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Joshua 2:1

in Joshua 2

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Joshua 2

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18 (Ps 86) · Written before 420.

on Joshua 2:1-2

Rahab; what is the force of her name? We have been following the historical sense; let us now reflect upon the anagogic significance of the name. Rahab thus admits of two interpretations: the name may imply either a "broad space" or, better, "pride." Consider, therefore, its impact. She who formerly walked the broad, spacious road to death, she whose pride was driving her to destruction, was later converted unto humility.

This site's exposition

Shittim two men to spy

Shittim is the camp of Numbers 25:1, where Israel committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and it is the last stop before the river. Joshua sends two men and sends them secretly, where Moses sent twelve openly at Numbers 13:2, a man from every tribe. The word the King James renders harlot is the ordinary Hebrew word for a prostitute, and Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 both keep it when they name her. Adam Clarke argues she kept a house of entertainment and Albert Barnes answers that Leviticus 21:7 and Jeremiah 5:7 will not allow that rendering, and Joshua uses the same word of her again at 6:17 and 6:25.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Jericho - That is, the land about Jericho, together with the city. The land and Jericho, that is, especially Jericho. Harlot's - So the Hebrew word is used, Judg. xi, 1, and so it is rendered by two apostles, Heb. xi, 31 James ii, 25, such she either now was, or rather, had been formerly.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
An harlot’s house - In the face of the parallel passages (e. g. Lev 21:7: Jer 5:7) the rendering advocated for obvious reasons, namely, “the house of a woman, an innkeeper,” cannot be maintained. Rahab must remain an example under the Law similar to that Luk 7:37 under the Gospel, of “a woman that was a sinner,” yet, because of her faith, not only pardoned, but exalted to the highest honor.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ־Joshua

    yehoshua'-H3091 →218 times

  • בִּן־[the] son of

    bin-H1121 →4930 times

  • נ֠וּןNun

    nunH5126 →30 times

  • מִֽן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַשִּׁטִּ֞ים<the> Shittim

    hashitimH7851 →

  • שְׁנַֽיִם־two

    shenayim-H8147 →768 times

  • אֲנָשִׁ֤יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • מְרַגְּלִים֙spies

    meragelimH7270 →25 times

  • חֶ֣רֶשׁsecretly

    chereshH2791 →

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • לְכ֛וּgo

    lekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • רְא֥וּsee

    reuH7200 →1300 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָאָ֖רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • יְרִיח֑וֹJericho

    yerichoH3405 →57 times

  • וַיֵּ֨לְכ֜וּand they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • וַ֠יָּבֹאוּand they went

    vaiyavouH935 →2568 times

  • בֵּית־[the] house of

    beit-H1004 →2046 times

  • אִשָּׁ֥הa woman

    ʾishahH802 →781 times

  • זוֹנָ֛הa prostitute

    zonahH2181 →94 times

  • וּשְׁמָ֥הּand name her

    ushemahH8034 →864 times

  • רָחָ֖ב[was] Rahab

    rachavH7343 →5 times

  • וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ־and they lay down

    vaiyishkevu-H7901 →

  • שָֽׁמָּה׃there <towards>

    shamahH8033 →834 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Hebrews 11:31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.14 worksJames 2:25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?9 worksMatthew 1:5Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,5 worksNumbers 25:1While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,5 worksJoshua 3:1Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.5 worksJudges 18:2So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Luke 19:1Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.4 worksNumbers 13:17–21When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.3 worksMatthew 10:16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.2 worksEphesians 5:5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.2 worksNumbers 13:2“Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.”2 worksJoshua 6:17Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.2 worksJoshua 7:2Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.2 worksNumbers 33:49And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.2 works1 Samuel 26:4David sent out spies to verify that Saul had arrived.2 worksJudges 1:23They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),2 worksJoshua 18:12On the north side their border began at the Jordan, went up past the northern slope of Jericho, headed west through the hill country, and came out at the wilderness of Beth-aven.2 worksJoshua 18:21These were the cities of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin:2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    James 2:25

    In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:31

      By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 6:22–25

      Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 2:19–21

      If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with…

    • Joshua 2:15

      Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city.

    • Joshua 2:4

      But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

  • Through

    Hebrews 11:31

    By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

    it leads to

    • James 2:25

      In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Matthew 1:5

    Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

    it leads to

    • Ruth 1:16–17

      But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be…

    • Ruth 1:4

      who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years,

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 2 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18 (Ps 86) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

Read on in Joshua 2 →