Joshua 2:12

12 Now, therefore, swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have shewed mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my father’s house: and give me a true token.

Joshua 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 2:12

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord
Which being a religious action, and done by men that feared the Lord, she knew it would be binding upon them: the Targum is,

``swear to me by the Word of the Lord:''

since I have showed you kindness;
by receiving them with peace into her house, and hiding them when inquired for and demanded of her; in doing which she risked her own, life, had this treachery to her country, as it would have been deemed, been discovered;

that you will also show kindness unto my father's house;
she mentions not herself and household, for if this was granted that would be implied and included; and this she presses for by the law of retaliation and friendship, for since she had shown kindness to them, it was but reasonable it should be returned:

and give me a true token;
that she and her father's house would be saved by them when the city should be taken and the inhabitants destroyed; a token that would not deceive her, on which she might depend, and would be firm and sure.

Joshua 2:12 In-Context

10 We have heard that the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea, at your going in, when you came out of Egypt: and what things you did to the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan, Sehon and Og whom you slew.

11 And at the hearing these things, we were affrighted, and our heart fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us, at your coming in: for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath.

12 Now, therefore, swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have shewed mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my father’s house: and give me a true token.

13 That you will save my father and mother, my brethren and sisters, and all things that are theirs, and deliver our souls from death.

14 They answered her: Be our lives for you unto death, only if thou betray us not. And when the Lord shall have delivered us the land, we will shew thee mercy and truth.