Joshua 2:6

_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._ She had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax. Flax with other vegetable productions, is at a certain season spread out on the flat roofs of Eastern houses to be dried in the sun; and after lying awhile it is piled up in numerous little stacks, which, from the luxuriant growth of the flax, rise to a height of three or our feet. Behind some of these stacks Rahab concealed the spies. 'The stalks of flax had no doubt just been cut down, and she had spread them upon the roof of her house to steep and to season. It was harvest time (see the note at Joshua 3:15). It would seem that the flax and the barley were crops which ripened about the same time in Egypt; and as the climate of Canaan did not differ mater

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 2:6. _HID THEN WITH THE STALKS OF FLAX_] It is a matter of little consequence whether we translate פסתי העיץ _pistey haets_ _stalks of flax_, or stalks of hemp: the word עץ _ets_, which signifies _wood_, serves to show that whether it was _hemp_ or _flax_, it was in its rough, unmanufactured state; and as this was about the season, viz., the end of March or the beginning of April, in which the flax is ripe in that country, consequently Rahab's _flax_ might have been recently pulled, and was now drying on the roof of her house. The reader may find some useful remarks upon this subject in _Harmer's_ Observations, vol. iv., p. 97, c. _UPON THE ROOF._] We have already seen that all the houses in the east were made _flat-roofed_ for which a law is given...

STALKS OF FLAX - literally, “the carded fibres of the tree.” The flax in Palestine grew to more than three feet in height, with a stalk as thick as a cane. It was probably with the flax stalks, recently cut (compare Exodus 9:31, note) and laid out on the house roof to dry, that Rahab hid the spies....

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

BUT SHE HAD BROUGHT THEM UP TO THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE,.... Before the messengers came; though Abarbinel thinks it was after they were gone, when she took them from the place of their concealment, and had them to the roof of the house, where she thought they would be safe and secure, should the messengers return, or others come in search of them, who would not, as she imagined, look for them there: AND HID THEM WITH THE STALKS OF FLAX; that is, under them, or "in flax of wood", or "a tree" b; which may with as much propriety, or more, be called a tree than hyssop, 1 Kings 4:33; as it is in the Misnah c. Moreover, there was a sort of flax which grew in the upper part of Egypt towards Arabia, as Pliny says d, which they called "xylon", or wood, of which were made "lina xylina": though the words may be rightly transposed, as by as, "stalks of flax", which are large and strong b

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:...

STALKS OF FLAX. Hebrew. flax of stalks. Figure of speech _Hypallage,_ App-6. Flax now ripe: just before the Passover. Compare Exodus 9:31 with Joshua 4:19; Joshua 5:10....

_the roof of the house_ The roofs of Eastern houses were flat (St Mark 2:4), and were made useful for various purposes, as drying corn, hanging up linen, and preparing figs and raisins. They were also used as (_a_) places of recreation in the evening; (_b_) sleeping-places at night, when the interior apartments were too hot or sultry for refreshing repose; (_c_) places for devotion and even idolatrous worship. Comp. 1 Samuel 9:25-26; 2 Samuel 11:2; 2Sa 16:22; 2 Kings 23:12; Daniel 4:29;...