Joshua 2:17
in Joshua 2The men said to her, “We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
KJV
And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
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This verse in Joshua 2
Commentary
2 notes on this verseSaid - Or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them.
This site's exposition
We will be blameless of
on Joshua 2:17-19
The oath carries three conditions and the men state each one: the scarlet line hung in the window, every relative gathered inside the house, and silence about the errand. His blood shall be upon his head is a legal formula rather than a threat, the same words David uses at 2 Samuel 1:16, and it puts the account on the man who walks out. Safety lies inside a marked house and nowhere outside it, which is the shape of the night in Exodus 12:22, where none was to go out at the door of his house until the morning, and Origen and Matthew Henry both read the two passages together.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלֶ֖יהָ | ʾeleiha | to her | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאֲנָשִׁ֑ים | haanashim | the men | H582 → | 566 times |
| נְקִיִּ֣ם | nekiyim | [will be] free | H5355 → | 43 times |
| אֲנַ֔חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵ֥ךְ | mishevuatekh | from oath your | H7621 → | 30 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃ | hishba'tanu | you made swear us | H7650 → | 186 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֥וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵלֶ֖יהָto her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
הָאֲנָשִׁ֑יםthe men
haanashimH582 →566 times
נְקִיִּ֣ם[will be] free
nekiyimH5355 →43 times
אֲנַ֔חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵ֥ךְfrom oath your
mishevuatekhH7621 →30 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃you made swear us
hishba'tanuH7650 →186 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
Numbers 30:2If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:14
Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
- Psalms 116:14
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4–5
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- Job 22:27
You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
- Psalms 66:13–14
I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
- Psalms 50:14
Through
2 Samuel 21:7Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 20:15
and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
- 2 Samuel 4:4
And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up…
- 1 Samuel 23:18
So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.
- 1 Samuel 20:15
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.