And the woman took the two men
Or "she had taken" them
and hid them;
the Hebrew word is singular, "him" F1: hence the Jews, who take these two spies to be Caleb and Phinehas, say, that only Caleb was hid, and Phinehas, though he was before them, was not seen, being an angel, ( Malachi 2:7 ) ; but the sense is, that she hid each of them, and very probably singly and apart, that if one was found, the other might escape, as Ben Gersom observes; and Abarbinel is of opinion that she hid them twice, now in the middle of her house, one in one place, and the other in another, for the reason before given, and after this hid them in the roof of her house, as afterwards related:
and said thus, there came men unto me;
that is, into her house, this she owned:
but I wist not whence they [were];
of what country they were, whether Israelites or not; which whether she knew or not is not certain; it is probable she did, and told an untruth, as she also did in ( Joshua 2:5 ) .
F26 (xptw) "duxerat, tulerat"; so Syr. Ar. Kimchi, & Ben Melech.
F1 (wnputw) "et abscondit eum", Montanus; "abdiderat eum", Vatablus.