Joshua 2:16

And she said unto them, get ye unto the mountain,.... Which was near to the city, and is supposed to be the same which is now called Quarantania: Dr. Shaw, a late traveller in those parts, says (m), from the mountain Quarantania, the very same perhaps where the two spies concealed themselves, Jos 2:16, we have a distinct view of the land of the Amorites, of Gilead, and of Bashan, the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh--to it joins the mountain of Adummim, and through it the road is cut that leads from Jerusalem to Jericho, where probably it was from the very nature of the situation that the man fell among thieves, Luk 10:30; which very probably is the same mountain which Josephus (n) says hung over the city, and was a very barren one; though the singular may be put for the plural, since, as Strabo says (o), it was surrounded with mountains:

lest the pursuers meet you; on their return from the fords of Jordan, being disappointed:

and hide yourselves there three days: some of the Jewish Rabbins, as Jarchi and Kimchi, observe that she had this by the revelation of the Holy Ghost, that the pursuers would return at the end of three days; but the latter more truly remarks, that this was said by conjecture; that Jericho being, as he says, one day from Jordan, and a little more, by going, returning, and searching for the spies, they would be three days in doing it:

until the pursuers be returned; into the city; for until they were they could not be in safety, but must be in danger of being met by them and taken up:

and afterward may ye go your way: to Jordan, and so to the camp of Israel, and that without fear.

(m) Travels, p. 276. Ed. 2. (n) De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 2. (o) Geograph. l. 16. p. 525.

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

Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

Ver. 16. Get you to the mountain.] This, say some, was spoken after the men were down, in the still of the night, without the wall. {Jos 2:18} But what a fool was he who said, Mισω σοφην γυναικα, I hate a discreet woman!

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.

2:16 The hill country of central Canaan began its steep rise just west of Jericho. Thinking that the two spies would head directly to Israel’s camp across the Jordan, the pursuers from Jericho would naturally head eastward. When the pursuers gave up, the spies could slip across the Jordan unhindered.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which was near unto the city.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

she said--rather "she had said," for what follows must have been part of the previous conversation.

Get you to the mountain--A range of white limestone hills extends on the north, called Quarantania (now Jebel Karantu), rising to a height of from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet, and the sides of which are perforated with caves. Some one peak adjoining was familiarly known to the inhabitants as "the mountain." The prudence and propriety of the advice to flee in that direction rather than to the ford, were made apparent by the sequel.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. Hide yourselves there three days] They were to travel by night, and hide themselves in the day-time; otherwise they might have been discovered by the pursuers who were in search of them.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) Get you to the mountain.—The mountains between Jerusalem and Jericho have often been a refuge for worse characters than Joshua’s two spies (Luk_10:30).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Get you to the mountain] i.e. probably the caverns in “the jagged range of the white limestone mountains” (of Judæa) which rise to the north of the city, “the same which in later ages afforded shelter to the hermits who there took up their abode, in the belief that this was the mountain of the Forty Days’ Fast of the Temptation—the ‘Quarantania,’ from which it still derives its name.” Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 308.

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.

Days; the remainder of this night, and the day and night following. It is probable that they would travel only in the night time. (Calmet) --- If they had gone by the high road, they might easily have been discovered by the messengers, who would be on their return. (Haydock) --- But retiring to the mountains south of Jericho, till they had re-entered the city, the spies made their escape. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To the mountain, i.e. to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed, in which also there were many caves where they might lurk.

Three days; not three whole days, but one whole day, and parts of two days: See Poole "Jos 1:11".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Get you to the mountain — Hebrews Mountainwards go ye. By the device of going westward to the mountains behind the city, instead of eastward toward the Jordan, they would avoid pursuit, and secure a hiding place in some of their caverns till the pursuers had returned.

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

Get you to the mountains. No hint is given why the mountains were to be so safe a refuge. But a reference to the geography of the district will supply the reason. Any mountain district is usually less accessible and less thickly inhabited than the plains. But within five miles of Jericho lay the remarkable range called Quarantania, or Kuruntul, which is literally honeycombed with caves, so that a man might be concealed for months in the immediate neighbourhood of Jericho with a very slight risk of discovery. It is obvious how strongly this fact confirms the accuracy of the narrative. An inventor would have been certain in some way or other to draw attention to a statement intended to give an air of probability to his narrative. But there is nothing of the kind here, and yet the narrative displays a thorough acquaintance with the geographical features of the neighbourhood. Canon Tristram ("Land of Israel," p. 207, sqq.) carefully explored the caverns. On one face of the rock, which is perpendicular, he found "some thirty or forty habitable caves," and on the southern face, towards Jericho, he supposed there were a good many more than this. The scouts of the king of Jericho might be excused a very diligent search, for we are told that the "foot hold was hazardous and the height dizzy." From the days of the spies till long after the Christian era, these caves have been in existence. They have been tenanted by Greek, Syrian, and even Abyssinian monks, and Canon Tristram found many Greek and Ethiopic inscriptions, as well as figures of our Lord and the saints. The Abyssinian Christians make a yearly pilgrimage there even now. The reason of the reverence in which the place is held, is the tradition (not, however, eight hundred years old, see Bitter, 3:37) that, as the name Quarantania implies, the forty days" fast of our Lord took place there. As a specimen of the mystical interpretations in which the Fathers indulged, we find Origen expounding the advice, "Get you to the mountains," as follows: "Humilia et dejecta refugite, quae excelsa sunt et sublimia, praedicate."

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

The mountain - That is, to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed, in which also there were many caves where they might lurk. Three days - Not three whole days, but one whole day, and part of two days.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Until the pursuers return. She must have had Divine inspiration to know they would return after three days. maintains that she reasoned that it was a day’s journey from Yericho to the Jordan. They would spend a day searching for the spies and then return to Yericho making a total of three days.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.