Rahab

1Joshua, the leader of Israel, was the son of Nun. He sent two men from a camp called Shittim. He told them, "Go and look at the land. Look at the city of Jericho." The men went and came to the house of a woman named Rahab. She sold her body to men for money. They stayed the night there.

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

NoteA spy is someone who goes to look around secretly. Joshua sent the men to learn about the land first. Jericho was a city with a high wall all around it. Shittim was the camp where Israel was living, across the river.

2Someone told the king of Jericho, "Listen! Some men from Israel came here tonight. They came to look closely at our land."

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.

NoteBack then each city had its own king. This king ruled Jericho and the fields around it.

3So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab. He said, "Bring out the men who came into your house. They came to spy on our whole land."

And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

4But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, some men did come to me. But I did not know where they came from.

And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

5"They left when it was getting dark. It was almost time to shut the city gate. I do not know which way they went. Go after them fast. Maybe you can still catch them."

And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

NoteThe city gate was shut every night. Big walls and a strong gate kept enemies out. Nobody could go in or out until morning.

6But she had really taken them up to the flat roof. She hid them under stalks of flax spread out there.

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.

NoteFlax is a plant. People made cloth from it called linen. The stalks were laid out to dry on the roof. Roofs were flat then, like a porch on top of the house.

7The king's men ran after them, down the road to the Jordan River. They went to the shallow places where people cross. As soon as they left, the city gate was shut.

And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

NoteMost of the Jordan River was too deep to walk across. The shallow places are called fords. Soldiers went there because people crossing had to use them.

8The two men had not yet lain down to sleep. Rahab came up to them on the roof.

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

9She said to them, "I know the LORD has given you this land. Everyone here is afraid of you. All the people in this land are shaking with fear.

And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

NoteLORD in big letters stands for God's own name. It was the special name God gave to Israel.

10"We heard how the LORD dried up the Red Sea for you. That was when you came out of Egypt. We heard what you did to Sihon and Og. They were two kings of the Amorites, east of the Jordan River. You destroyed them completely.

For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

NoteIsrael had been slaves in Egypt for many years. When they left, God opened a dry path through the Red Sea. Rahab had heard that story, even far away in Jericho.

11"When we heard this, our hearts melted with fear. No man here has any courage left. Your God, the LORD, is God in heaven above and on earth below.

And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

NoteSaying a heart melted is an old way of speaking. It means the person felt weak and very afraid.

12"So please make me a promise before the LORD. I was kind to you. Please be kind to my family too. Give me a sure sign that you mean it.

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:

NoteA promise made before the LORD is called an oath. It was the most serious kind of promise. People believed God himself was listening to it.

13"Promise to keep my father and mother alive. Keep my brothers and sisters alive too, and everyone with them. Save all of us from death."

And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

14The men said to her, "Our lives for your lives! If you do not tell anyone why we came, we will keep our word. When the LORD gives us this land, we will be kind and fair to you."

And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Note"Our lives for your lives" is a strong way to promise. It means: if we break our word, let us die instead.

15Then she let them down on a rope through her window. Her house was built into the city wall. She lived right there in the wall.

Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

NoteThe city wall was thick and wide. Some houses were built right inside it. Her window looked out over the outside of the wall.

16She said to them, "Go up into the hills. Then the men chasing you will not find you. Hide there for three days, until they come back. After that you can go on your way."

And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

NoteThe hills near Jericho have many caves. Two men could hide there and not be found.

17The men said to her, "We will keep the promise you made us make. But only if you do what we say.

And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

18"When we come into this land, tie this red cord in your window. It is the same window you used to let us down. Bring your father and mother into your house. Bring your brothers and your whole family inside too.

Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.

NoteThe red cord was a sign, like a mark on the house. Soldiers would see it and know to keep that house safe.

19"If anyone goes out your door into the street, that is his own fault. We will not be to blame if he dies. But if anyone stays inside with you, we are to blame if he is hurt.

And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

Note"His blood on his own head" is an old way of speaking. It means it would be his own fault, not theirs.

20"And if you tell anyone why we came, we are free. Then we do not have to keep the promise you made us make."

And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

21She said, "I agree. Let it be just as you said." Then she sent them away, and they left. And she tied the red cord in her window.

And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

22The men went up into the hills and stayed there three days. The men chasing them searched the whole road. They did not find them. Then they came back.

And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

23Then the two men came back down from the hills. They crossed the river and came to Joshua, the son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them.

So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:

NoteThey had to cross the Jordan River again. Israel's camp was on the other side.

24They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given us this whole land. All the people who live there are shaking with fear of us."

And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

16The seventh time around, the priests blew the horns. Joshua said to the people, "Shout! The LORD has given you the city!"

And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

17"The city and everything in it must be given to the LORD and destroyed. Only Rahab and everyone in her house will live. She will live because she hid the men we sent."

And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

NoteIn those days a city could be given over to God. That meant nobody was allowed to keep anything from it. No treasure, no animals, nothing taken home. The King James calls this "accursed." Rahab lived inside Jericho. Two men from Israel had come to look at the city. She hid them so no one would find them.

18"Stay away from the things that are marked for destruction. If you take any of them, you bring that destruction on yourself. You would also bring big trouble on the whole camp of Israel."

And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

Note"The accursed thing" means anything from Jericho that a soldier might sneak away. Keeping even one thing would bring trouble on everyone.

19"All the silver, gold, bronze, and iron things belong to the LORD. They must be put into the LORD's treasure room."

But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

NoteThe King James says "brass," but the metal was really bronze. Bronze is copper mixed with tin. A treasury was a room where valuable things were kept safe.

20So the priests blew the horns, and the people shouted. When they heard the horn, they gave a great shout. The wall fell down flat. The people went straight up into the city and took it.

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

21They destroyed everything in the city with their swords. They killed men and women, young people and old people. They killed the cows, the sheep, and the donkeys too.

And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

NoteThis was a war, and wars then were terrible. "With the edge of the sword" is an old way of saying the soldiers killed them.

22Joshua had spoken to the two men who spied on the land. He said, "Go into the woman's house. Bring her out, and everyone who belongs to her. You made her a promise, so keep it."

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

NoteA spy is someone sent quietly to look at a place. Then he goes home and tells what he saw. "As ye sware" means the promise the two men had made out loud.

23So the two young spies went in. They brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, and her brothers. They brought out her whole family. They settled them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

NoteIn the King James, "without the camp" means outside the camp. It does not mean they had no camp. Rahab's family were not part of Israel yet. So they waited just outside until they could join.

24Then the people burned the city and everything in it. But they kept the silver, the gold, and the bronze and iron things. Those were put into the treasure room of the LORD's house.

And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

25Joshua let Rahab live, along with her father's family and all who belonged to her. He did this because she hid the men he sent to spy on Jericho. She has lived among the people of Israel ever since.

And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Note"Even unto this day" tells us something about the writer. He wrote this long afterward. Rahab's family were still living with Israel in his time.

30God's people trusted him and marched around Jericho for seven days. Then the walls of the city fell down.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

NoteJericho was a city with huge, thick walls. It stood in the land God had promised to Israel.

31Rahab was a prostitute. She trusted God and welcomed Israel's spies kindly. So she was not killed with the people who would not obey God.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

NoteRahab lived in Jericho. Her job was one people looked down on: men paid her to sleep with her. Spies are people sent secretly to look at a city.

24So you see, a person is counted right with God by what he does, and not by faith alone.

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25It was the same with Rahab, a woman who sold her body for money. God counted her right for what she did. She took in the messengers and sent them out a different way.

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

NoteThe King James calls Rahab a "harlot." That is an old word for a woman who sold her body for money. The "messengers" were spies. God's people sent them to look at the city of Jericho. Rahab hid them and sent them home a safe way.

26A body with no breath in it is dead. Faith with no deeds is dead too.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Note"Spirit" here means breath. A body that has stopped breathing is dead.