Joshua 2:10

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that [were] on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

Ver. 10. For we have heard.] Historiae fidae monitrices. Succurrat illud … Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. For we have heard how, etc. She mentions, as the special cause of consternation, that the wide-spread rumor of miracles, hitherto without example, had impressed it on the minds of all that God was warring for the Israelites. For it was impossible to doubt that the way through the Red Sea had been miraculously opened up, as the water would never have changed its nature and become piled up in solid heaps, had not God, the author of nature, so ordered. The transmutation of the element, therefore, plainly showed that God was on the side of the people, to whom he had given a dry passage through the depths of the sea.

The signal victories also gained over Og and Bashan, were justly regarded as testimonies of the divine favor towards the Israelites. This latter conclusion, indeed, rested only on conjecture, whereas the passage of the sea was a full and irrefragable proof, as much so as if God had stretched forth his hand from heaven. All minds, therefore, were seized with a conviction that in the expedition of the Israelitish people God was principal leader; hence their terror and consternation. At the same time, it is probable that they were deceived by some vain imagination that the God of Israel had proved superior in the contest to the gods of Egypt; just as the poets feign that every god has taken some nation or other under his protection, and wars with others, and that thus conflicts take place among the gods themselves while they are protecting their favorites.

But the faith of Rahab takes a higher flight, while to the God of Israel alone she ascribes supreme power and eternity. These are the true attributes of Jehovah. She does not dream, according to the vulgar notion, that some one, out of a crowd of deities, is giving his assistance to the Israelites, but she acknowledges that He whose favor they were known to possess is the true and only God. We see, then, how in a case where all received the same intelligence, she, in the application of it, went far beyond her countrymen.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

10. dried up the water] The inhabitants of the land had heard of two important events, which filled them with alarm; (a) the drying up of the Red Sea before the Israelites (cp. Psa_106:7; Psa_106:9; Psa_106:22; Psa_136:13); (b) the defeat at Jahaz of Sihon king of the Amorites, who refused the Israelites a passage through the territory between the Arnon and the Jabbok (Num_21:21-31; Deu_2:30-37), and at Edrei of Og, the giant king of the district which, under the name of “Bashan,” extended from the Jabbok up to the base of Hermon (Num_21:33-35; Deu_3:1-7).

whom ye utterly destroyed] Or, devoted. The word here used denotes (i) to separate for God, devote to Him (Lev_27:21; Lev_27:28; Jos_6:17-18; 1Sa_15:21), (ii) to devote to utter destruction, utterly destroy (Deu_4:26). The objects of such a doom might be (a) persons, as here (and comp. 1Ki_20:42; Rom_9:3; Gal_1:8-9; Gal_3:13), or (b) things (Jos_6:17-18; Jos_7:1).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt,.... To make a passage for them through it, to walk in as on dry land; this they had heard of and remembered, though it was forty years ago:

and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan: which were things more recent, done but a few months ago:

Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed; the history of which see in Num 21:21; who were destroyed by them under Moses and Joshua their commanders; and Hercules, who is thought to be the same with Joshua, is by Lucian (g) called Ogmius, from slaying Og, as is supposed (h).

(g) In Hercule. (h) Dickinson. Delph. Phoenic. c. 4. p. 44.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10. We have heard — An event so wonderful filled the world with amazement. Traders and caravans passing from Egypt through the deserts would frequently pass through Jericho, and spread the tidings of the Hebrews’ triumphs. Of all the miracles which attended the exodus from Egypt, none was capable of producing so profound an impression upon all surrounding nations as the drying up of the Red Sea, the safe passage of the Israelites, and the destruction of the Egyptian host by the rolling back of the parted surges. Exo_14:15-31. The lapse of forty years had not effaced that deep impression — an incidental proof of the magnitude of the miracle. Events more recent and nearer to them had increased their alarm.

The Amorites east of the Jordan, who had evinced their martial prowess by conquering the king of Moab and seizing his land, were in turn subdued by the resistless arms of the Israelites. The Amorites were the most powerful and distinguished of the Canaanitish nations, and occupied a tract on both sides of the Jordan. Those on the east side were under two kings, Sihon and Og. The former refused passage to the Hebrews through his territory, came to Jahaz, fought, and was defeated. Og also gave battle at Edrei, and was totally routed. See on Num_21:21-35.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. Rahab uses the word hwhoy. Whether this name were known to her or not, she knew what was signified by it, the one only self-existent God (since hwhy is clearly derived from hyh or hwh to be), the Author of all things, visible and invisible (see ver. 11). The Red Sea. Brugsch, in his "History of Egypt," denies that pWsA should be rendered "Red Sea," and affirms that this error of the LXX interpreters has been the source of endless misapprehensions. pWsA is an Egyptian word signifying flags or rushes, which abound not only in the Red Sea, but in the marshes on the shores of the Mediterranean, as, in fact, in all low-lying lands. It is here, according to Brugsch, in a treacherous and well-nigh impassable country, near that Serbonian bog, "where armies whole have sunk" (Milton, "Paradise Lost," Book H., line 594), that we are to look for the victorious passage of Moses, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host. The pWs or rushes were to be found in the Nile, as Exo_2:9, 5 shows. (cf. Isa_19:6) So that pWsA by no means necessarily implies the Red Sea. Yet on the other hand we may remember, with the Edinburgh Reviewer (July, 1879), that the coastline of Palestine and of the delta of the Nile has undergone considerable changes during the historic period, and that the land has, during that period, largely encroached on the sea. Sihon and Og. As we read in Nu 21 and De 2 De 3. Whom ye utterly destroyed. Rather, devoted to utter destruction. (see Jos_6:21) Rahab seems to be aware that the extermination of these nations was in fulfilment of a Divine sentence.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Rahab continues to talk to the Israelite spies.

the Sea of Reeds

This is another name for the Red Sea.

Sihon ... Og

These are the names of the Amorite kings. (See: How to Translate Names)

our hearts melted and there was no courage left in anyone

These two phrases share similar meanings, combined for emphasis. The phrase "our hearts melted" compares the hearts of the fearful people of Jericho to ice melting and flowing away. (See: Doublet and Metaphor)

translationWords

Sea of Reeds

Egypt

Amorite

heart

God

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.