(But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.)
Parallel translations
- WEB But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
- NASB But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.
- NLT (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.)
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 had hidden the spies on her roof under stalks of flax. She had carefully prepared their concealment in advance.
Overview
The detail of the flax drying on the roof grounds the account in everyday life and shows Rahab's deliberate, calculated protection of the men. Her resourcefulness serves the unfolding purpose of God. This humble Canaanite woman becomes an instrument in advancing Israel's God-given mission, foreshadowing her place among the people of faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Heb 11:23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict.
- Jas 2:25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?
- 2 Sam 17:19Then the man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing.
- Col 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
- Exod 1:15–21Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
- 1 Kgs 18:4for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- Matt 24:17Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
- Josh 2:8Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof
- Exod 2:2and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
- Jer 36:26Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
- 1 Kgs 18:13Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.
- Deut 22:8If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
- 2 Sam 11:2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- 2 Kgs 11:2But Jehosheba daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, and he was not killed.
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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 2:6 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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