Yehoshua 2:16

16 And she said unto them, Get you to the hill country, lest the rodefim (pursuers) meet you; and hide yourselves there shloshet yamim, until the rodefim return; and afterward may ye go your way.

Yehoshua 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.

Yehoshua 2:16 In-Context

14 And the anashim answered her, Nafsheinu (our soul) shall die for you, if ye utter not what we are doing. And it shall be, when Hashem hath given us HaAretz, that we will deal chesed v’emes with thee.
15 Then she let them down by a chevel (cord, rope) through the chalon (window); for her bais was in the city wall, and she dwelt in the chomah (wall).
16 And she said unto them, Get you to the hill country, lest the rodefim (pursuers) meet you; and hide yourselves there shloshet yamim, until the rodefim return; and afterward may ye go your way.
17 And the anashim said unto her, We will be nekiyyim (free ones) of this thine shevu’ah (oath) which thou hast made us swear,
18 Unless when we come into HaAretz, thou shalt tie this rope of scarlet cord in the chalon by which thou didst let us down; and thou shalt bring thy av, and thy em, and thy achim, and all thy bais avi, with thee inside the bais.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.