Joshua 2—Is there a Mistress in the House?

American Indian Scouts

Scouts of the Union Army

Josh. 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Sending out scouts to do reconnaissance work in advance of an invading army has been standard military practice for thousands of years. In the ancient Near East there is textual evidence for the use of advance scouting of an enemy in Egyptian, Hittite and Assyrian military annals. During the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1350 BC), the Hittites completely deceived Egyptian advance scouts into thinking they had retreated from Damascus, allowing Ramses II to lead his first division unguarded into the city, where the Hittites ambushed it. Scouts are also mentioned in the letters between Hittite kings and their commanders during the age of Moses.
In Moses’ and Joshua’s time army commanders took two equally important advance measures to ensure military success:

1. They consulted their god (or gods) by means of divination (oracles, etc.) to determine if he was willing to grant their armies victory, and
2. They sent out scouts to reconnoiter the land in order to determine the location and strength of the enemy.

In other words, while they acknowledged the crucial role of their god’s will, yet they did everything humanly possible to ensure themselves a victory. In a way, this was an ancient equivalent of the World War I soldiers’ song “Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!”

God had given a specific promise repeatedly to Moses—beginning in the land of Midian, when God called him, and continuing in Egypt and in the 40 years of wandering in the deserts—that he would bring the nation into the Promised Land and defeat their enemies for them.

Still—Numbers 13 (especially vv. 17-20) records that at the command of God, Moses sent out twelve scouts from Kadesh-barnea to determine the strength of the Canaanites living in the land that Israel intended to claim as its own inheritance from God.

You might wonder: “If God promised them victory, why was it necessary for them to send out those scouts from Kadesh-barnea?” In that particular case it was God’s way of testing the nation’s faith in his promise.

Each of the 12 scouts sent sent out by Moses from Kadesh-barnea was chosen from a different tribe, so someone from each tribe could express faith or unbelief. Of those 12 scouts who went on the mission and returned to Moses in Kadesh-barnea, only two—Joshua (of Ephraim) and Caleb (of Judah)—were in favor of proceeding. The other ten admitted that the land was all that God had described it to be in terms of desirability. But in their opinion the enemy was too powerful and numerous. Ten our of twelve tribes, through their representatives, failed the test of faith in God’s promise, and consequently God instructed Moses to delay the mission for another 39 years, so that this unbelieving generation would die off in the deserts, leaving only their sons to do battle in faith in the conquest of the Promised Land.

The twelve men sent by Moses probably operated in pairs, so that the fact that exactly two of them (Joshua and Caleb) diverged from the majority opinion may not be a coincidence, since Joshua and Caleb could have been a team and had discussed the issue and reached a mutual decision while still in the field.

In Joshua 2, Joshua sent only one pair, indicating that the purpose now was different. These two scouts do not seem to have represented different tribes: we are not even told what tribal affiliation either of them had! Nor was the purpose of the mission to test their faith, although in fact they did return encouraged by what they saw, and their report when it came was an encouragement to Joshua and all the warriors.

At the outset Joshua himself undoubtedly conceived their mission to be to gather as much strategic information about Jericho and its surroundings (“the land”) as possible. Jericho was the most prominent walled city in the direct path of the proposed invasion of the land. If, as is the view of most evangelical scholars, the goal of Joshua’s campaigns was not a total obliteration of the pagan population of the entire land, but the breaking of coordinated resistance among the Canaanite centers, then one would expect that after consulting God, Joshua selected only a few major points in the land to attack and subdue. The first and most obvious of these was Jericho. If the Israelites were successful against Jericho, it would send a message to the other centers that would demoralize the opposition.

Scouts wore no “uniform” or distinctive dress that would identify them as agents of an outside group. Their dress might have been different from that of the citizens of Jericho, but then any visiting traveler from, say, South Arabia would have had a distinctive dress. The language spoken by the descendants of Jacob was certainly not much different from the Canaanite dialects. They could easily infiltrate enemy territory without giving themselves away immediately.

Jericho was on a western offshoot from a major North-South trade route called "The Kings’ Highway", and merchant caravans and individual traders must often have passed through, each speaking a pidgin (or ‘Berlitz’) Canaanite, commonly used by travelers from other countries. Visitors with such foreign accents didn’t surprise or disturb the security-minded rulers of the city.

Whole merchant caravans might camp in the open country. Individual travelers visiting relatives in the city would lodge with them. But individual travelers just passing through would stay at inns. The principal guests of such inns were soldiers and merchants.

Ancient Near Eastern “inns” often contained brothels. We know this from Hittite and Babylonian texts from this same era. Such inns were usually located—like the "roadhouses" of my childhood in the South—on the outskirts of the city. In the case of walled cities, such an inn might actually abut the city wall (see Joshua 2:15), making it an easy point for escape by rappelling down the outside of the city wall.

The innkeepers in those days were often women (compare the Old Babylonian sabītum 'female inn/tavern-keeper'). Rahab, who is called a “harlot” or “prostitute” (Hebrew zônāh) therefore, was not just an ordinary prostitute, but the proprietress of the establishment. The building was also her (and her family’s) residence.

Although shocked rabbis tried in vain to dilute the meaning of the Hebrew word “prostitute” (zônah) used of Rahab, since she is obviously the heroine of the story, it is better to add her to the list of so-called “disreputable” women, who came to faith and became true heroines (see Hebrews 11:31). According to the genealogy in Matthew 1:5, Rahab became the wife of Salmon and the mother of Boaz, ancestor of David.

Regarding the scouts’ choice to lodge in an inn, Herzog & Gichon have written the following:

“Inns have always been excellent sources of information. The careless talk of guests and the sharp ears of hosts have combined to make them a coveted intelligence objective. Frederick the Great [of Prussia] advised his heirs to have an innkeeper in their pay in every region of interest. One of the subjects learned from listening to conversation in inns is the true morale and opinion of the population. Thus the report of Rahab's words—'For we have heard ... what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites … whom you utterly destroyed. And ... our hearts melted, there was no courage in any man because of you' (Josh. 2:10-11)—must have strengthened Joshua in his conviction that the proper psychological moment for the attack upon Jericho had come” (Battles of the Bible, p. 45).

Josh. 2:2-3 The king of Jericho was told, “Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

2-3 It was probably not the custom in those days, as it is in European inns and hotels today, to send registration lists of the night’s guests to the local gendarmerie. But somehow, perhaps through agents of the king sent to the various inns, the information that two of Rahab’s guests were Israelite scouts reached the king (v. 2-3). The king and all the people had excellent information about the Israelites from the day that the pharaoh’s chariot corps was drowned in the Red Sea! They may have learned of those events from traveling merchants would have brought the news from Egypt to Jericho and other urban points along the caravan routes.

So the king immediately sent to Rahab and asked her to “bring out” the suspect men. Why didn’t the king just send soldiers into the inn to fetch them? Perhaps because he did not want a pitched battle, with the possibility that in the confusion of a struggle and other milling guests, one or both of the scouts might escape. Perhaps he had in mind that Rahab would think of some excuse to bring the two men he sought outside alone—a ruse.

4-7 Rahab’s ruse.

Rahab's roof

Josh. 2:4-7 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Rahab was a clever woman, like other clever women celebrated in the Bible. She would indeed use a ruse, but the ruse would not be against the Israelites — it would be against the king of Jericho. Can you think of any other clever women of faith in the Bible, who by their cleverness saved God's people? That's right! The two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus 1, who by a clever invented story ("disinformation") explained away their secret refusal to kill all the boy babies of the Hebrews.

What did Rahab do? She lied to the king’s messengers (v. 4-5). She too used “disinformation”! What parts of her statement were probably true, and what parts false? (I won't give you the answers to this one!)

Did she violate the Ninth Commandment (Exod. 20:16; Deut. 5:20) by lying to the king’s men? No, the commandment against “bearing false witness” does not apply to a war situation. In a war there is no neutrality: no decision that does not harm one side or the other. Whatever response Rahab gave to the king of Jericho would have harmed either Israel or the people of Jericho. Rahab chose, because she believed in the God of Israel and in his will to give victory to Israel in the invasion of Canaan. Her choice to protect the scouts, even at the cost of the lives of the people of Jericho, was morally right in both her own eyes and in God's eyes. In 1 Kings 22:19-23 God himself sent a "lying spirit" to wicked King Ahab in order to make him think that God would give him victory in battle, so that he would lead his army and be killed.

When the text says that the Israelite scouts were hidden on Rahab’s roof, we should not picture a modern American sloped roof! Israelite and Canaanite roofs were flat, and the perfect place for spreading out flax to dry in the sun, and for cool sleeping by the family on summer nights. Remember that this incident took place in April, when flax was harvested in Israel. The beds of flax would not only provide the spies with a comfortable bedding, but could be piled over them to conceal them in emergency.

Why did Rahab take this risk of hiding the scouts? One answer involves the ancient custom of hospitality. A host was responsible for the safety of his/her guest(s). Can you think of other stories in the Bible where hosts risked their own safety to protect guests? Right! Lot protected visiting angels from the men of Sodom (Gen. 19). And Jael ‘protected’ Sisera (in Judges 4).

The Israeli archaeologist Oded Borowski has this to say about the role of hospitality:

“That the custom of hospitality was practiced not only by Israelites but was part of ancient Canaan's Sitz im Leben (setting in life) is reflected in the biblical story of Rahab and the Israelite spies. When the spies sent by Joshua came to Jericho, Rahab hosted them and protected them against the locals who wanted to capture them (Josh 2:1-8). Protection of guests, which was emphasized in the stories of Lot and the concubine in Gibeah, is also the background of the encounter between Jael and Sisera (Judg 4:17-22; 5:24-27)” (in Daily Life in Biblical Times, 23).

But while the host’s obligation to protect a guest may have played some part, it is clear from Rahab's subsequent bargain with the spies that another more powerful motive drove her. What do you think that was?

She believed in the God of Israel, and knew that she could only secure her own safety and that of her family who lived with her by coming to terms with the God of Israel through these two emissaries of his. In verse 11 we learn how advanced was her concept of Israel’s God, for she calls him “God in heaven and on earth”, which means there is room for no other god. This is a statement of pure Monotheism. Hebrews 11:31 places Rahab in the “honor roll” of Old Testament heroes and heroines of faith.

8-14 Rahab strikes a bargain

Josh. 2:8-14 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.” 14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”

It was still not too late for Rahab to betray the spies, once the king’s commando unit returned from the fruitless pursuit. The spies were still at her mercy. Rahab, therefore, proposed a deal. It was not a dastardly deal: it grew out of sincere faith that Israel’s God was the only God, and that her city was doomed, despite its seemingly impregnable walls. If she wanted to save herself and her family, she had to secure the promise of these men that they would spare her. Rahab’s course of action was threefold:

• First she showed her willingness to put her own life in jeopardy by hiding the spies and sending the king’s men on a wild goose chase (vv. 4-7).
• Then she told the scouts what the city had heard about Israel’s God & its demoralizing effect (vv. 8-11).
• Finally she showed her willingness to trust the promise of the scouts: if she would help them escape and return to Joshua with valuable information, they would spare her life and lives of her household when they invaded the city (vv. 12-14).

Furthermore, she ensured the compliance of the scouts by making them swear by Yahweh, their God. Rahab knew that no one who wished to continue living would violate his oath to the God of heaven and earth. And she required that they give her a sign (v. 12), which they eventually do in vv. 17-20.

15-21 Rahab lets the scouts escape

Josh. 2:15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.” 17 The men said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” 21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

The several requirements which the scouts put on Rahab were not intended to give them wiggle room. Rather they were to protect themselves and the Israelite soldiers from mistakenly killing her or a member of her family and thus falling under the curse of oath-breakers. She and her family must stay in her house and the house must be clearly marked by the scarlet cord. This reminds us also of the function of the blood mark on the doors of the Israelites in Egypt on the night of the fateful Passover. It saved them from the Angel of Death who passed through Egypt that night, killing the firstborn in every house not so marked (Exodus 12).

Rahab’s reward

Josh. 6:24-25 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, …. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Matthew 1:5-6, 16 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab; Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth; Obed was the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse was the father of King David. … 16 And Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

Rahab eventually married an Israelite named Salmon (or Shalmon, see Matt 1:5-6) and became part of the royal line leading to King David, and even further to the Messiah Jesus (Mat. 1:5-6).

The acceptance of Rahab into the “family” of Israel illustrates how we must understand the so-called “ban” (Hebrew ḥerem) imposed by God: that the Israelites, when they captured a city which resisted them, were to exterminate “everything that breathes”. It was apparently acceptable to spare the life of a Canaanite who left his city and came to the Israelite camp to convert to faith in Israel’s God. But in cities that offered armed resistance to Israel even non-combatants forfeited their lives. This “ban” was imposed only on the key centers of armed resistance: Jericho, Ai, and Hazor. People in the other cities captured by the Israelites were not killed, if they surrendered. So this was not what we call today “ethnic cleansing”.

If this seems “unfair” to modern audiences, it is because we do not credit God with the ultimate wisdom, justice and love which we know that he has.

Before us in the case of Rahab we see how a “righteous Gentile” (Hebrew gôy ṣaddîq) behaves, when confronted with evidence of the Living God. Even at the risk of death for “treachery” such a person realigns himself or herself with God and God’s people. This “realignment” we call “repentance” and “conversion”.

Does it give you some hope for the world to think that even among the groups most outspokenly opposed to the Christian gospel—atheists or Muslims—there are such “righteous Gentiles” as Rahab? When you are tempted to give up praying for someone whom you think will never yield to the gospel, remember our good friend, Saul of Tarsus! In his day he would have been seen by most of the early Christians as an Osama bin Laden figure!

There is another question to ponder: If the scouts had not come to her house in Jericho, would Rahab, solely on the basis of what she had heard of Israel's God, have had the courage or opportunity to leave the city of Jericho and go throw herself on the mercy of Joshua in the Israelite camp? Most likely not, don't you agree? Her "conversion" was the result of those courageous Israelite "scouts" who dared to penetrate the city of the enemy.

This certainly speaks to us of the need for Christians to "penetrate" social, business and educational circles that are openly hostile to the gospel in order to make friends with people in those groups who, despite their "disreputable" outward appearance, are in reality inwardly hungering for the gospel of the King of Kings?

Ask yourself what groups you have access to but have hesitated to penetrate? Do you have a neighbor, whom you think is too hostile to befriend or invite to a church event? A church-sponsored golf outing?

Ask yourself what steps you can take to “penetrate” an apparently hostile person’s life?

• Prayer.
• Genuine acts of kindness (offer of a ticket you “can’t use” to some desirable sporting or social event; inviting over for a backyard cookout at your house; offer to plow his driveway, while you are plowing yours).

22-24 Encourgement to Joshua and all Israel

Josh. 2:22 When the scouts left [Rahab], they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the Jordan river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

The final lesson of chapter 2 is the effect of the scouts’ report on Joshua and the Israelites. What word in verse 24 shows that the experience confirmed God’s earlier promise to Joshua and the people? Right! NIV “surely”, NRSV, RSV, ESV “truly”.

What lessons do you think the scouts learned from this experience? Perhaps you can add others, but here are a few that occurred to me:

• Not to be afraid: God would be with them and protect them within the very camp of the enemy.
• God’s promises can be relied upon.
• Appearances can be deceiving. Do not look down on or despise a person because of circumstances that can be changed by God’s grace entering their lives. (Rahab the harlot!)
• Don’t underestimate the possibility of finding a potential convert or turncoat among the enemy. Remember Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul, the great Apostle and Missionary to the Gentiles.
• Appearances can be deceiving. Don’t overestimate the morale of the enemy or underestimate the intimidation that God’s acts can produce on an opponent of the Gospel.
• God is full of pleasant surprises for those who will run risks in order to obey and serve him.