Joshua 2

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 2:15-21

The spies gave their solemn promise to spare Rahab and her household but specified three conditions that Rahab had to meet.1. She had to make her home known to the Israelites when they attacked (Joshua 2:18).2. She had to assemble her family into her home before the battle (Joshua 2:18).3. She had to keep the mission of the spies a secret (Joshua 2:20; Joshua 2:14).The cord Rahab was to hang out of her window and over the town wall-her house stood on the wall (Joshua 2:15)-was scarlet in color... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 2:22-24

The "hill country" referred to (Joshua 2:22-23) was probably the mountainous area west of Jericho. This area contains many caves in the "deeply eroded and lonely chalk hills" and many "isolated canyons cut through the [1,500 feet high] limestone cliffs." [Note: James Monson, The Land Between, p. 163.] The spies evidently were absent from the Israelite camp a total of three days (Joshua 2:22; cf. Joshua 1:11; Joshua 3:2).One of the major emphases in this chapter is God’s faithfulness. When the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:1-24

The Two Spies at JerichoJoshua himself had been one of twelve sent by Moses on a similar errand, some thirty-eight years before (Numbers 13). The incident, natural in itself, acquires a special interest as bringing before us for the first time Rahab, the great-great-grandmother of David, and so human ancestress of our Saviour (Matthew 1:3-6, cp. Ruth 4:18-22). it affords incidentally a signal instance among Gentiles of belief in the power of the true God (Joshua 2:11.), which is rewarded... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:1

(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.... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:6

(6) The stalks of flax.—It is remarked that flax and barley are both early crops (Exodus 9:31), and that the first month (see Joshua 4:19) was the time of barley harvest. (Comp. 2 Samuel 21:9.) read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:9-11

(9-11) She said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land. . . .—The words of this confession are memorable in everyway. Note the fulfilment of the prophetic song of Moses, which is partly repeated here (Exodus 15:15-16, with Joshua 2:9-11), “All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away; fear and dread shall fall upon them.” But especially observe the expression of Rahab’s own belief, “Jehovah, your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath.” Did the faith of the men... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:13

(13) Save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters.—Whatever Rahab may have been herself, her acknowledgment of all her family is observable. She was in no way separated or degraded from their society. When we remember what Moses describes the Canaanites to have been (in certain passages of the Pentateuch, as Leviticus 18:24-28; Leviticus 20:22-23) and compare this chapter, we may reasonably conclude Rahab to have been morally not inferior to her countrymen as they were... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:15

(15) Her house was upon the town wall—Happily for the two spies. Perhaps, indeed, they selected it for this reason, as it enabled them to leave the town without passing the gate. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:16

(16) Get you to the mountain.—The mountains between Jerusalem and Jericho have often been a refuge for worse characters than Joshua’s two spies (Luke 10:30). read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:18

(18) The window which thou didst let us down by.—It seems almost needless to observe that the scarlet line and the cord by which the men were lowered are not the same thing, but described by different words in the original. It would have been preposterous to require Rahab to display in her window the means by which the spies had escaped. It would at once have declared the tale to all beholders—the very thing Rahab was pledged not to do. The “line of scarlet thread” and the “stalks of flax” on... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 2:15-21

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 2:22-24

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:1-24

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:6

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:9-11

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:13

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:15

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:16

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 2:18

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