“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
- NASB So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
- NLT “We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”
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
The spies pledge their own lives for Rahab's safety, promising kindness and faithfulness when God gives them the land, provided she keeps their mission secret. A covenant of mutual loyalty is sealed.
Overview
The men bind themselves with a solemn oath, staking their lives on protecting Rahab. Their promise of dealing 'kindly and truly' echoes the covenant faithfulness Rahab requested. This mutual pledge, made in the name of the coming conquest, secures Rahab's place among the saved and foreshadows her inclusion in Israel and in the lineage of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 5:7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- Judg 1:24–25and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”
- Prov 18:24A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
- Gen 24:49Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; but if not, let me know, so that I may go elsewhere.”
- 1 Sam 20:8Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
- Josh 6:25And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.
- Josh 6:17Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
- 1 Kgs 20:39As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’
- Num 10:29–32Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”
- 2 Sam 9:1Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
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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.
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Original language
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