Joshua 2:9-11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 2:8-21

The matter is here settled between Rahab and the spies respecting the service she was now to do for them, and the favour they were afterwards to show to her. She secures them on condition that they should secure her. I. She gives them, and by them sends to Joshua and Israel, all the encouragement that could be desired to make their intended descent upon Canaan. This was what they came for, and it was worth coming for. Having got clear of the officers, she comes up to them to the roof of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 2:9

And she said unto the men ,.... The two spies: I know that the Lord hath given you the land ; the land of Canaan, of which she was an inhabitant, and in which they now were; this she knew either by some tradition that was among them; or by divine revelation, a supernatural impulse upon her mind: or by observing what the Lord had done already, in putting the land of the Amorites into their hands, which were one of the seven nations of Canaan; and by this it also appears, and more clearly... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 2:10

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt ,.... To make a passage for them through it, to walk in as on dry land; this they had heard of and remembered, though it was forty years ago: and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan : which were things more recent, done but a few months ago: Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed ; the history of which see in Numbers 21:21 ; who were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 2:11

And as soon as we had heard these things , our hearts did melt ,.... Particularly what were done to the two kings of the Amorites, who, and their people, were utterly destroyed, their goods made a prey of, and their countries seized upon and possessed: neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you ; they looked dejected in their countenances, had no heart to go about any business, trembled at the shaking of a leaf, or at the least rumour and report made that the... 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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:10

Verse 10 10.For we have heard how, etc. She mentions, as the special cause of consternation, that the wide-spread rumor of miracles, hitherto without example, had impressed it on the minds of all that God was warring for the Israelites. For it was impossible to doubt that the way through the Red Sea had been miraculously opened up, as the water would never have changed its nature and become piled up in solid heaps, had not God, the author of nature, so ordered. The transmutation of the element,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 2:11

Verse 11 11.The Lord your God, he is God, etc. Here the image of Rahab’s faith appears, as if reflected in a mirror, when casting down all idols she ascribes the government of heaven and earth to the God of Israel alone. For it is perfectly clear that when heaven and earth are declared subject to the God of Israel, there is a repudiation of all the pagan fictions by which the majesty, and power, and glory of God are portioned out among different deities; and hence we see that it is not without... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 2:1-12

Rahab and the spies. Three points demand our attention in this narrative. First, the conduct of Joshua; secondly, of the spies; and thirdly, of Rahab. I. JOSHUA 'S CONDUCT . Here we may observe that— 1. He does not despise the use of means. He was under God's special protection. God had promised ( Joshua 1:5 ) that he would not fail him nor forsake him." He had seen miracles wrought in abundance, and was destined to receive other proofs of God's extraordinary presence with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 2:9

Hath given. Rahab's faith is shown by this expression. What God willed she regarded as already done. To speak of the future as of a past already fulfilled is the usual language of the Hebrew prophets. Faint, Literally, melt ; cf. Exodus 15:15 , Exodus 15:16 , which is thus shown to be not poetic license, but sober fact. For we may take the future in the passage just cited as a present, and translate, "All the inhabitants of Canaan melt away; fear and dread are falling upon them" (cf.... read more

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