Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Joshua
Chapter 2: Rahab and the Scarlet Cord
Before Israel crosses the Jordan, two spies enter Jericho and are sheltered by the last person anyone would expect: Rahab, a Gentile harlot. She has heard what the LORD did at the Red Sea, and faith is born in her heart. She hides the spies, confesses that 'the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath,' and begs for mercy for her household. The spies give her a sign of salvation, a scarlet cord in her window, and a woman marked by scarlet is spared when the city falls. Here grace reaches an outsider, faith saves a sinner, and a harlot of Jericho is written into the family line of the Saviour.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Joshua chapter 2. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here two spies are sheltered by Rahab the harlot, whose faith in the LORD saves her and her household through the sign of the scarlet cord. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Sent to Jericho
Two men enter the city and lodge in Rahab's house.
A Harlot's Faith
She hides the spies and confesses the LORD is God.
Kindness for Kindness
She begs mercy for her household, and it is sworn.
The Scarlet Cord
A scarlet line in the window marks the saved.
He Is God in Heaven Above (Joshua 2:1-11)
Two spies find shelter with Rahab the harlot, who hides them from the king and confesses that the LORD, who dried the Red Sea, is God of heaven and earth.
The Faith of Rahab
"And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
Word Study
"harlot," Hebrew zonah (זוֹנָה). The word means a prostitute, and Scripture does not soften it: Rahab was a zonah, a woman of the streets in a doomed pagan city. This is the point. God's grace reaches the person the world writes off. Rahab had nothing to commend her, no pedigree, no righteousness, no place among the covenant people, only a bad name in a wicked city. Yet she "heard" what the LORD had done at the Red Sea and against the Amorite kings, and faith was born: "I know that the LORD hath given you the land." She acted on that faith, hiding the spies at the risk of her life, and she confessed the true God: "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." That is a fuller confession of the one God than many in Israel ever made, spoken by a Gentile harlot. And God honored it. The New Testament twice holds up Rahab as a model: "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not" (Hebrews 11:31), and "was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers?" (James 2:25). More than that, she married into Israel and became an ancestor of King David, and so of the Messiah Himself: "Salmon begat Booz of Rachab" (Matthew 1:5). A harlot of Jericho is written into the family line of Jesus Christ. So zonah preaches the reach of grace: no one is too far gone, too stained, or too outside for the mercy of God. Faith in the true God saves the worst of sinners, and grace can lift a harlot into the lineage of the Saviour.
Explanation
The scene is a spy story with a surprising turn. Two men slip into Jericho and lodge at Rahab's house; word reaches the king, and soldiers come demanding them. Rahab has already hidden the spies "with the stalks of flax" drying on her roof, and she sends the pursuers off on a false trail toward the Jordan fords. Then, alone with the men she has just saved, she delivers not military intelligence but a confession of faith: "your terror is fallen upon us... all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." Sent to scout a city's defenses, the spies come back having heard the gospel from a Canaanite harlot — the one heart in Jericho that God had already turned.
Gospel Focus
Joshua sends two spies "to spy secretly," and of all the houses in Jericho they come to "an harlot's house, named Rahab." What looks like chance is the quiet working of grace, for God had already been at work in Rahab's heart. Word of Israel had spread, and while the whole city melted in fear, Rahab's fear turned to faith. When the king demands the spies, she hides them under "the stalks of flax" and sends the pursuers on a false trail, choosing the LORD's people over her own city at the risk of her life. Then she tells the spies why: "we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you." The same news that made Jericho's hearts "melt" in terror moved Rahab to faith. The difference was not the report but the response: the city heard and hardened; Rahab heard and believed. And her confession is remarkable: "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." She does not say the LORD is a god, or the strongest god; she confesses Him as the one true God of all heaven and earth. This is genuine, saving faith in a Gentile outsider, before Israel has even crossed the Jordan, a foretaste of the day when the gospel would go to all nations and gather a people from every kindred and tongue. For the Apostolic reader Rahab is a picture of grace: a sinner with no claim on God, who hears of His mighty works, believes, acts on that faith, confesses the one true God, and is saved. Her story says to every outsider and every failure that the door of mercy stands open. It is not our past that shuts us out, but unbelief; and it is not our record that saves us, but faith in the LORD who is God in heaven above and in earth beneath.
The Line of Scarlet Thread (Joshua 2:12-24)
Rahab asks for a covenant of mercy for her household, and the spies give her a sign: a scarlet cord in the window, by which all who remain in her house will be spared.
Bind This Line of Scarlet Thread
"Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us."
Word Study
"line," Hebrew tiqvah (תִּקְוָה). The word Rahab is given for the scarlet "line" is tiqvah, which means a cord or a line, and, in almost every other place it appears in the Old Testament, it means hope. The same Hebrew word that names the scarlet cord in her window is the word for hope: it is tiqvah that the KJV renders "hope" in "there is hope in thine end" (Jeremiah 31:17) and in "the hope of Israel" (Jeremiah 17:13). The picture is beautiful and, for the Apostolic reader, unmistakable. Rahab's hope, her one hope of deliverance when Jericho fell, hung in her window as a cord of scarlet, red like blood. This scarlet line is a shadow of the blood of Christ, exactly as the blood on the doorposts sheltered Israel in Egypt: "when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). As every Israelite family was spared by the blood on the door, so Rahab's household was spared by the scarlet in the window. The terms are the same as the Passover: all who stayed inside the marked house lived; whoever went out was on his own. Salvation was found only under the sign of scarlet, and only by remaining in the house it marked. So tiqvah weds two truths in one word: the scarlet cord is both Rahab's hope and a picture of the blood that saves. Our hope hangs on the blood of Jesus. Those who shelter under it, and abide in Christ, are passed over in the day of judgment; those who go out from the covering of the blood have no covering at all. Rahab's scarlet hope preaches the gospel: there is deliverance under the blood, and nowhere else.
Explanation
Rahab now strikes a covenant, and it runs both ways. She asks the spies to "swear unto me by the LORD" to spare her house, and they answer, "Our life for yours" — but on conditions: she must bind the scarlet line in the window, gather her whole family inside, and tell no one their business. Break any term and the oath is void; keep them and all within are safe. Then she lets them down by a cord through the window (her house was built into the city wall) and sends them to hide three days in the mountains until the search dies down. Faith here is not a feeling but a binding agreement, sealed with a sign and obeyed at once.
Gospel Focus
Rahab's faith now seeks a covenant. She asks the spies to "swear unto me by the LORD" and to "shew kindness unto my father's house," to "deliver our lives from death." Her faith is not for herself alone; she pleads for her whole family, and true faith always longs to bring others in. The spies pledge, "Our life for yours," and give her the sign: "thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window." The conditions are exactly those of the Passover. First, the scarlet must be displayed, the mark of the covenant openly shown. Second, all who would be saved must gather "home unto thee", into the one marked house; "whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head," but "whosoever shall be with thee in the house" is safe. Salvation is by the scarlet sign, and only inside the house it marks. Rahab believes and obeys at once: "she bound the scarlet line in the window", she did not wait for the army to appear, but displayed her hope immediately, the response of real faith. She lets the spies down "by a cord through the window" (the same window that will bear the scarlet), sends them to hide "three days," and they return to Joshua with the report that seals the chapter: "Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land." The mission that began by grace in a harlot's house ends in faith-filled confidence. For the Apostolic reader Rahab is a living gospel. She was a Gentile, a sinner, an outsider under sentence of death with a doomed city, and she was saved, not by her goodness, but by faith in the LORD and by the scarlet sign of deliverance, a shadow of the blood of Christ. Her whole household was invited under that covering, and all who came in were spared. So it is with us: our hope hangs on the blood of Jesus; we display it, we shelter under it, we abide in Christ, and we plead for our households and our neighbors to come in. Rahab the harlot, saved by scarlet, stands forever as proof that whosoever will may come, and be delivered from death.
Chapter 2 in Review
Joshua 2 tells how two spies sent to Jericho were sheltered by Rahab, "an harlot," who had heard "how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea" and believed. Risking her life, she hid the spies and confessed the true God: "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." She sought a covenant of mercy for her whole household, and the spies gave her a sign of salvation, "this line of scarlet thread" bound in her window, with the promise that all who remained inside her house would be spared. Rahab "bound the scarlet line in the window" at once, and the spies returned to Joshua declaring, "Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a shining picture of grace and the gospel. Rahab had no claim on God, a Gentile, a harlot, a citizen of a doomed city, yet grace reached her, faith was born in her by what she "heard," and she was saved. Her confession of the one true God, "God in heaven above, and in earth beneath," is fuller than many in Israel ever made, and God so honored her faith that He wrote her into the family line of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5) and held her up forever as an example of faith (Hebrews 11:31) and of faith proved by works (James 2:25). And the scarlet cord, her tiqvah, her hope, is a shadow of the blood of Christ: as the Passover blood on the door and the scarlet in the window spared all who sheltered under the sign and stayed in the house, so all who trust the blood of Jesus and abide in Him are passed over in the day of judgment. Rahab's story tells every outsider and every failure that the door of mercy stands open: it is not our past that shuts us out but unbelief, and it is not our record that saves us but faith in the LORD and the blood of the Lamb. So we hang out our scarlet hope, we shelter under the blood, we abide in Christ, and, like Rahab, we gather our households in.
- Grace reaches the outsider: God saves Rahab, a Gentile harlot in a doomed city (2:1).
- The same news hardened Jericho but gave Rahab faith; the difference was the response (2:9-11).
- Rahab confessed the one true God, "God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (2:11).
- True faith seeks to save others; she pleaded for her whole household (2:12-13).
- The scarlet cord (tiqvah, hope) is a shadow of the blood of Christ, like the Passover (2:18; Exodus 12:13).
- Salvation was by the sign and inside the house; Rahab believed and obeyed at once (2:19-21).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you believe grace can reach anyone, no matter their past?
- When you hear of God's works, do you harden like Jericho or believe like Rahab?
- Are you sheltering under the blood of Christ, your true "scarlet cord" of hope?
- Like Rahab, are you seeking to bring your household and others in?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The spies and Rahab's faith and confession: Joshua 2:1-11; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25; Deuteronomy 4:39; Exodus 15:14-16. Rahab in the line of the Messiah: Joshua 2; Matthew 1:5; Ruth 4:20-21. The covenant and the scarlet cord as a type of the blood: Joshua 2:12-21; Exodus 12:7, 13, 22-23; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Hebrews 9:22; John 15:4-7. Rahab's hope (tiqvah): Joshua 2:18, 21; Jeremiah 17:13; 31:17; Colossians 1:27. The spies' report and the LORD's deliverance: Joshua 2:22-24; Joshua 1:2-6; Numbers 13:25-33. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Rahab the harlot's faith and confession of the one true God: Joshua 2:1-11; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25.
- Grace to the outsider; Rahab in the line of Christ: Joshua 2; Matthew 1:5; Ruth 4:20-21.
- The scarlet cord as a type of the blood of Christ, like the Passover: Joshua 2:12-21; Exodus 12:13; 1 Peter 1:18-19.
- The scarlet line as Rahab's hope (tiqvah); the spies' report: Joshua 2:18-24; Jeremiah 17:13; Colossians 1:27.