CHAPTER 2
1. So Y’hoshua the son of Nun [began by] quietly sending two men on foot from the Acacias, saying, “Go, observe the Land [by way of] Y’rikho.” So they went and entered the house of a woman—a prostitute—and her name was Rahav. And they lodged there.
He is acting on what he saw Moshe do, but also learning from the mistakes made while Moshe was leader. Even the people had told him to be strong and courageous (1:18), but still he had learned his lesson. He sent only two, because only two of the twelve sent 38 years earlier (of which Y’hoshua himself was one) had given a favorable report, after there had been much publicity among the nation about their mission, causing mass hysteria when the other 10 gave their opinion. He sent them quietly (or secretly) rather than publicly, not so much so that the enemies would not be as alert to their approach, as that Israel would not begin to fear because they thought Y’hoshua needed extra reassurance about the condition of the Land. These were his spies, not the people’s. They reported directly to him. He undoubtedly chose men whom he trusted—possibly Kalev’s sons—and who were not inclined to panic. This was a reconnaissance mission in order to know the best means to defeat the city, not to decide whether or not to do so. Why did they go by way of Y’rikho? It was already a very ancient city and very influential—an excellent place to gather intelligence about what the people of the Land trusted in and what they feared. If they knew these two things, they could conquer the people. It is an oasis town about four miles west of the Yarden River, and less than two miles east of the edge of the Great Rift Valley. Rahav means “broad”, hence the colloquial term for a prostitute, related also to the type of wall in which she had her home, termed a Broad Wall. Lay down: often a euphemism for sexual relations. (Gen. 39:11, Ex. 22:16, et al) Because prostitution often took place in the context of pagan religious worship, this would help answer their first question. As in virtually every spy’s autobiography, this is also probably the best place to hear the gossip that would help them gauge the city’s readiness for war. This is where all secrets spill out—and maybe why they are called “under cover agents”! Since pagan temples were often placed near the city gate since the deity was thought to protect the city, she would be in a place where everyone passed through, and information would be readily available here. In any case, it turned out to be an appointment from YHWH.
2. And the king of Y’rikho was told, “Look here! Men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the Land!”
Undoubtedly many of the peoples in this region had been watching this spectacle of a several-million strong war camp surrounding the Tabernacle from their hilltop watch-posts. They would be paranoid and watching for anyone out of the ordinary, and even the smallest clue that Israelites were in the city would be noticed. Did the prostitutes in Rahav’s house notice their circumcision?
3. So the king of Y’rikho sent [word] to Rahav to say, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house! They have come to search out the whole Land!”
4. Now the woman had taken the two men and hidden them away. And she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had originated from.
5. “When the gate began to be shut at dark, the men went out. I don’t know where the men have gone. Quickly, chase after them, because you can catch up with them!”
If the FBI got word that you had a terrorist in your home, they would not ask you to bring them in; they would break down your door in a surprise “visit”. But this king did not send a sheriff or soldiers to storm the house—only a request to release the men. Rahav must have had some clout in this city—probably because she was a part of the religious establishment, and someone with whom the king himself had interacted often, for him to trust her to produce the men. Her lie goes against modern morals, but Yaaqov (James 2:25) commends her for both her faith and the works that evidenced it. A pagan, lying prostitute was found worthy to be an ancestress of both King David and the Messiah! (Mat. 1:5) This may be one reason Yahshua saw more potential in prostitutes than most others did. Habitual liars will not inherit the Kingdom, because truthfulness is a characteristic of Israel, but one who lies in season—when innocent lives are at stake (especially Israelite lives, as in the Holocaust)—is not a liar. She was not bearing false witness in court against her neighbors, and even the Renewed Covenant only commands us not to lie to one another—that is, among fellow Israelites (Colossians 3:9, nearly an exact quote of Lev. 19:11).
6. (Now she had had them go up on the roof, and had concealed them with flax—the stalks that were arranged in order for herself on the roof.)
Flax is used to spin thread to make linen. Stalks: Aramaic, loads, as if they had been delivered in bundles. The Hebrew term actually means “trees”, and it may be a reference to bolts of linen. A house of prostitution would be expected to need a constant supply of clean sheets. Or she may have had another business on the side.
7. So the men chased after them in the direction of the Yarden around the fords, and they shut the gate afterwards, when the pursuers hade gone out after them.
8. Now [as for] them: before they lay down, she had come up to them on the roof,
9. and she had said to the men, “I have recognized that YHWH has given you the Land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the Land have gone soft because of your presence
YHWH’s fame had preceded them. It is clear that Israel was using His actual name and not a substitute when the Kanaanite spies overheard them speaking about Him! Gone soft: fainted or dissolved. They “had no fight left in them”. They recognized that they were beaten before Israel even lifted a finger. The easiest enemy in the world to defeat is a worried, fearful one, for it is as if they have already started draining their own blood before the battle. This fear on the part of our enemies brought joy to the spies’ hearts.
10. “because we have heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Reed Sea from in front of you as you were leaving Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Emorites who [were] across the Yarden—to Sikhon and to Og—how you devoted them to destruction.
11. “When we heard, our courage melted away, and spirit has not risen up again in [any] man because of your presence, because YHWH your Elohim—He is Elohim in the heavens above and the earth below!
When Israel is gathered in YHWH’s presence, it is obvious to everyone else that they cannot stand against it. We must be thankful to Moshe for persuading YHWH to let Israel remain, and for foreseeing that His care for Israel could make its enemies so fearful.
12. “So now, please swear to me by YHWH that, since I have acted mercifully toward you, you will deal mercifully with my father’s household, and give me a token of reliability,
13. “and let my father and my mother, my brothers and my sisters live, along with all that is theirs, and that you will cause our souls to be recovered from death!”
14. So the men told her, “Our soul in exchange for yours, to death! If you do not report this matter of ours, then it will be [the case that] when YHWH gives us the Land, we will deal with you in mercy and truthfulness.”
If YHWH had already said that everyone in Kanaan was to be put under the ban (dedicated to destruction), how could they agree to let her remain alive in the Land? The only way she could be spared was if she became part of Israel. What did Yaaqov (James) mean when he said Rahav was justified by her works? When she said, “I see that YHWH is the Maker of heavens and earth and He is the one I need to spare me,” she had made a covenant to become part of Israel. She already believed that He was Elohim, but she still had to do something to be “saved”—which for her was a very tangible, physical thing (to be rescued from the Israelite army). It was not about living forever; it was about living tomorrow! What she did not do was to go out on the streets and tell everyone in Y’rikho that YHWH is the Creator, trying to convert the Kanaanites. Nor did she try to make Y’rikho the “new Israel” and say that they would now receive all the promises—as some people have done. She did not try to rewrite the Torah or move the promises of YHWH. (No one can co-opt them; the prophets say that even in the latter days, it is Israel that will be raised back up, not a cheap substitute.) Instead, Rahav recognized that there was already a people of promise who worshipped YHWH, and decided that she wanted to become a part of that. Anyone can become part of the covenant if they, as she did, commit to taking care of those who take care of her—in short, to loving her neighbor as herself. At her convcersion, there was no ceremony. No blood was drawn (though her father was probably later circumcised). There was no long process of indoctrination after which she would be considered a candidate. It was much simpler—but not easy, because now the one named “broad” had to become very narrow in what she allowed herself to say. She could not openbly sing, “Salvation has come!” She had to turn her back on all those she had grown up with, and look toward her new family. What justified her was that she protected other Israelites. Like many who helped during the Holocaust, she was considered a righteous Gentile, and in a very real way part of Israel’s own.
15. Then she let them down with a rope through the window, because her house was in the dug-out part of the wall; that is, she lived on the wall.
16. And she told them, “Go onto the mountain [range] to avoid having the pursuers meet up with you, and stay hidden there three days until the pursuers return; then you can go your way.”
The mountain [range]: scarcely two miles west of Y’rikho is the front range of the plateau from which the Great Rift Valley split off and sank during the S’dom and Ghamorah catastrophe. At this point it is relatively easy to ascend, and is in the opposite direction from the fords to which she sent the pursuers. It would be easy to look down from the mountain and see the search party return to Y’rikho, their cue that it was safe to come out of hiding.
17. And the men told her, “We will be exempt from [obligation to] this oath of yours which you have had us swear.
18. “Look! We are coming into the Land! You must tie this collection of scarlet thread into the window by which you let us down, and gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of your father’s household to yourself in the house,
There has to be a sign of redemption on her house, red like the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts in Egypt. Collection: tiqvah, the same as the word for “hope” in Hebrew, and the name of Israel’s national anthem. In Hebrew, “hope” does not mean a mere wish, which would be nice if it were true, but whose outcome is in doubt; rather, it means a confident expectation of attainment. As a three-fold cord is not easily broken (Qoheleth/Eccles.4:12), our hope is made up of many threads bound together. It was not a tiny individual thread, but a strong rope that one could expect to hold a ship to its moorings in a storm; it had to be something Israel could see when they arrived at the city. Our hope for the salvation of the nation is not only in Yeshua and YHWH, but also in one another. There have to be enough of us bound together to be noticeable, or YHWH may be released from the oath He made to us. There is a story about Yehudah, the ancestor of the tribe she joined, which has many of the same components—a harlot, a righteous act, an oath, mercy that allowed her to live, a cord that identified the owner’s house, and a scarlet thread that identified a brother. (Gen. 38:24ff) From this family came the line of David. (Ruth 4)
19. “and if anyone should go abroad outside the doors of your house, his blood is on his own head, and we [will be held] innocent, but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand comes upon him.
The spies took responsibility to ensure that no one else in Israel would kill those in this house. But as on the night of the Passover, they had to remain in the house that was now attached to Israel (a parallel with our return to being part of the House of Israel), not out on their own. If they went back to being part of the people of Kanaan, they would be killed along with them.
20. “But if you report this matter of ours, then we will be exempt from the oath that you have made us swear.”
21. And she said, “According to your words, so it [will be].” And she sent them off, and they left, and she tied the collection of scarlet in the window.
22. So they went, and arrived at the mountain-range and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched along the whole way, but had not found them.
23. So both of the men turned back and came down from the mountain-range, and crossed over and came to Y’hoshua the son of Nun and recounted to Y’hoshua the son of Nun everything that had befallen them.
24. And they told Y’hoshua, “…because YHWH has given the whole Land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the Land have even gone soft because of our presence!”
The whole land: based on what the king ‘s messengers told Rahav, they deduced that the rest of the Kanaanites were just as fearful as those who inhabited Y’rikho. They began to repair the error of the previous generation by giving a unanimously-favorable report. Their expectation of living in the Land was not a cord frayed by the careless words of fear spoken by the faint-hearted, but a strong cord in the window that welcomes the family home. If you are bound instead to strangers or any covering that is not part of the Torah, untie the knot and be attached to the house that expects victory.
Commentary on
Y'hoshua 2
The Lifeline
of Hope
