Joshua 2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:1

Joshua - sent - two men to spy secretly - It is very likely that these spies had been sent out soon after the death of Moses, and therefore our marginal reading, had sent, is to be preferred. Secretly - It is very probable also that these were confidential persons, and that the transaction was between them and him alone. As they were to pass over the Jordan opposite to Jericho, it was necessary that they should have possession of this city, that in case of any reverses they might... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:3

The 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. A guest or a friend is sacred in whatever house he may be... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:4

And hid them - Probably she secreted them for the time being in some private corner, till she had the opportunity of concealing them on the house-top in the manner mentioned Joshua 2:6 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:5

When it was dark - So it appears that it was after night that the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, ordering her to produce the persons who lodged with her. The season itself was friendly to the whole plot: had these transactions taken place in daylight, it is scarcely possible that the spies could have escaped. But this is no excuse for the woman's prevarication, for God could have saved his messengers independently of her falsity. God never says to any, Do evil that good may come of it.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:6

Hid then with the stalks of flax - It is a matter of little consequence whether we translate העיץ פסתי pistey haets stalks of flax, or stalks of hemp: the word עץ ets , which signifies wood, serves to show that whether it was hemp or flax, it was in its rough, unmanufactured state; and as this was about the season, viz., the end of March or the beginning of April, in which the flax is ripe in that country, consequently Rahab's flax might have been recently pulled, and was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:9

I know that the Lord hath given you the land - It is likely she had this only from conjecture, having heard of their successes against the Amorites, their prodigious numbers, and seeing the state of terror and dismay to which the inhabitants of her own land were reduced. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:11

He is God in heaven above , and to earth beneath - This confession of the true God is amazingly full, and argues considerable light and information. As if she had said, "I know your God to be omnipotent and omnipresent:" and in consequence of this faith she hid the spies, and risked her own life in doing it. But how had she this clear knowledge of the Divine nature? Possibly the knowledge of the true God was general in the earth at this time, though connected with much... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:12

Swear unto me by the Lord - This is a farther proof that this woman had received considerable instruction in the Jewish faith; she acknowledged the true God by his essential character Jehovah; and knew that an oath in his name was the deepest and most solemn obligation under which a Jew could possibly come. Does not this also refer to the command of God, Thou shalt fear the Lord, and shalt swear by his name? See the note on Deuteronomy 6:13 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:13

Deliver our lives from death - She had learned, either from the spies or otherwise, that all the inhabitants of the land were doomed to destruction, and therefore she obliges them to enter into a covenant with her for the preservation of herself and her household. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:14

Our life for yours - "May our life be destroyed if we suffer yours to be injured!" This is what was anciently called in our country pledging - staking, a man's life for that of his neighbor or friend. read more

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