Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 2:6
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
6. the roof of the house ] The roofs of Eastern houses were flat (St Mar 2:4), and were made useful for various purposes, as drying corn, hanging up linen, and preparing figs and raisins. They were also used as ( a) places of recreation in the evening; ( b) sleeping-places at night, when the interior apartments were too hot or sultry for refreshing repose; ( c) places for devotion and even idolatrous worship. Comp. 1Sa 9:25-26; 2Sa 11:2; 2Sa 16:22 ; 2Ki 23:12; Dan 4:29; Act 2:1; Act 10:9. The Jewish Law required that they should have a battlement, in order that guilt of blood might not come upon the house through any one falling from it (Deu 22:8). “Parts of Roman houses were also furnished with such roofs called solaria, because they lay exposed on all sides to the sun, and also mniana, as the Italians now also call them altana.” Lange’s Commentary.
the stalks of flax ] “stubble of flaxe,” Wyclif. Unbroken flax is here meant, the stalks of which, about Jericho and in Egypt, reached a height of more than three feet and the thickness of a reed. It was anciently one of the most important crops in Palestine (Hos 2:5; Hos 2:9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Stalks of flax – literally, the carded fibres of the tree. The flax in Palestine grew to more than three feet in height, with a stalk as thick as a cane. It was probably with the flax stalks, recently cut (compare Exo 9:31, note) and laid out on the house roof to dry, that Rahab hid the spies.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Hid then with the stalks of flax] It is a matter of little consequence whether we translate pistey haets stalks of flax, or stalks of hemp: the word ets, which signifies wood, serves to show that whether it was hemp or flax, it was in its rough, unmanufactured state; and as this was about the season, viz., the end of March or the beginning of April, in which the flax is ripe in that country, consequently Rahab’s flax might have been recently pulled, and was now drying on the roof of her house. The reader may find some useful remarks upon this subject in Harmer’s Observations, vol. iv., p. 97, c.
Upon the roof.] We have already seen that all the houses in the east were made flat-roofed for which a law is given De 22:8. On these flat roofs the Asiatics to this day walk, converse, and oftentimes even sleep and pass the night. It is probable that this hiding was after that referred to in the fourth verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Up to the roof, which was plain, after the manner. See Deu 22:8; Mat 10:27; Mar 2:4; Act 10:9. Laid in order upon the roof, that they may be dried by the heat of the sun.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. she had brought them up to theroof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flaxFlax,with other vegetable productions, is at a certain season spread outon the flat roofs of Eastern houses to be dried in the sun; and,after lying awhile, it is piled up in numerous little stacks, which,from the luxuriant growth of the flax, rise to a height of three orfour feet. Behind some of these stacks Rahab concealed the spies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house,…. Before the messengers came; though Abarbinel thinks it was after they were gone, when she took them from the place of their concealment, and had them to the roof of the house, where she thought they would be safe and secure, should the messengers return, or others come in search of them, who would not, as she imagined, look for them there:
and hid them with the stalks of flax; that is, under them, or “in flax of wood”, or “a tree” b; which may with as much propriety, or more, be called a tree than hyssop, 1Ki 4:33; as it is in the Misnah c. Moreover, there was a sort of flax which grew in the upper part of Egypt towards Arabia, as Pliny says d, which they called “xylon”, or wood, of which were made “lina xylina”: though the words may be rightly transposed, as by as, “stalks of flax”, which are large and strong before the flax is stripped or beaten off of them; the Targum renders it bundles of flax, or handfuls and sheaves of them, as they were when cut down and gathered:
which she had laid in order upon the roof; to be dried, as Kimchi observes; and Pliny e speaks of flax being bound up in bundles, and hung up and dried in the sun; which was done that it might be more easily stripped and beaten off; and the roofs of houses in those countries being flat, were very fit for such a purpose;
[See comments on De 22:8]; and these being now laid there were very suitable and convenient to conceal the men under them. This seems to be in favour of Rahab, as being a virtuous and industrious woman; see
Pr 31:13.
b “in linis ligni”, Montanus; “vel arboris”, Vatablus. c Sabbat, c. 2. sect. 3. & Bartenora in ib. d Nat. Hist. l. 19. c. 1. e Nat. Hist. l. 19. c. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) The stalks of flax.It is remarked that flax and barley are both early crops (Exo. 9:31), and that the first month (see Jos. 4:19) was the time of barley harvest. (Comp. 2Sa. 21:9.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. She had brought them up to the roof of the house This verse more fully explains Jos 2:4, by detailing the place and manner of her concealing the spies. Eastern houses have flat roofs, surrounded with a parapet to prevent falling off. Deu 28:8. Here the family often sleep, sit, walk, and store such articles as will not be damaged by the exposure. Sometimes the roof is shaded by means of an awning supported by posts. See note on Act 10:9.
Stalks of flax Hebrews flax of the tree; that is, flax in the tree or stalk. Some render these words stalks or pods of cotton, but without sufficient authority. Flax is said to grow in Egypt to a great size, and its stalks attain the thickness of a cane, and so it doubtless did in the rich plain of Jericho. To dry stalks of such thickness much exposure to the sun would be necessary, and they were laid out in such abundance on Rahab’s house that the two men could be easily concealed among them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And she brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.’
Compare 2Sa 17:19. The word for ‘hid’ is different from Jos 2:4. It may be that in Jos 2:4 she had just quickly hidden them out of sight, but now found a more secure hiding place under the stalks of flax spread out on the flat roof to dry out. Alternately we must remember that the account was written to be read out aloud, and such an introductory comment as that made earlier, made to prepare the hearer, followed later by a more detailed explanation, was an ancient technique, and occurs often in Scripture.
The roof was a regular drying place for produce from the fields. Flax was cultivated in Palestine and Egypt (see Pro 31:13; Isa 19:9) and was one of the gifts of lovers to prostitutes (Hos 2:5; Hos 2:9). It grew to a height of a metre and produced beautiful blue flowers. Its shiny seeds produced linseed oil. The woody fibre of the bark provided the flax fibre woven into linen.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 6. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house We have elsewhere remarked in what manner the roofs of houses in this country were constructed. See Deu 22:8. They were flat, or rather terraces, on which men might either lie or walk.
And hid them, &c. All this had passed before the arrival of the king of Jericho’s officers, and upon a report of the search that they were ordered to make.
Stalks of flax Hemp-wood,line-stalks. See Ulpian. Digest. lib. 32: cap. 55 sect. 5.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Ver. 6. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house. ] a Which was built flat in those parts, as they are also at this day in Italy.
Which she had laid in order upon the roof.
a Septuag., : ut et 1Sa 9:25 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
stalks of flax. Hebrew = flax of stalks. Figure of speech Hypallage, App-6. Flax now ripe: just before the Passover. Compare Exo 9:31 with Jos 4:19; Jos 5:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
to the roof: Jos 2:8, Exo 1:15-21, Deu 22:8, 2Sa 11:2, Mat 24:17
hid them: Exo 2:2, 2Sa 17:19, 1Ki 18:4, 1Ki 18:13, 2Ki 11:2, Jer 36:26, Col 3:3, Heb 11:23
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 2:6-7. Up to the roof In those countries the roofs of the houses were made quite flat, and it is probable it might be customary to lay the stalks of flax upon them that they might be dried by the heat of the sun. Fords Or, passages; that is, the places where people used to pass over Jordan, whether by boats or bridges. The gate Of the city, to prevent the escape of the spies, if peradventure Rahab was mistaken, and they yet lurked therein.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:6 But she had brought them up to the {c} roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
(c) Meaning, on the house: for then their houses were flat above, so that they might do their business on it.