Joshua 2:3
in Joshua 2So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, that are entered into thy house; for they are come to search out all the land.
KJV
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 2
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThe king of Jericho sent unto Rahab - This appears to be a proof of the preceding opinion: had she been a prostitute or a person of ill fame he could at once have sent officers to have seized the persons lodged with her as vagabonds; but if she kept a house of entertainment, the persons under her roof were sacred, according to the universal custom of the Asiatics, and could not be molested on any trifling grounds.
This site's exposition
there came men in hither
on Joshua 2:2-3
The report reaches the throne the same night the men arrive, and the king already knows they are of the children of Israel, so the city had been watching the river before anybody crossed it. Jericho has a king of its own, which is how Canaan is organised through this book, one king to a city, and Joshua 12:24 counts thirty-one of them at the end. The king sends word asking Rahab to bring the men out rather than sending officers to search the house, and Adam Clarke takes that as a sign her house was a public lodging where guests could not be seized on light grounds.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְרִיח֔וֹ | yericho | Jericho | H3405 → | 57 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רָחָ֖ב | rachav | Rahab | H7343 → | 5 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ה֠וֹצִיאִי | hotzii | bring out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הָאֲנָשִׁ֨ים | haanashim | the men | H582 → | 566 times |
| הַבָּאִ֤ים | habaim | who came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾelayikh | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֣אוּ | bau | they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לְבֵיתֵ֔ךְ | leveitekh | to house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַחְפֹּ֥ר | lachpor | to spy out | H2658 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בָּֽאוּ׃ | bau | they have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַח֙and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יְרִיח֔וֹJericho
yerichoH3405 →57 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רָחָ֖בRahab
rachavH7343 →5 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
ה֠וֹצִיאִיbring out
hotziiH3318 →1067 times
הָאֲנָשִׁ֨יםthe men
haanashimH582 →566 times
הַבָּאִ֤יםwho came
habaimH935 →2568 times
אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙to you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֣אוּthey came
bauH935 →2568 times
לְבֵיתֵ֔ךְto house your
leveitekhH1004 →2046 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לַחְפֹּ֥רto spy out
lachporH2658 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בָּֽאוּ׃they have come
bauH935 →2568 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
Job 21:30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- 2 Peter 2:9–17
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Proverbs 16:4
Through
Leviticus 24:14“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:7
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Leviticus 20:27
A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
- Deuteronomy 21:21
Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
- John 10:31–33
At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
- Deuteronomy 17:7
Through
2 Samuel 10:3the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his…
it leads to
- Genesis 42:9
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
- Genesis 42:9
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonConquestRahabThe harlot of Jericho who hid the spies, hung the scarlet cord in her window, and was saved with her house — a Canaanite grafted i…
- PlaceJordan valleyJerichoThe city of palms whose walls fell flat at the seventh trumpet-circuit; Rahab's city, later rebuilt under a curse, and the road do…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.
