Rahab Welcomes the Spies
(Hebrews 11:30–31)
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, 1 saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. Heb 11:31Jas 2:25Mat 1:5Num 13:17-21Num 25:1Eph 5:5Jos 3:1Mat 10:16
And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.” Dan 4:35Isa 43:13Pro 21:30Psa 127:1
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.” 2Sa 10:31Ch 19:3Act 12:4Act 12:6Gen 38:24Gen 42:31Gen 42:9-12Jhn 19:4
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 2Ki 6:192Sa 17:19-202Sa 16:18-19Exo 1:19 At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!” Ezk 47:1-2Ezk 47:12Isa 60:11Jer 50:20Neh 13:19Rev 21:25Jos 2:7Rom 3:7-8 (But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.) Heb 11:23Jas 2:252Sa 17:19Col 3:31Ki 18:131Ki 18:42Ki 11:22Sa 11:2
So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut. Jdg 3:28Act 5:23Jdg 12:5Jos 2:5
The Promise to Rahab
Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you. Exo 23:27Deu 2:25Ecc 8:12Exo 15:15-16Gen 35:5Jos 2:11Heb 11:1-2Jer 27:5 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea 2before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. 3 Num 21:21-35Deu 2:30Exo 14:21-31Exo 15:14-16Num 23:22Jos 4:24 When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. Deu 4:39Jos 5:1Isa 13:7Jos 7:5Dan 4:34-35Dan 6:25-27Jer 16:19-21Zec 8:20-23
Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign Jos 2:181Sa 20:14-171Sa 24:21-221Sa 30:151Ti 5:82Ch 36:132Ti 1:16-18Est 8:6 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will deliver us from death.”
“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.” Jdg 1:24-25Mat 5:7Gen 24:49Pro 18:241Ki 20:391Sa 20:82Sa 9:1Jos 6:17
Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city. Act 9:252Co 11:331Sa 19:12-17Jos 6:20 “Go to the hill country,” she said, “so that your pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there for three days until they have returned; then go on your way.” 1Sa 23:14Jas 2:251Sa 23:29Jos 2:22Psa 11:1
The men said to her, “We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear 2Sa 21:7Num 30:22Sa 21:1-2Gen 24:3-8Lev 19:11-12Exo 20:7Jos 2:20 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother and brothers and all your family into your house. Jos 6:23Jos 2:21Jos 2:12-13Act 10:33Gen 19:12-17Heb 9:19Lev 14:42Ti 1:16 If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads. Act 27:311Ki 2:36-42Act 18:6Exo 12:13Exo 12:23Ezk 33:4-51Jn 2:27-281Ki 2:32 And if you report our mission, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” Pro 11:13
“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. And when they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Jos 2:18Jhn 2:5Mat 7:24
So the spies went out into the hill country and stayed there three days, until their pursuers had returned without finding them, having searched all along the road. 1Sa 19:10-122Sa 17:20Psa 32:6-7 Then the two men started back, came down from the hill country, and crossed the river. So they came to Joshua son of Nun and reported all that had happened to them.
“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.” Exo 23:31Exo 15:15Jos 1:8Jos 2:9-11Jos 21:44-45Jos 5:1Num 13:32-33Pro 25:13