Joshua 2:14

14 And the men said to her, "{Our lives for yours}. If you do not report this business of ours, {we will show you loyalty and faithfulness} when Yahweh gives us the land."

Joshua 2:14 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 2:14

And the men answered her
The two spies:

our life for yours;
or "our souls in your stead to die" F9; that is, we engage for the security of your lives, should they be in danger; we promise to die in your room and stead rather than you should: this they said not as though their lives would be required of them for them, but to assure her of the safety of her and her father's house, on the following condition:

if ye utter not this our business;
not their business in searching the land, for the discovery of that would be of little avail after they were gone; for it was known already that there were persons come to search the land; but "this our word" F11, what they were going to say to her and bid her do, as a sign of safety to her and hers; which, if she discovered, others would give out the same sign, and then they could not promise her safety; or if she did not take care to bring in her father, mother, brethren, and sisters, and theirs into her house, they could not engage to protect them:

and it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land;
not the whole land, but Jericho and the laud about it, that when that part of it should be delivered into their hands:

that we will deal kindly and truly with thee;
"kindly", by sparing her and her father's house; "truly", by faithfully performing the promise and oath they made to her.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (twml Mkytxt wnvpn) "anima nostra pro vobis ad moriendum", Pagninus, Montanus.
F11 (hz wnrbd ta) "verbum nostrum hoc", Pagninus, Montanus; "sermonem nostrum hunc", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius.

Joshua 2:14 In-Context

12 So then please swear to me by Yahweh, because {I have shown loyalty to you}, and {you will also show loyalty} {to my family}. You must give me a sign of good faith,
13 and you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that belongs to them; you will deliver our lives from death."
14 And the men said to her, "{Our lives for yours}. If you do not report this business of ours, {we will show you loyalty and faithfulness} when Yahweh gives us the land."
15 Then she lowered them with a rope through the window, as her house [was] on the outer side of the wall, and she [was] residing in the wall.
16 And she said to them, "Go to the mountain, so that the pursuers will not find you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return, and afterward you may go {on your way}."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "Our lives in place of yours to die"
  • [b]. Literally "we will do with you loyal love and faithfulness"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.