Joshua 2:2

2 Someone told the king of Jericho, "Some men from Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land."

Joshua 2:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 2:2

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying
Who being alarmed at the near approach of the Israelites, and knowing their claim to the land of Canaan, and their design upon it, employed men to watch and observe what passed in the city, and parts adjacent, and inform him of it; or some persons of themselves, and for their own safety, and the good of their fellow citizens, gave notice to the king of it:

behold, there came men hither tonight of the children of Israel;
who were known by their habit and language; or at least, being strangers, were suspected to be of that people, the terror of whom had fallen on all the inhabitants, so that every strange man they took for an Israelite; from hence it appears, that the spies came to Jericho at night, that they might not be observed: but with all their precaution they were taken notice of, and their design suspected, namely,

to search out the country;
which were the proper places to attack first, and where there was the greatest probability of succeeding, as well as to find out the disposition of the inhabitants, whether fearful or fearless of them.

Joshua 2:2 In-Context

1 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out two spies from Acacia and said to them, "Go and look at the land, particularly at the city of Jericho." So the men went to Jericho and stayed at the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

2 Someone told the king of Jericho, "Some men from Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land."

3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house. They have come to spy out our whole land."

4 But the woman had hidden the two men. She said, "They did come here, but I didn't know where they came from.

5 In the evening, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don't know where they went, but if you go quickly, maybe you can catch them."