Joshua 2:17

Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

Ver. 17. We will be blameless of this thine oath,] q.d, Great haste though we have, yet will we clear up the terms whereunto we have sworn, to prevent the danger or rebut the suspicion of perjury. An oath is not to be taken but with a great deal of caution and circumspection, {Gen 24:3-5} not in jest, but in judgment, {Jer 4:2 Isa 48:1} not rashly and unadvisedly, {Lev 5:4 1Sa 14:39; 1Sa 14:44} as those that swear in heat and choler, when they should with fear, {Deu 10:20} discerning the nature of an oath, the necessity, the conditions and circumstances.

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.

Jos 2:17. The men said — Or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on, or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them. Blameless — That is, free from guilt or reproach if it be violated; namely, if the following condition be not observed.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In conclusion, the spies guarded against any arbitrary interpretation and application of their oath, by imposing three conditions, on the non-fulfilment of which they would be released from their oath. הזּה for הזּאת is to be explained in Jos 2:17 from the fact that the gender is often disregarded in the use of the pronoun (see Ewald, 183, a.), and in Jos 2:18 from the fact that there the gender is determined by the nomen rectum (see Ewald, 317, d.).

Jos 2:18

The first condition was, that when the town was taken Rahab should make her house known to the Israelites, by binding "the cord of this crimson thread," i.e., this cord made of crimson thread, in the window from which she had let them down. The demonstrative "this" leads to the conclusion adopted by Luther and others, that "this cord" is the rope (חבל) mentioned in Jos 2:15, as no other word had been mentioned to which they could refer; and the fact that nothing has been said about the sign in question being either given or received, precludes the idea that the spies gave the cord to Rahab for a sign. The crimson or scarlet colour of the cord (שׁני = שׁני תּולעת; see at Exo 25:4), as the colour of vigorous life, made this cord an expressive sign of the preservation of Rahab's life and the lives of her relations. The second condition was, that when the town was taken, Rahab should collect together her parents, and her brothers and her sisters, into her own house.

Jos 2:19-20

Whoever went outside the door, his blood should be upon his own head; i.e., if he was slain outside by the Israelitish soldiers, he should bear his death as his own fault. But every one who was with her in the house, his blood should fall upon their (the spies') head, if any hand was against them, i.e., touched them or did them harm (vid., Exo 9:3). The formula, "his blood be upon his head," is synonymous with the legal formula, "his blood be upon him" (Lev 20:9). The third condition (Jos 2:20) is simply a repetition of the principal condition laid down at the very outset (Jos 2:14).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

We shall be discharged of our oath if thou dost perform this condition that followeth: for so shalt thou and thine be delivered.

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

17. We will be blameless] Or, “We are blameless.” We must supply “unless you do what we shall now say unto you.” Comp. Gen_24:41, “Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.” Wyclif renders it “we schulen be giltles of this oath.”

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.

And the men said unto her,.... Some think that this discourse, which passed between the spies and her, was while in the house before she let them down, or otherwise they would have been in danger of being overheard, and so the whole affair discovered; but as it was on the other side of the house, and under the wall of the city, and without it, they might with the greater safety converse together:

we will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear; that is, they would most faithfully and punctually keep it, it should be sacred to them, and she should have no occasion to lay any blame upon them in the least.

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

The men said, or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was expressed and agreed; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them; or that she should begin her discourse in her chamber, and not finish it till they were gone out of her house.

Object. They spoke this after they were let down; for it follows, Jos 2:18, this-thread which thou didst let us down by.

Answ. Those words may be thus rendered, which thou dost let us down by, i.e. art about to do it; it being frequent for the pretertense to be used of a thing about to be done, by an enallage of tenses, as Jos 10:15.

Blameless of this thine oath, i.e. free from guilt or reproach if it be violated, namely, if the following condition be not observed.

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

17. We will be blameless of this thine oath — That is, released from the oath which we have taken, provided you do not fulfil the following conditions.

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

We will be blameless. Perhaps "we would be blameless," and therefore we make the conditions which follow. Something must be supplied to fill up the sense. The most ordinary rule would be to translate "we are blameless," i.e., by making these conditions. But the former yields a better sense.

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

Said - Or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them. Blameless - That is, free from guilt or reproach if it be violated, namely, if the following condition be not observed.

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

We will be free. We are holding you responsible for this, we depend on you to make this sign.

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.