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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.
- BSB Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
- NKJV Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
- NASB Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and rested there.
- NLT Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
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
Joshua secretly sends two spies to scout Jericho, and they lodge at the house of Rahab the prostitute. God's plan begins to unfold through unexpected means and people.
Overview
Unlike the earlier failed spy mission (Numbers 13), this reconnaissance proceeds in faith toward a land God has already promised. That the spies find refuge with Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, signals God's surprising grace reaching beyond Israel. Rahab is later praised for her faith (Hebrews 11:31) and appears in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5), a striking testimony that God redeems the outsider and sinner.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Heb 11:31By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
- Jas 2:25Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
- Matt 1:5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
- Num 13:17–21And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
- Num 25:1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
- Matt 10:16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Josh 3:1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
- Eph 5:5For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Num 13:2Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
- Judg 18:17And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
- Josh 6:1–25Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
- Num 33:49And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.
- Josh 5:10And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
- Judg 18:2And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
- Josh 21:31Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.
- Judg 18:14Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
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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 2:1 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
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