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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
- 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, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
- Jas 2:25In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
- Matt 1:5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
- Num 13:17–21Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country.
- Num 25:1Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
- Matt 10:16“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Josh 3:1Joshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They camped there before they crossed over.
- Eph 5:5Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
- Num 13:2“Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince among them.”
- Judg 18:17The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
- Josh 6:1–25Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.
- Num 33:49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.
- Josh 5:10The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.
- Judg 18:2The children of Dan sent five men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land!” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
- Josh 21:31Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs: four cities.
- Judg 18:14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you 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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