Joshua 2:24

Verse 24. Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land] How different was this report from that brought by the spies on a former occasion! They found that all the inhabitants of the land were panic-struck. The people had heard of the great exploits of the Israelites on the other side of Jordan; and as they had destroyed the potent kings of the Amorites, they took it for granted that nothing could stand before them. This information was necessary to Joshua to guide him in forming the plan of his campaign.

1. IT may be asked, Did not Rahab lie in the account she gave to the officers of the king of Jericho, (Jos 2:4; Jos 2:5), There came men unto me, c.? I answer, She certainly did and the inspired writer sets down the fact merely as it stood, without making the Spirit of God responsible for the dissimulation of the woman. But was she not rewarded, c.? Yes for her hospitality and faith, not for her lie. But could she have saved the spies without telling a lie? Yes, she certainly might; but what notion could a woman of her occupation, though nothing worse than an inn-keeper, have of the nicer distinctions between truth and falsehood, living among a most profligate and depraved people, where truth could scarcely be known?

2. There is a lax morality in the world that recommends a lie rather than the truth, when the purposes of religion and humanity can be served by it. But when can this be? The religion of Christ is one eternal system of truth, and can neither be served by a lie nor admit one. On this vile subject fine words have been spoken. Tasso, in his elegant episode of Sophronia and Olindo, in the Gerusalemme Liberata, b. ii., v. 22, represents the former as telling a lie to Saladdin, relative to the stealing of an image, for which, as he could not discover the culprit, he doomed all the Christians in his power to death. Sophronia, a pious Christian virgin, getting into the presence of the tyrant, in order to save her people, accuses herself, though perfectly innocent, of the theft. Her conduct on this occasion the poet embellishes in the following manner, for which the religion of that time, which dealt in holy frauds, would no doubt applaud him. 'Ed ella: il reo si trova al tuo cospetto;

Opra e il furto, Signor, di questa mano

Io l' immagine tolsi; Io son colei

Che tu ricerchi, e me punir tu dei.

Cosi al pubblico fato il capo altero

Offerse, e 'l volle in se sol racorre.

MAGNANIMA MENZOGNA! or quando e il VERO

SI BELLO, che si possa a te preporre?"

Then she: "Before thy sight the guilty stands;

The theft, O King, committed by these hands.

In me the thief who stole the image view!

To me the punishment decreed is due."

Thus, filled with public zeal, the generous dame

A victim for her people's ransom came.

O great deceit! O lie divinely fair!

What truth with such a falsehood can compare!

HOOLE.

Thus a lie is ornamented with splendid decorations both by the Italian and English poet, and the whole formed into an anti-apostolic maxim, Let us do EVIL, that GOOD may come of it.

A purer morality was taught by one of the most ancient heathen writers than is here preached by these demi-christians: -

Εχθρος γαρ μοι κεινος, ὁμως αΐδαο πυλησιν,

Ὁς χ' ἑτερον μεν κευθει ενι φρεσιν, αλλο δε βαζει.

Iliad. l. ix., v. 312.

My soul detests him as the gates of hell,

Who knows the truth and dares a falsehood tell, The following is the advice of a genuine Christian poet, and one of the holiest men of his time: -

LIE not; but let thy heart be true to God;

Thy tongue to it, thy actions to them both.

Cowards tell lies, and those who fear the rod;

The stormy working soul spits lies and froth.

DARE TO BE TRUE! nothing can NEED a lie.

The fault that needs it most grows TWO thereby.

HERBERT.

For other observations on this subject See Clarke on Ge 12:20, at the end, and "Ge 20:12".

3. Though the hand of God was evidently in every thing that concerned the Israelites, and they were taught to consider that by his might alone they were to be put in possession of the promised land; yet they were as fully convinced that if they did not use the counsel, prudence, and strength which they had received from him, they should not succeed. Hence, while they depended on the Divine direction and power, they exercised their own prudence, and put forth their own strength; and thus they were workers together with him, and did not receive the grace of God in vain. The application of this maxim is easy; and we cannot expect any success, either in things spiritual or temporal, unless we walk by the same rule and mind the same thing.

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

24. And they said unto Joshua, etc. This passage shows that Joshua was not mistaken in selecting his spies; for their language proves them to have been right-hearted men possessed of rare integrity. Others, perhaps, not recovered from the terror into which they had once been thrown, would have disturbed the whole camp, but these, while they reflect on the wonderful kindness of God, displayed in their escape from danger, and the happy issue of their expedition, exhort Joshua and the people to go boldly forward. And although the mere promise of possessing the land ought to have been sufficient, yet the Lord is so very indulgent to their weakness, that, for the sake of removing all doubt, he confirms what he had promised by experience. That the Lord had not spoken in vain, was proved by the consternation of the nations, when it began already to put them to flight., and to drive them out, as if hornets had been sent in upon them. For they argue in the same way as Rahab had done, that the land was given to them, as the inhabitants had almost fainted away from fear. I have therefore used the illative particle for, though the literal meaning is, and also. But it is sufficiently plain, that in the other way there is a confirmation of what they had said. And, indeed, the courage of all melted away, as if they felt themselves routed by the hand of God.

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.

(24) The Lord hath delivered.—Observe the entirely satisfactory effect of this mission, and compare what was said on Jos_2:1.

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

24. all the inhabitants] This was the most important part of their communication, that the inhabitants of the land were utterly dispirited and cast down.

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 they said unto Joshua,.... Made a report of what they had got knowledge of, which answered the end of their mission:

truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land: which they concluded by the terror the inhabitants of it were in, and so in no condition to make resistance and defend themselves; and they not only judged of the whole land by the case of the inhabitants of Jericho, but were assured by Rahab that all the inhabitants of the land were in the same plight and condition, Jos 2:9,

for even the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us; this was the temper and disposition they appeared in, and seems to be what Joshua was chiefly desirous of knowing; since nothing else is told by the spies nor inquired of by him, but immediately upon this report began his march towards Canaan, as in the next chapter is related.

Next: Joshua Chapter 3

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

Fear, as Rahab had testified. They might also have been witnesses of the people’s consternation, which gave them the most assured hopes of victory, as the Lord had given this sign, among others, that he would be with them, Deuteronomy xxviii. 10. (Haydock)

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).

24. Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land — A nation palsied with despair is already conquered. The result of the mission of the spies was very encouraging to Joshua. The principal thing they reported, and probably that which it had been their chief object to ascertain, was the fear and trembling which prevailed among the idolatrous inhabitants of the land.

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

For even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. For even" is literally "and also." As Keil remarks, this information concerning the feelings of the Canaanites was the one great thing they had been sent out to discover.

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