Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 2:2

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country.

2. it was told the king ] Jericho was the residence of a “king” or “chief,” a fenced city, enclosed by walls of considerable breadth, and not only contained sheep and oxen, but abounded in “silver and gold,” and “vessels of brass and iron” (Jos 6:24).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

To-night; this evening, by comparing this with Jos 2:5.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

2, 3. it was told the kingbythe sentinels who at such a time of threatened invasion would beposted on the eastern frontier and whose duty required them to make astrict report to headquarters of the arrival of all strangers.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying,…. Who being alarmed at the near approach of the Israelites, and knowing their claim to the land of Canaan, and their design upon it, employed men to watch and observe what passed in the city, and parts adjacent, and inform him of it; or some persons of themselves, and for their own safety, and the good of their fellow citizens, gave notice to the king of it:

behold, there came men hither tonight of the children of Israel; who were known by their habit and language; or at least, being strangers, were suspected to be of that people, the terror of whom had fallen on all the inhabitants, so that every strange man they took for an Israelite; from hence it appears, that the spies came to Jericho at night, that they might not be observed: but with all their precaution they were taken notice of, and their design suspected, namely,

to search out the country; which were the proper places to attack first, and where there was the greatest probability of succeeding, as well as to find out the disposition of the inhabitants, whether fearful or fearless of them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

When the king of Jericho was informed of the fact that these strange men had entered the house of Rahab, and suspecting their reason for coming, summoned Rahab to give them up, she hid them (lit., hid him, i.e., each one of the spies: for this change from the plural to the singular see Ewald, 219), and said to the king’s messengers: , recte , “It is quite correct, the men came to me, but I do not know where they were from; and when in the darkness the gate was at the shutting (i.e., ought to be shut: for this construction, see Gen 15:12), they went out again, I know not whither. Pursue them quickly, you will certainly overtake them.” The writer then adds this explanation in Jos 2:6: she had hidden them upon the roof of her house among stalks of flax. The expression “ to – night ” (lit., the night) in Jos 2:2 is more precisely defined in Jos 2:5, viz., as night was coming on, before the town-gate was shut, after which it would have been in vain for them to attempt to leave the town. “ Stalks of flax,” not “cotton pods” ( Arab., J. D. Mich. ), or “tree-flax, i.e., cotton,” as Thenius explains it, but flax stalks or stalk-flax, as distinguished from carded flax, in which there is no wood left, , stipula lini (lxx, Vulg.). Flax stalks, which grow to the height of three or four feet in Egypt, and attain the thickness of a reed, and would probably be quite as large in the plain of Jericho, the climate of which resembles that of Egypt, would form a very good hiding-place for the spies if they were piled up upon the roof to dry in the sun. The falsehood by which Rahab sought not only to avert all suspicion from herself of any conspiracy with the Israelitish men who had entered her house, but to prevent any further search for them in her house, and to frustrate the attempt to arrest them, is not to be justified as a lie of necessity told for a good purpose, nor, as Grotius maintains, by the unfounded assertion that, “before the preaching of the gospel, a salutary lie was not regarded as a fault even by good men.” Nor can it be shown that it was thought “allowable,” or even “praiseworthy,” simply because the writer mentions the fact without expressing any subjective opinion, or because, as we learn from what follows (Jos 2:9.), Rahab was convinced of the truth of the miracles which God had wrought for His people, and acted in firm faith that the true God would give the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and that all opposition made to them would be vain, and would be, in fact, rebellion against the Almighty God himself. For a lie is always a sin. Therefore even if Rahab was not actuated at all by the desire to save herself and her family from destruction, and the motive from which she acted had its roots in her faith in the living God (Heb 11:31), so that what she did for the spies, and thereby for the cause of the Lord, was counted to her for righteousness (“justified by works,” Jam 2:25), yet the course which she adopted was a sin of weakness, which was forgiven her in mercy because of her faith.

(Note: Calvin’s estimate is also a correct one: “It has often happened, that even when good men have endeavoured to keep a straight course, they have turned aside into circuitous paths. Rahab acted wrongly when she told a lie and said that the spies had gone; and the action was acceptable to God only because the evil that was mixed with the good was not imputed to her. Yet, although God wished the spies to be delivered, He did not sanction their being protected by a lie.” Augustine also pronounces the same opinion concerning Rahab as that which he expressed concerning the Hebrew midwives (see the comm. on Exo 1:21).)

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

2. And it was told the king, etc. It is probable that watchmen had been appointed to take notice of suspicious strangers, as is wont to be done in doubtful emergencies, or during an apprehension of war. The Israelites were nigh at hand; they had openly declared to the Edomites and Moabites that they were seeking a settlement in the land of Canaan; they were formidable for their number; they had already made a large conquest after slaying two neighboring kings; and as we shall shortly perceive, their famous passage of the Red Sea had been noised abroad. It would therefore have argued extreme supineness in such manifest danger to allow any strangers whatever to pass freely through the city of Jericho, situated as it was on the frontiers.

It is not wonderful, therefore, that men who were unknown and who appeared from many circumstances to have come with a hostile intention, were denounced to the king. At the same time, however, we may infer that they were supernaturally blinded in not guarding their gates more carefully; for with the use of moderate diligence the messengers after they had once entered might easily have been detained. Nay, a search ought forthwith to have been instituted, and thus they would to a certainty have been caught. The citizens of Jericho were in such trepidation and so struck with judicial amazement, that they acted in everything without method or counsel. Meanwhile the two messengers were reduced to such extremities that they seemed on the eve of being delivered up to punishment. The king sends for them; they are lurking in the house; their life hangs upon the tongue of a woman, just as if it were hanging by a thread. Some have thought that there was in this a punishment of the distrust of Joshua, who ought to have boldly passed the Jordan, trusting to the divine guidance. But the result would rather lead us to conclude differently, that God by rescuing the messengers from extreme danger gave new courage to the people; for in that manifestation of his power he plainly showed that he was watching over their safety, and providing for their happy entrance into the promised land.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

2. It was told the king The chief of each great city, and even of each petty clan, is in the Old Testament dignified by the appellation of king. At this time of alarm, when the invading foe was only a few miles off, a shrewd king would naturally give orders to watch closely every suspicious-looking stranger.

There came men to search out the country The peculiar Hebrew physiognomy of the two spies, and perhaps, also, their entering the eastern gate, were strong grounds of suspicion.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel, to search out the land.”

Someone, possibly one of the ‘guests’ made suspicious by their questions, or possibly a watchman at the gates who noticed where they went (Rahab’s house was on the city wall), sent a report to the local king about their visit. They would be given away by their clothing, their looks, their dialect and the workings of suspicious minds. Indeed spies had probably been expected and they would be on the watch for them, for news would have come through about the total defeat of the Amorites and that a large army was waiting to cross the Jordan once the floods had subsided.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The alarm of the king of Jericho was very natural. He and his people had heard of Israel, and of the Lord being among them. Remember God’s promise. Deu 2:25 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jos 2:2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

Ver. 2. And it was told the king of Jericho. ] Kings have long ears; their , informers and intelligencers, are in all places, but especially when Hannibal est ad portas, the enemy is at hand, as now he was.

To search out the country. ] As we have cause to conceive. Optimus in dubiis agur timor.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)