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Joshua 2

Chapter Text

Rahab and the Spies

Summary

Joshua sends two spies to scout Jericho. They lodge at the house of Rahab the harlot, who hides them from the king's men. Rahab confesses faith in the God of Israel and asks the spies to spare her family. They agree, instructing her to tie a scarlet cord in her window as a sign of protection.

Meaning

Rahab's faith demonstrates that God's grace extends beyond the boundaries of Israel to all who believe. Her confession that the Lord is God in heaven and earth anticipates the universal scope of salvation.

The scarlet cord becomes a token of covenant mercy, foreshadowing the blood of redemption that shelters all who trust in God's promise.

Background

Jericho was a fortified Canaanite city strategically located near the Jordan crossing. Rahab's house was built into the city wall, providing a means of escape for the spies.

Rahab is later honored in the genealogy of Christ and commended in the New Testament for her faith.

Chapter Outline

  1. vv. 1Joshua Sends Two Spies to Jericho
  2. vv. 2-7Rahab Hides the Spies from the King
  3. vv. 8-11Rahab's Confession of Faith in the LORD
  4. vv. 12-14The Covenant of Protection for Rahab's Family
  5. vv. 15-21Escape by the Scarlet Cord
  6. vv. 22-24The Spies Return with a Confident Report

Key Verses

“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.”— 2:9

Rahab's confession reveals that God had already prepared the conquest psychologically. Her knowledge of the LORD's power demonstrates that His fame had spread far beyond Israel.

“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.”— 2:11

A remarkable monotheistic confession from a Canaanite woman. This declaration of universal sovereignty — God in heaven above and in earth beneath — echoes Deuteronomy 4:39 and is cited in the New Testament as exemplary faith (Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25).

“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.”— 2:18

The scarlet cord becomes the sign of salvation for Rahab's household, widely regarded as a type of redemption through blood. Its placement in the window parallels the Passover blood on the doorposts.

“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.”— 2:24

The spies' confident report contrasts sharply with the faithless report of the ten spies in Numbers 13-14, showing a new generation's trust in God's promises.

People & Places

People

  • Joshua — Son of Nun, Israel's leader who commissions the reconnaissance mission into Canaan.
  • Rahab — A harlot of Jericho who hides the Israelite spies and confesses faith in the LORD, later included in the lineage of Christ (Matthew 1:5).
  • King of Jericho — The unnamed ruler of Jericho who learns of the spies and orders their capture.
  • Sihon — King of the Amorites east of Jordan, whose defeat by Israel was known throughout Canaan.
  • Og — King of Bashan, another Amorite king destroyed by Israel, referenced by Rahab as evidence of the LORD's power.

Places

  • Shittim — Israel's encampment east of the Jordan in the plains of Moab, the staging point before crossing into Canaan.
  • Jericho — A fortified Canaanite city near the Jordan River, the first target of Israel's conquest of the Promised Land.
  • Jordan — The river forming the boundary between the wilderness wanderings and the Promised Land, which the pursuers searched toward.
  • Red Sea — Referenced by Rahab as the site of God's miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

Prophecy & Fulfillment

Rahab's inclusion in the covenant community foreshadows the Gentile inclusion in God's redemptive plan. The scarlet cord (v. 18) is widely understood as typological — prefiguring salvation through blood, echoing the Passover lamb of Exodus 12. Rahab appears in Matthew 1:5 as an ancestress of Christ, fulfilling the pattern of God grafting unlikely figures into His messianic lineage. Her faith-confession in verse 11 anticipates the universal scope of God's kingdom proclaimed throughout the prophets.

Devotional

Rahab's story shatters every human assumption about who qualifies for God's grace. A Canaanite woman with a disreputable past becomes the unlikely hero of this chapter — not because of her background, but because of her faith. She heard what God had done and responded with belief rather than defiance.

Her courage reminds us that genuine faith always moves toward action. She risked everything to shelter the spies, secured protection for her family, and bound the scarlet cord in her window as an act of trust. God does not require a perfect past — He honors a willing heart that turns toward Him in faith.

Literary Style

Narrative prose with embedded dialogue that drives the plot. The chapter is structured as a spy thriller — mission, danger, rescue — but its theological center is Rahab's speech (vv. 9-11), a confession of faith framed in covenant language. Dramatic irony pervades: the king searches while salvation hides on the rooftop under stalks of flax.