Joshua 2:5

_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._ The time of shutting of the gate. The gates of all Oriental cities are closed at sunset, after which there is no possibility either of admission or egress; and in the East there is scarcely any twilight; 'sunset,' therefore, is a period 'when it is dark.' THE MEN WENT OUT. This was a palpable deception. But, as lying is a common vice among pagan people, Rahab was probably unconscious of its moral guilt, especially as she resorted to it as a means for screening her guests; and she might deem herself bound to do it by the laws of Eastern hospitality, which make it a point of honour to preserve the greatest enemy, if he has once eaten one's salt. Judged by the divine law, her answer was a sinful expedi...

1-7 Faith in God's promises ought not to do away, but to encourage our diligence in the use of proper means. The providence of God directed the spies to the house of Rahab. God knew where there was one that would be true to them, though they did not. Rahab appears to have been an innkeeper; and if she had formerly been one of bad life, which is doubtful, she had left her evil courses. That which seems to us most accidental, is often overruled by the Divine providence to serve great ends. It was by faith that Rahab received those with peace, against whom her king and country had war. We are sure this was a good work; it is so spoken of by the apostle, James 2:25; and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man. Those only are true believers, who find in their hearts to venture for God; they take his people for their people, and cast in their lot among them. The spi...

Verse Joshua 2:5. _WHEN IT WAS DARK_] So it appears that it was after night that the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, ordering her to produce the persons who lodged with her. The _season_ itself was friendly to the whole plot: had these transactions taken place in daylight, it is scarcely possible that the spies could have escaped. But this is no excuse for the woman's prevarication, for God could have saved his messengers independently of her _falsity_. God never says to any, Do evil that good may come of it. See at the end of the chapter (Joshua 2:24)....

EXPOSITION RAHAB AND THE SPIES.— JOSHUA 2:1 AND JOSHUA THE SON OF NUN SENT. Rather, as margin, _had_ sent (see note on Joshua 1:2). It might have been at the very time when the command was given to the Israelites, for, according to a common Hebrew manner of speech (see, for instance, 1 Samuel 16:10), the three days (verse 22) may include the whole time spent by the spies in their exploring expedition. Out of Shittim. Literally, _from the valley of acacias. _It is so called in full in Joel 3:18. This place (called A

AND IT CAME TO PASS, [ABOUT THE TIME] OF THE SHUTTING OF THE GATE,.... Of the city, which was done every night, and at a certain time: WHEN IT WAS DARK; the sun set, and night come on: THAT THE MEN WENT OUT; out of her house, and out of the city too, as she said, though it was a downright lie, as well as what follows: WHITHER THE MEN WENT I WOT NOT; though she knew they were not gone, but were now in her house; she might not scruple telling a lie, being brought up a Heathen, and being done with a design to save the lives of persons that belonged to a people she was persuaded were the people of God, and to whom he had given the land; though her lies are not to be justified; evil is not to be done that good may come; nor are men to tell lies one to another upon any account; but these sins, with others, the Lord forgave her: PURSUE AFTER THEM QUICKLY, AND YE SHALL OVERTAKE THEM; this sh...

2. THE SPIES AND RAHAB'S FAITH CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The spies sent forth (Joshua 2:1)_ 2. Rahab's faith and works (Joshua 2:2) 3. The escape of the spies and assurance given (Joshua 2:15) 4. The return of the spies (Joshua 2:22) The historical account needs not to be restated. Joshua, who was one of the spies sent out by Moses, now sends two spies to view the land, even Jericho. Jericho was the great stronghold of the enemy, surrounded by high walls. Jericho means “fragrance” and is a type of the world. (It is interesting to note that in the Hebrew Jericho differs in its spelling in Joshua from that in Numbers. Th

II. TWO HEBREW SPIES VISIT JERICHO AND EVADE CAPTURE. The narrative is inconsistent with Joshua 1:11, Within three days ye are to pass over Jordan. The events in ch. 2 must have taken longer than three days, for Joshua 2:22 tells us that the spies abode three days in the mountains; and with one day to go and another to return, five days at least would be required. This is an indication that Joshua 2 and Joshua 1 are from different sources. And perhaps Joshua 2 itself is composite. The narrative reads consistently if Joshua 2:15 is omitted, for we can hardly think of the conversation being continued between Rahab at the window and the spies on the ground outside the wall. 1. SHITTIM:...

WHITHER. Some codices, with one early printed edition, read "and whither". WOT. Anglo-Saxon "know"....

_shutting of the gate_ A necessary precaution owing to the absence of all artificial light from the streets of Oriental towns. _when it was dark_ In the East, night comes on soon after sundown, and the evening twilight is of very short duration. _I wot not_ Strict truth was a virtue but little known or practised in ancient times, and Rahab must not be judged by the same standard of morality as we should apply to our own days. "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not" (Hebrews 11:31). "It would be a mistake, an anachronism, to apply to a dweller in one of the old Canaanite cities, amidst the worshippers of false and cruel deities, destitute of one ray either of Law or Gospel light, principles of conduct and character which we owe to the Revelation of all truth and all duty by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Epistle is content to say only this, Behol

_VER._ 5. _AND—ABOUT THE TIME OF SHUTTING OF THE GATE_— Rahab's house was evidently nigh to one of the gates of Jericho: she feigned, therefore, that, before the gate was shut, those whom they took for spies had gone out, and so had left her house but a very short time before. The spies arrived at the close of the day, and Rahab asserts that they went out in the dusk, just at the shutting of the gate. _WHITHER THE MEN WENT, I WOT NOT: PURSUE AFTER THEM QUICKLY, FOR YE SHALL OVERTAKE THEM_— The argument was plausible: if the two men who came to Rahab, and who, as she said, had gone out of the city at the shutting of the gate, were emissaries from the camp of Israel, they had only to follow them with diligence, and overtake them before they had repassed the Jordan: but Rahab most certainly told a falsehood; and it cannot be said that this lie was merely officious, since she uttered it to t...