Yosua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ¹  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ²  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ³ 

Yosua 2:14

2:14 The men said to her, “If you ⁴  die, may we die too! ⁵  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ⁶  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ⁷  to you.” ⁸ 

Yosua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ⁹  “The man who attempts to rebuild ¹⁰  this city of Jericho ¹¹  will stand condemned before the Lord. ¹²  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ¹³ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[2:14]  ⁴ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Our lives in return for you to die.” If the lives of Rahab’s family are not spared, then the spies will pay for the broken vow with their own lives.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

[6:26]  ⁹ tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

[6:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ¹¹ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ¹² tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

[6:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.