of the operations of Joshua on entering the land of Canaan. See Stanley’s Sinai and Palestine, p. 305. “The strategy displayed by the Israelites under Joshua—considering it only as an ordinary historical event—is worth notice.

An harlot’s house - In the face of the parallel passages (e. g. Leviticus 21:7 : Jeremiah 5:7) the rendering advocated for obvious reasons, namely, “the house of a woman, an innkeeper,” cannot be maintained.

1. Sent out — Some render had sent, as in the margin, and suppose that the spies had been sent out some days before the events of the last chapter.