Joshua 6:22

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Joshua 6:22-25. The harlot’s house — Which, together with the wall upon which it leaned, was left standing, by a special favour of God to her. Left them without the camp of Israel — Till they were cleansed from the impurities of their Gentile state, and instructed in the Jewish religion, and solemnly admitted into that church, for which Rahab’s good counsel and example had doubtless prepared them. Joshua saved Rahab alive — For that general command to root out the Canaanites seems to have had some exceptions, in case any of them had sincerely and seasonably cast off their idolatry and wickedness, submitted to the Israelites, and become members of the church of God. She dwelleth in Israel unto this day — This shows that the book of Joshua was written while Rahab was alive.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:17-27 Jericho was to be a solemn and awful sacrifice to the justice of God, upon those who had filled up the measure of their sins. So He appoints, from whom, as creatures, they received their lives, and to whom, as sinners, they had forfeited them. Rahab perished not with them that believed not, Heb 11:31. All her kindred were saved with her; thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Ac 14:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as brands from the burning. With Rahab, or with the men of Jericho; our portion must be assigned, as we posses or disregard the sign of salvation; even faith in Christ, which worketh by love. Let us remember what depends upon our choice, and let us choose accordingly. God shows the weight of a Divine curse; where it rests there is no getting from under it; for it brings ruin without remedy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Accursed - Better as in margin, ("devoted" (Leviticus 27:28 note). In other cases the inhabitants only of the towns were slain; their cattle and property became the booty of the victors. But Jericho, as the first Canaanite city that was captured, was devoted by Israel as first-fruits to God, as a token that Israel received all the land from Him. Every living thing was put to death (Rahab and her household excepted) as a sacrifice to God, and the indestructible goods were Joshua 6:19 brought into the treasury of the sanctuary.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 6:22-25. Rahab Is Saved.

22, 23. Joshua had said … Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath—It is evident that the town walls were not demolished universally, at least all at once, for Rahab's house was allowed to stand until her relatives were rescued according to promise.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The harlot’s house, together with the wall upon which it leaned, was left standing, either by a special favour of God to her, or for the reason alleged upon Joshua 6:5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country,.... Whom he had sent on that errand, Joshua 2:1; and what follows he had said unto them before the people entered into the city, and perhaps before the walls of it fell; and indeed from Joshua 6:16, it appears to have been said at the time he gave the people orders to shout:

go into the harlot's house: he does not mention her name but they full well knew who he meant:

and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath; not so much her substance, as her father's household, she had got together there, that they might be saved, as had been promised her:

as ye sware unto her; so that this order was partly on account of her kindness to them, Joshua 6:17; and partly on account of the oath which they had taken, and which Joshua would have inviolably kept.

Geneva Study Bible

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22–25. The Rescue of Rahab

22. Go into the harlot’s house] We are told that Rahab’s house was upon the town wall, and that she dwelt upon the wall. But though the walls of Jericho fell down flat, her house was preserved. They fell by faith, and she was saved by faith (Hebrews 11:30-31).

as ye sware unto her] See above, Joshua 2:14.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Had said. Here we have an instance of the use of the perfect as a pluperfect. We can hardly suppose, as Keil observes, that Joshua gave these orders in the midst of the turmoil and confusion attendant on the sack of the city (see above, Joshua 1:11; Joshua 2:1). Go into the harlot's house. The preservation of Rahab's house must have been a part of the miracle, since it was upon the city wall (cf. Hebrews 11:30, 31). Joshua 6:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After the taking of Jericho, man and beast were banned, i.e., put to death without quarter (Joshua 6:21; cf. Joshua 6:17); Rahab and her relations being the only exceptions. Joshua had directed the two spies to fetch them out of her house, and in the first instance had them taken to a place of safety outside the camp of Israel (Joshua 6:22, Joshua 6:23). "Her brethren," i.e., her brothers and sisters, as in Joshua 2:13, not her brothers only. "All that she had" does not mean all her possessions, but all the persons belonging to her house; and "all her kindred" are all her relations by birth or marriage, with their dependants (cf. Joshua 2:13). Clericus is correct in observing, that as Rahab's house was built against the town-wall, and rested partly upon it (Joshua 2:15), when the wall fell down, that portion against or upon which the house stood cannot have fallen along with the rest, "otherwise when the wall fell no one would have dared to remain in the house." But we must not draw the further inference, that when the town was burned Rahab's house was spared.

(Note: The statements made by travellers in the middle ages, to the effect that they had seen Rahab's house (Rob. Pal. ii. pp. 295-6), belong to the delusions of pious superstition.)

וגו מחוּץ ויּנּיחוּם (Joshua 6:23; cf. Genesis 19:16), "they let them rest," i.e., placed them in safety, "outside the camp of Israel," sc., till they had done all that was requisite for a formal reception into the congregation of the Lord, viz., by giving up idolatry and heathen superstition, and turning to the God of Israel as the only true God (to which circumcision had to be added in the case of the men), and by whatever lustrations and purifications were customary at the time in connection with reception into the covenant with Jehovah, of which we have no further information.