Joshua 1

Chap. II. ver. 1. And Joshua — sent out of Shittim] Rather, had sent, before the directions given to the officers, as mentioned in the last chapter. This best agrees with ver. 22 of this chapter, and with the rest of the narrative. Shittim was in the plains of Moab, where the Israelites now lay encamped, and where they had remained about two months, ever since the conquest of Sihon and Og. Bp. Patrick. — into an harlot’s house, named Rahab.] Rahab probably kept a publick house or inn, for the entertainment of strangers, by going into which the spies thought that they would be less suspected of any design. Bp. Patrick. She is called harlot either because persons who kept publick houses in those days often made their persons as common as their houses, or because Rahab had formerly been of this description, although she was now converted to better sentiments. Pyle. It cannot be denied, that in ancient times there was great affinity between the business of an hostess and a harlot; for this reason perhaps it is, that in the Hebrew tongue the same word denotes persons of both professions. For the same reason, the Septuagint, or Greek translators, have given Rahab the appellation of a harlot; and the two Apostles, St. Paul and St. James, (Heb. xi. 31, and Jam. ii. 25,) make use of the same expression, from this translation. It is to be observed however, that, as the expression is capable of another sense, the Chaldee paraphrast calls her by a word which signifies a woman who keeps a publick house, without any mark of infamy. Therefore, charity should incline us to think the best of a person, whom both these Apostles have ranked with Abraham, the father of the faithful, and propounded as an example of faith and good works. Rahab was afterwards married to Salmon, a prince of Judah; and king David descended from her: so that Jesus Christ did not disdain to reckon this Canaanitish woman among His ancestors. Stackhouse.

Joshua 1:4

4. — I wist not whence they were.] In judging of Rahab’s conduct on this occasion in telling an untruth, we should remember, that she had sufficient intimations of what God intended for His people Israel; and she expressed her faith in Him, by saying, “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” See ver. 11. She was deeply sensible, that the high even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and † lodged there.

Joshua 1:6

6. — to the roof of the house.] The houses in Eastern countries had flat roofs, so that men might walk or lie upon them. The stalks of flax were either newly cut and laid upon the roof of the house to be dried by the sun, till they were fit to be peeled; or they had been cut the year before, and were now made use of by Rahab to make the king’s officers think that nobody had gone upon the roof where the stalks were. Bp. Patrick. In the East, they still use the roofs of their houses for drying raisins, flowers, &c. Harmer.

Joshua 1:9

9. — I know that the Lord &c.] She here tells them the reasons for which she had ventured on an action so contrary to the common interests of her native country, and to the duties of a subject towards her prince; namely, that in reality she was a servant of the same one Almighty God with themselves: for that the plain and evident demonstrations of His power and justice in the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, &c. had fully convinced her that the same irresistible arm would undoubtedly give the whole country into the hands of His chosen people, as a punishment on the sins of these Canaanitish nat. ons. Pyle.

Joshua 1:11

11. — is God in heaven] This is a plain confession of the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth; wherein

He rules and governs all things according to His pleasure. This is her faith, celebrated by the Apostle to the Hebrews, which moved her to entertain the spies, and to preserve them with the danger of her own life, if she had been discovered. Bp. Patrick.

Joshua 1:14

14. — Our life for your’s.] They here pledge their lives for her’s (swearing to her, as appears from ver. 17,) and wish they might perish themselves if they performed not what she desired; provided, on the other hand, she and her kindred did not make known the business they came about, and the agreement they had made with her. Dr. Wells.

Joshua 1:15

15. — she dwelt upon the wall.] The meaning probably is, that the apartment she reserved to herself was next to the wall, and built upon it; the rest of her house towards the street being kept for strangers. This gave her the fair opportunity, without any noise, to let them down. Bp. Patrick.

Joshua 1:17

17. — We will be blameless] Meaning, that the fault should not be their’s, if this oath were not duly kept. Bp. Patrick.

Joshua 1:18

18. — scarlet thread] It is probable that this was something more than a mere thread or line, as it was distinguished from a distance when hung in a window,