So Joshua smote all the country ... he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 10:40
Trivia: In Joshua 5, Joshua met a man with a sword near Jericho. Who was the man?
2:1-241 And 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.
2 And 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.
Go take a look at Jericho.
So the men went to Jericho and stayed at the house of a harlot named Rahab. [1]
3 And 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.
Bring out the men who are staying with you.
4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
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 men came to me [2], but I don't know where they were from.They left when it was still dark. Hurry and you can catch them. [3]
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.
7 And 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.
8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
9 And 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.
I know that God has given you our land, and that everyone is terrorized by you.
10 For 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.
We heard how God dried up the Red Sea, and what you did to Og and Sihon. [4]
11 And 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.
As soon as we heard these things our hearts melted, because your god is the god of heaven and earth. [5]
12 Now 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:
So, now swear to God that you'll be kind to me, since I have been kind to you.
13 And 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.
Don't kill me and my family.
14 And 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.
Okay, when God gives us the land, we won't kill you or your family.
15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
16 And 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.
Go to the mountain and stay there for three days, then you can be on your way.
17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
We will do as we swore we'd do.
18 Behold, 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.
Put a scarlet thread in your window.
19 And 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.
When we come to Jericho, we'll see the thread, and we'll know not to kill anyone in your house.
20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
But don't tell anyone about our business.If you do, we won't be bound by our oath.
21 And 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.
Okay.
And when the men left, she put a scarlet thread in her window.
22 And 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.
The men who were searching for them didn't find them.
23 So 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:
24 And 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.
God has delivered them into our hands.They're all afraid of us.
Mathew's gospel includes Rahab as an ancestor of Jesus. (The mother of Booz, David's great grandfather. Mt 1:5)
The phrase "came unto me" is often a biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse, and since Rahab was a "harlot", there might have been some of that going on here.
Rahab lies to those who were searching for Joshua's spies. Lying is condemned several places in the Bible, but Rahab is rewarded by God by being spared during the destruction of Jericho (Joshua 6:25). And in James (2:24), Rahab is also praised for lying. So the Bible both condemns and approves of lying.
31. God hardens king Sihon's heart so that all his people can be killed
Since Rahab's house was built on the wall, how did she and her family survive when the wall fell down?
(See Joshua 6:20)
