Joshua 2

KJV · Chapter 2/24

¹And 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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

⁵And 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.

⁶But 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.

⁷And 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.

⁸And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

⁹And 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.

¹⁰For 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.

¹¹And 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.

¹²Now 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:

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

¹⁸Behold, 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

²¹And 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.

²²And 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.

²³So 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:

²⁴And 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Joshua sends two spies to Jericho, who hide in Rahab's house. She protects them and makes an agreement: in exchange for sparing her family when the city falls, she hangs a scarlet cord in the window.

Explanation

Jericho was a strategic walled city, and scouting before an attack was common military practice at the time. Rahab, a Canaanite woman and a prostitute, recognizes that 'the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath' - a remarkable confession of faith coming from outside the people of Israel. Her willingness to shelter the spies and trust their promise is remembered later as an example of genuine faith, even coming from someone with no religious background. Today's application is that God welcomes whoever turns to him sincerely, no matter their past or origin.

Fun facts

Rahab is mentioned in the New Testament as an ancestor of David and Jesus (Matthew 1:5), and is also cited as an example of faith in Hebrews 11:31 and of works in James 2:25.
The scarlet cord in the window is seen by many scholars as an image echoing the blood on the doorposts at the Passover in Egypt - a sign that saves those inside.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Joshua 2:1Joshua sends two spies in disguise to Jericho, and they end up at the house of Rahab. She was a prostitute, but the text does not hide that fact or treat it as shameful — that is simply how she enters the story.
Joshua 2:2News that Israelite spies are in the city reaches the king of Jericho quickly, showing just how much the city was already on alert as the people of Israel approached.
Joshua 2:3The king orders Rahab to hand over the spies. This is the moment she has to decide which side to be on.
Joshua 2:4Rahab lies to the king’s soldiers to protect the spies hidden in her house; the text does not judge the lie, it simply records what she did and why. The focus of the account is on her courage and faith, not on an ethical evaluation of the lie itself.
Joshua 2:5Rahab tells the king’s soldiers that the men had already left the city, buying time to protect the hidden spies.
Joshua 2:6While lying to the soldiers, Rahab had already hidden the spies on the roof, under stalks of flax laid out to dry — a common hiding place at the time.
Joshua 2:7The king’s soldiers chase after the spies in the wrong direction, toward the Jordan, giving Rahab’s plan time to work.
Joshua 2:8Before the spies go to sleep, Rahab goes up to the roof to negotiate with them face to face.
Joshua 2:9Rahab tells them what she has already heard: that God has given this land to Israel and that everyone in Jericho is terrified by the reputation of the people who are coming.
Joshua 2:10She cites two facts that had already spread through the whole region: the crossing of the Red Sea and the defeat of kings Sihon and Og. That track record had already broken Jericho’s morale before the war even began.
Joshua 2:11Rahab describes the dread that gripped Jericho on hearing what happened at the Red Sea and in the battles against the Amorite kings; this is the explanation she gives for deciding to help the spies instead of turning them in. This kind of reputation that runs ahead of an army is a common feature in ancient conquest accounts.
Joshua 2:12Rahab asks the spies for an oath: since she helped them, she wants her family spared when Israel takes the city.
Joshua 2:13She spells out the request: she wants her parents, brothers, and sisters saved along with her, not just herself alone.
Joshua 2:14The spies accept the deal and promise, staking their own lives as the guarantee, that they will save Rahab’s family — as long as she tells no one about the plan.
Joshua 2:15Rahab’s house is built right into the city wall, which lets her lower the spies by a rope through the window, straight outside the walls.
Joshua 2:16Rahab gives them practical advice: flee to the hill country and wait there three days, because their pursuers will search the roads first.
Joshua 2:17Before leaving, the spies make clear that the oath they swore only holds if certain conditions are met afterward.
Joshua 2:18The scarlet cord tied to the window works as an agreed-upon sign: when the attack on Jericho begins, it marks Rahab’s house as the one to be spared. It is similar to the blood on the doorposts at the Egyptian Passover — a visible marker separating who is protected from who is not.
Joshua 2:19The condition of the agreement is very specific: whoever is inside Rahab’s house at the time of the attack is protected; whoever goes out into the street is not.
Joshua 2:20The spies repeat the warning: if Rahab tells the secret to anyone, the agreement falls apart and she loses her protection.
Joshua 2:21Rahab accepts the conditions, the spies leave, and she ties the scarlet cord in the window — the agreed sign that will save her household.
Joshua 2:22The spies follow Rahab’s advice: they go up into the hill country and stay hidden for three days, while their pursuers search the road without success.
Joshua 2:23After losing their pursuers, the spies return and report everything to Joshua.
Joshua 2:24The spies’ final report is optimistic: the city is terrified, and they are certain that God has already delivered the land into Israel’s hands.