Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 2:17
And the men said unto her, We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
17. We will be blameless ] Or, “We are blameless.” We must supply “unless you do what we shall now say unto you.” Comp. Gen 24:41, “Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.” Wyclif renders it “we schulen be giltles of this oath.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The men said, or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was expressed and agreed; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them; or that she should begin her discourse in her chamber, and not finish it till they were gone out of her house.
Object. They spoke this after they were let down; for it follows, Jos 2:18, this-thread which thou didst let us down by.
Answ. Those words may be thus rendered, which thou dost let us down by, i.e. art about to do it; it being frequent for the pretertense to be used of a thing about to be done, by an enallage of tenses, as Jos 10:15.
Blameless of this thine oath, i.e. free from guilt or reproach if it be violated, namely, if the following condition be not observed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the men said unto her,…. Some think that this discourse, which passed between the spies and her, was while in the house before she let them down, or otherwise they would have been in danger of being overheard, and so the whole affair discovered; but as it was on the other side of the house, and under the wall of the city, and without it, they might with the greater safety converse together:
we [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear; that is, they would most faithfully and punctually keep it, it should be sacred to them, and she should have no occasion to lay any blame upon them in the least.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In conclusion, the spies guarded against any arbitrary interpretation and application of their oath, by imposing three conditions, on the non-fulfilment of which they would be released from their oath. for is to be explained in Jos 2:17 from the fact that the gender is often disregarded in the use of the pronoun (see Ewald, 183, a.), and in Jos 2:18 from the fact that there the gender is determined by the nomen rectum (see Ewald, 317, d.).
Jos 2:18 The first condition was, that when the town was taken Rahab should make her house known to the Israelites, by binding “ the cord of this crimson thread,” i.e., this cord made of crimson thread, in the window from which she had let them down. The demonstrative “ this ” leads to the conclusion adopted by Luther and others, that “ this cord ” is the rope ( ) mentioned in Jos 2:15, as no other word had been mentioned to which they could refer; and the fact that nothing has been said about the sign in question being either given or received, precludes the idea that the spies gave the cord to Rahab for a sign. The crimson or scarlet colour of the cord ( = ; see at Exo 25:4), as the colour of vigorous life, made this cord an expressive sign of the preservation of Rahab’s life and the lives of her relations. The second condition was, that when the town was taken, Rahab should collect together her parents, and her brothers and her sisters, into her own house.
Jos 2:19-20 Whoever went outside the door, his blood should be upon his own head; i.e., if he was slain outside by the Israelitish soldiers, he should bear his death as his own fault. But every one who was with her in the house, his blood should fall upon their (the spies’) head, if any hand was against them, i.e., touched them or did them harm (vid., Exo 9:3). The formula, “ his blood be upon his head,” is synonymous with the legal formula, “his blood be upon him” (Lev 20:9). The third condition (Jos 2:20) is simply a repetition of the principal condition laid down at the very outset (Jos 2:14).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17. We will be blameless of this thine oath That is, released from the oath which we have taken, provided you do not fulfil the following conditions.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the men said to her, “We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us swear.” ’
In such a case as this constant reassurance was required, for it was a matter of life and death. Their assurance was that they would not let her down. They would fulfil their part in the oath. They were promising that when all was done they would so act that no guilt would be able to be laid at their door.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 17-20. And the men said unto her, &c. Before they left her house, they had answered her request with respect to her security; as they not only engaged themselves to perform it, but also settled with her about the token which was to be her safeguard, and to assist them in keeping their word. This token was a line of scarlet thread, according to our version. But it is not quite clear that shani specifies the colour of this line. The word comes from shanah, i.e. to double; so that it may signify in this place, a double, strong, well-twisted line, the same as the spies made use of to descend from Rahab’s window. Gataker is of this opinion. However, setting one conjecture against another, it must be confessed, that that founded on the most common signification of the word sheni, according to the ancient versions, seems to deserve the preference. It is certain that the LXX, Chaldee and Syriac, understand by sheni, the colour of scarlet, or, at least, red; and we may suppose that these ancient interpreters understood the language of the Old Testament a little better than our modern critics. The Hebrew word tikvath, rather signifies a riband, or a web, than a line. We may judge of this by the analogy of the expression with others similar to it. Kevai, in the Chaldee, is a web: kevin, cobwebs; and mikveh, 1Ki 10:28 seems to signify cloth. Besides, a scarlet line would not have been remarkable enough to serve as a safe-guard to Rahab. It is more natural to suppose, that there was in the apartment, where she communed with the spies, some piece of stuff of a red colour; and that it was this which they directed her to hang at the window for her security. See Le Clerc and Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Ver. 17. We will be blameless of this thine oath, ] q.d, Great haste though we have, yet will we clear up the terms whereunto we have sworn, to prevent the danger or rebut the suspicion of perjury. An oath is not to be taken but with a great deal of caution and circumspection, Gen 24:3-5 not in jest, but in judgment, Jer 4:2 Isa 48:1 not rashly and unadvisedly, Lev 5:4 1Sa 14:39 ; 1Sa 14:44 as those that swear in heat and choler, when they should with fear, Deu 10:20 discerning the nature of an oath, the necessity, the conditions and circumstances.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 2:20, Gen 24:3-8, Exo 20:7, Lev 19:11, Lev 19:12, Num 30:2, 2Sa 21:1, 2Sa 21:2, 2Sa 21:7
Reciprocal: Gen 24:8 – clear Jos 6:22 – as ye sware unto her Ecc 9:2 – feareth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 2:17. The men said Or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on, or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them. Blameless That is, free from guilt or reproach if it be violated; namely, if the following condition be not observed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:17 And the men said unto her, {h} We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
(h) We will be released from our oath if you perform this condition that follows for so shall you and yours be delivered.