Joshua 2:16

16 And she said to them, Go ye up to the hilly places, lest peradventure the men turning again meet you; and be ye hid there three days, till they come again; and so ye shall go by your way. (And she said to them, Go ye up to the hills, lest as the men return, they come upon you; and be ye hid there for three days, until they return; and then ye can go on your way.)

Joshua 2:16 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 2:16

And she said unto them, get ye unto the mountain
Which was near to the city, and is supposed to be the same which is now called Quarantania: Dr. Shaw, a late traveller in those parts, says {m}, from the mountain Quarantania, the very same perhaps where the two spies concealed themselves, ( Joshua 2:16 ) , we have a distinct view of the land of the Amorites, of Gilead, and of Bashan, the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh--to it joins the mountain of Adummim, and through it the road is cut that leads from Jerusalem to Jericho, where probably it was from the very nature of the situation that the man fell among thieves, ( Luke 10:30 ) ; which very probably is the same mountain which Josephus F14 says hung over the city, and was a very barren one; though the singular may be put for the plural, since, as Strabo says F15, it was surrounded with mountains:

lest the pursuers meet you;
on their return from the fords of Jordan, being disappointed:

and hide yourselves there three days:
some of the Jewish Rabbins, as Jarchi and Kimchi, observe that she had this by the revelation of the Holy Ghost, that the pursuers would return at the end of three days; but the latter more truly remarks, that this was said by conjecture; that Jericho being, as he says, one day from Jordan, and a little more, by going, returning, and searching for the spies, they would be three days in doing it:

until the pursuers be returned;
into the city; for until they were they could not be in safety, but must be in danger of being met by them and taken up:

and afterward may ye go your way:
to Jordan, and so to the camp of Israel, and that without fear.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Travels, p. 276. Ed. 2.
F14 De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 2.
F15 Geograph. l. 16. p. 525.

Joshua 2:16 In-Context

14 Which answered to her, Our life be for you into death, if nevertheless thou betrayest not us; and when the Lord hath betaken to us the land, we shall do mercy and truth with thee. (And they answered to her, Our lives be for yours unto death, if thou betrayest us not; and when the Lord hath delivered the land to us, we shall show mercy and faithfulness to thee.)
15 Then she let them down from the window by a cord; for her house was joined to the town wall.
16 And she said to them, Go ye up to the hilly places, lest peradventure the men turning again meet you; and be ye hid there three days, till they come again; and so ye shall go by your way. (And she said to them, Go ye up to the hills, lest as the men return, they come upon you; and be ye hid there for three days, until they return; and then ye can go on your way.)
17 Which said to her, We shall be guiltless of this oath, by which thou hast charged us,
18 if, when we enter into the land, this red cord is not (shown as) a sign, and thou bindest it not in the window, by which thou lettest us down; and thou gatherest not into thine house thy father, and mother, and brethren, and all thy kindred;
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.