And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two
men
Or "had sent" F16; for this was done before the above
order to depart: it is a tradition of the Jews F17, that
they were Caleb and Phinehas; but they were not young men, as in
( Joshua
6:23 ) ; especially the former; nor is it probable that men
of such rank and figure should be sent, but rather meaner
persons; yet such as were men of good sense and abilities, and
capable of conducting such an affair they were sent about, as
well as men of probity and faithfulness; two good men, Kimchi
says they were, and not as they that went on the mission of
Moses; these were sent from Shittim, the same with Abelshittim,
in the plains of Moab, where Israel now lay encamped, ( Numbers
33:49 ) , which Josephus F18 calls Abila, and says it was
sixty furlongs, or seven miles and better, from Jordan:
to spy secretly;
or "silently" F19; not so much with respect to the
inhabitants of the land, for it is supposed in all spies, that
they do their business in the most private and secret manner, so
as not to be discovered by the inhabitants, whose land they are
sent to spy; but with respect to the children of Israel, that
they might know nothing of it, lest they should be discouraged,
thinking that Joshua was in some fear of the Canaanites, and
under some distrust of the promise of God to give the land to
them: the word for "smiths", and also for persons deaf and dumb,
coming from the same root, have furnished the Jewish writers with
various conceits, as that these spies went in the habit of smiths
with the instruments of their business in their hands; or acted
as deaf and dumb persons, and so as incapable of giving an
account of themselves, or of answering to any questions put to
them, should they be taken up and examined; their commentators in
general take notice of this:
saying, go view the land, even Jericho;
especially Jericho, so Noldius {t}; the land in general, and
Jericho in particular, because it was a great city, as Kimchi
notes; of this city, (See Gill on Luke
19:4). Whether it had its name from the sweetsmelling
balsam which grew in plenty about it, or from the form of it,
being that of an half moon, is not certain, Strabo F21 says
of it, that here was a paradise of balsam, an aromatic, and that
it was surrounded with hills in a plain, which bent to it like an
amphitheatre. They were not sent to spy the land, as the spies in
the times of Moses, to see what sort of land it was, and what
sort of people dwelt in it; but to reconnoitre it, to know where
it was best to lead the people at first, and encamp; and
particularly to observe the passes and avenues leading to
Jericho, the first city in it, nearest to them, of importance.
Ben Gersom thinks it was to spy or pick out the thoughts of the
inhabitants of the land, what apprehensions they had of the
people of Israel, whether disheartened and dispirited at their
near approach, and what were their intentions, resolutions, and
preparations to act against them, offensively, or defensively;
and which seems not amiss, since this was the chief information
they got, and which they reported to Joshua upon their return;
though Abarbinel objects to it as a thing impossible:
and they went, and came into a harlot's house, named
Rahab;
they went from Shittim, and crossed the river Jordan, by swimming
or fording, and came to Jericho; which, as Josephus F23 says,
was fifty furlongs, or seven miles and a half, from Jordan; and
they went into a harlot's house, not purposely for that reason,
because it was such an one, but so it proved eventually; though
the Targum of Jonathan says it was the house of a woman, an
innkeeper or victualler; for Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech,
interpret the word it uses of a seller of food F24; and
if so, it furnishes out a reason why they turned in thither,
where they might expect to have food and lodging; though the Jews
commonly take her to be a harlot; and generally speaking, in
those times and countries, such as kept public houses were
prostitutes; and there are some circumstances which seem to
confirm this in the context; and so the Greek version calls her,
and is the character given of her in the New Testament: her name
was Rahab, of whom the Jews have this tradition {y}, that she was
ten years of age when Israel came out of Egypt; that she played
the harlot the forty years they were in the wilderness, became
the wife of Joshua, who had daughters by her, from whom came
eight prophets, Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Maasia, Hanameel, Shallum,
Baruch, the son of Neriah, Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, and some say
Huldah the prophetess; but the truth is, she married Salmon, a
prince of the tribe of Judah, (See Gill on Matthew
1:5):
and lodged there;
that is, they went thither in order to lodge.