Joshua 2:5

5 They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.”

Joshua 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 2:5

And it came to pass, [about the time] of the shutting of the
gate
Of the city, which was done every night, and at a certain time:

when it was dark;
the sun set, and night come on:

that the men went out;
out of her house, and out of the city too, as she said, though it was a downright lie, as well as what follows:

whither the men went I wot not;
though she knew they were not gone, but were now in her house; she might not scruple telling a lie, being brought up a Heathen, and being done with a design to save the lives of persons that belonged to a people she was persuaded were the people of God, and to whom he had given the land; though her lies are not to be justified; evil is not to be done that good may come; nor are men to tell lies one to another upon any account; but these sins, with others, the Lord forgave her:

pursue after them quickly, and ye shall overtake them;
this she encouraged them to do, to get rid of them the sooner, and to remove all suspicion of her having any respect for them, and of being concerned in concealing them.

Joshua 2:5 In-Context

3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”

4 Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from.

5 They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.”

6 (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.)

7 So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.