Jos 2:1-21 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Josh 2:1-24: 2:1-24 Like any good military commander, Joshua sent out spies or scouts to get information about his objective. • Because Israel planned to approach Canaan from the east, they could not bypass Jericho . 2:1 Acacia Grove was about eight miles east of the Jordan River on the plains of Moab, across from Jericho (see Num 25:1 ). • In the house of a prostitute strangers could avoid unwanted attention. According to tradition, Rahab was an innkeeper as well as a prostitute (Josephus, Antiquities 5.1.2). Other evidence from the ancient Near East suggests that women who owned and operated inns were often prostitutes.

Summary for Josh 2:1-24: 2:1-24 ^a Like any good military commander, Joshua sent out spies or scouts to get information about his objective.

• Because Israel planned to approach Canaan from the east, they could not bypass Jericho. 2:1 ^b Acacia Grove was about eight miles east of the Jordan River on the plains of Moab, across from Jericho (see Num 25:1 ^c).

• In the house of a prostitute strangers could avoid unwanted attention. According to tradition, Rahab was an innkeeper as well as a prostitute (Josephus, Antiquities 5.1.2). Other evidence from the ancient Near East suggests that women who owned and operated inns were often prostitutes.
2:2 ^d The spies’ speech probably gave them away. Hebrew and Canaanite were both dialects of the same language but with differences in vocabulary and grammar.
2:3 ^e Jericho’s king assumed Rahab was both loyal to the city and unaware of the men’s mission.
Summary for Josh 2:4-5: 2:4-5 ^f It is not necessary either to condone or condemn Rahab’s lying to the king’s messengers. She might have had no concept of any ethical standards God had given Israel. Or the higher ethical value of saving lives might supersede the normal requirement to be truthful.
2:6 ^g The inner fibers of flax were processed to make linen. The first step involved laying out the flax stems to dry on the flat rooftop.
2:7 ^h Medium-sized towns such as Jericho had one main gate made of two very large wooden doors reinforced with bronze. The gate was barred for the night and opened again in the morning. By shutting the gate immediately after the pursuers departed, the authorities took a sensible precaution: If the spies had not left the town as Rahab implied, they might still be found in Jericho during the night.
Summary for Josh 2:9-10: 2:9-10 ⁱ Rahab began to declare her faith in the Lord.

• made a dry path: God had parted the waters of the Red Sea for Israel (Exod 14:21-28 ^j).

• Israel had defeated Sihon and Og (Num 21:21-35 ^k).

• completely destroyed: See Lev 27:28-29 ^l; 1 Sam 15:3 ^m.
2:11 ⁿ Although the people of Canaan incurred God’s judgment, Rahab’s declaration of faith (proven genuine by her aid to the spies) brought her into the people of God (Heb 11:31 ^o).
Summary for Josh 2:12-13: 2:12-13 ^p Rahab’s request demonstrated her faith in Israel and Israel’s God.
2:14 ^q When Israel attacked Jericho, Joshua and the two spies kept their promise to spare Rahab (6:22 ^r).
2:15 ^s Because Rahab’s house stood on the town wall, she could hide the men on the flat roof of her house (2:6 ^t) and let them out through the window, down the outer side of the wall.
2:16 ^u The hill country of central Canaan began its steep rise just west of Jericho. Thinking that the two spies would head directly to Israel’s camp across the Jordan, the pursuers from Jericho would naturally head eastward. When the pursuers gave up, the spies could slip across the Jordan unhindered.
2:19 ^v it will not be our fault. But ... we will accept the responsibility: The spies used a standard formula to accept responsibility for any of Rahab’s family remaining with her in her house, but not for those who did not.