When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.
Parallel translations
- WEB As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
- NASB When we heard these reports, our hearts melted and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below.
- NLT No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Rahab declares that the people's hearts melted in fear, and she confesses Yahweh as God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Her words are a full confession of God's supremacy.
Overview
This is the theological climax of Rahab's speech: she affirms Yahweh as the one true God over all creation, a confession echoing Deuteronomy 4:39. Such a statement from a Canaanite is astonishing and reveals true conversion of heart. Rahab's faith, praised in the New Testament, demonstrates that salvation belongs to all who trust the living God, regardless of nationality or past.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Deut 4:39Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
- Josh 5:1Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.
- Isa 13:7Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
- Josh 7:5And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
- Jer 16:19–21O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
- Dan 6:25–27Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.
- Zech 8:20–23This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—
- Dan 4:34–35But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- Ps 102:15So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
- 1 Kgs 8:60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!
- Ps 83:18May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Nah 2:10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Rev 6:16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
- Deut 20:8Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”
- Josh 14:8Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.
- Deut 1:28Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”
- Exod 15:14The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
- Ps 22:14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 2:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.