Joshua 2:16
in Joshua 2“Go to the hill country,” she said, “so that your pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there for three days until they have returned; then go on your way.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
KJV
And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
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This verse in Joshua 2
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThe mountain - That is, to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed, in which also there were many caves where they might lurk. Three days - Not three whole days, but one whole day, and part of two days.
This site's exposition
house was upon the town
on Joshua 2:15-16
The window opens on open country because the back wall of the house is the town wall, and Albert Barnes sets Paul's escape at 2 Corinthians 11:33 beside it, let down by the wall in a basket. A house built into the wall is what readers weigh against Joshua 6:20, where the wall falls down flat, since 6:22-23 has the spies fetching her out of a house still standing; some writers hold that her stretch of wall was left and others that the collapse was not uniform, and the text offers no explanation of its own. Then she tells them which way to run and how long to lie still, which is local knowledge two strangers did not have.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Until the pursuers return. 16 How could she possibly have known that the pursuers would be coming back after three days? She must have had Divine inspiration to know they would return after three days.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Then she lowered them down with the rope. With the same rope and through the same window her admirers would use to come up to her. She said: “Master of the World with these I have sinned, with these forgive me.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֤אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָהֶם֙ | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| הָהָ֣רָה | haharah | the hill country towards | H2022 → | 546 times |
| לֵּ֔כוּ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| פֶּֽן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יִפְגְּע֥וּ | yifgeu | they should meet | H6293 → | 46 times |
| בָכֶ֖ם | vakhem | <in> <the> you | ||
| הָרֹדְפִ֑ים | harodefim | the pursuers | H7291 → | 143 times |
| וְנַחְבֵּתֶ֨ם | venachbetem | and you will hide yourselves | H2247 → | |
| שָׁ֜מָּה | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
| שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת | sheloshet | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| יָמִ֗ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עַ֚ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| שׁ֣וֹב | shov | return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הָרֹֽדְפִ֔ים | harodefim | the pursuers | H7291 → | 143 times |
| וְאַחַ֖ר | veachar | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| תֵּלְכ֥וּ | telekhu | you will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְדַרְכְּכֶֽם׃ | ledarkekhem | to way your | H1870 → | 707 times |
וַתֹּ֤אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
לָהֶם֙to <the> them
lahem
הָהָ֣רָהthe hill country towards
haharahH2022 →546 times
לֵּ֔כוּgo
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
פֶּֽן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יִפְגְּע֥וּthey should meet
yifgeuH6293 →46 times
בָכֶ֖ם<in> <the> you
vakhem
הָרֹדְפִ֑יםthe pursuers
harodefimH7291 →143 times
וְנַחְבֵּתֶ֨םand you will hide yourselves
venachbetemH2247 →
שָׁ֜מָּהthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁתthree
sheloshetH7969 →432 times
יָמִ֗יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
עַ֚דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
שׁ֣וֹבreturn
shovH7725 →1056 times
הָרֹֽדְפִ֔יםthe pursuers
harodefimH7291 →143 times
וְאַחַ֖רand after
veacharH310 →715 times
תֵּלְכ֥וּyou will go
telekhuH1980 →1546 times
לְדַרְכְּכֶֽם׃to way your
ledarkekhemH1870 →707 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 2:25In 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?
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.
- 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…
- 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.
- Hebrews 11:31
Through
Psalms 11:1In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
it leads to
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Isaiah 26:3–4
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- 1 Samuel 23:14
And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- Psalms 25:2
in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
- Psalms 56:11
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.