2:1 VA YISHLACH YEHOSHUA BIN NUN MIN HA SHITIM SHENAYIM ANASHIM MERAGLIM CHERESH LEMOR LECHU RE'U ET HA ARETS VE ET YERICHO VA YELCHU YA YAVO'U BEIT ISHAH ZONAH U SHEMAH RACHAV VA YISHKEVU SHAMAH
וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהֹושֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מִן הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת יְרִיחֹו וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית אִשָּׁה זֹונָה וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ שָׁמָּה
KJ (King James translation): And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
BN (BibleNet translation): And Yehoshu'a ben Nun sent two men from Shitim to spy secretly, saying: Go view the land, as far as Yericho. And they went, and came to the house of a temple hierodule named Rachav, and lodged there.
SHITIM: is not just any old place, but a very specific holy place. See my previous notes on the acacia (Exodus 25:5 will probably be the most helpful), and specifically its connection with the making of the Ark. Also Ezra 6:3, which uses the same word in its Aramaic spelling-pronunciation, but with the same meaning.
BN (BibleNet translation): And Yehoshu'a ben Nun sent two men from Shitim to spy secretly, saying: Go view the land, as far as Yericho. And they went, and came to the house of a temple hierodule named Rachav, and lodged there.
SHITIM: is not just any old place, but a very specific holy place. See my previous notes on the acacia (Exodus 25:5 will probably be the most helpful), and specifically its connection with the making of the Ark. Also Ezra 6:3, which uses the same word in its Aramaic spelling-pronunciation, but with the same meaning.
In Numbers 33:49 we were told that the Beney Yisra-El had camped "by the Yarden, from Beit Ha Yeshimot as far as Avel Shitim in the plains of Mo-Av"; and this was where they remained throughout the Mosaic speeches and blessings that followed. So we sould really be reading this as an abbreviation for Avel-Shitim, "Acacia Valley".
RACHAV: Rahab, in the common English mispronunciation (and much of the commentary needed for this chapter is already in my page on Rachav/Rahab, so click the link and read there first, as I shall try not to repeat myself too often here). The Redactor, as always, transforms the orgiastic rites of the mother-goddess into mere debauchery, the KADESHAH into a ZONAH! "A harlot's house"; as in "a brothel"? No - a shrine to the Prince of the Sea himself. The monster Tiamat/Tahamat who would appear as Tehom in Genesis 1:2; the primordial serpent bifurcated by Marduk in order to engender Creation (the source of the helix-serpent at the foot of this page!). The woman was a priestess, not a whore. How do we know? In part from the tale of Lot in Sedom, which this parallels (Genesis 18). In part from what will follow.
YERICHO: Elsewhere we get YERECHO and even YAREYACHO, as explained at the link. But the Yerech is never just the thigh; as in the Penu-El story, where Ya'akov's thigh is euphemistically "put out of joint", the Yerech is the sexual organ, and the shrine is to the fertility deities, which is why its priests are hierophants and its priestesses hierodules. At the mythological level, which was probably the original Yehoshu'a tale before it became pseudo-historicised, the "conquest of Kena'an" is a paralleling on Earth of the map of the heavens, and therefore entirely logical to start where fertility-Creation starts, at Yericho.
2:2 VA YE'AMAR LE MELECH YERICHO LEMOR HINEH ANASHIM BA'U HENAH HA LAILAH MI BENEY YISRA-EL LACHPOR ET HA ARETS
RACHAV: Rahab, in the common English mispronunciation (and much of the commentary needed for this chapter is already in my page on Rachav/Rahab, so click the link and read there first, as I shall try not to repeat myself too often here). The Redactor, as always, transforms the orgiastic rites of the mother-goddess into mere debauchery, the KADESHAH into a ZONAH! "A harlot's house"; as in "a brothel"? No - a shrine to the Prince of the Sea himself. The monster Tiamat/Tahamat who would appear as Tehom in Genesis 1:2; the primordial serpent bifurcated by Marduk in order to engender Creation (the source of the helix-serpent at the foot of this page!). The woman was a priestess, not a whore. How do we know? In part from the tale of Lot in Sedom, which this parallels (Genesis 18). In part from what will follow.
YERICHO: Elsewhere we get YERECHO and even YAREYACHO, as explained at the link. But the Yerech is never just the thigh; as in the Penu-El story, where Ya'akov's thigh is euphemistically "put out of joint", the Yerech is the sexual organ, and the shrine is to the fertility deities, which is why its priests are hierophants and its priestesses hierodules. At the mythological level, which was probably the original Yehoshu'a tale before it became pseudo-historicised, the "conquest of Kena'an" is a paralleling on Earth of the map of the heavens, and therefore entirely logical to start where fertility-Creation starts, at Yericho.
2:2 VA YE'AMAR LE MELECH YERICHO LEMOR HINEH ANASHIM BA'U HENAH HA LAILAH MI BENEY YISRA-EL LACHPOR ET HA ARETS
וַיֵּאָמַר לְמֶלֶךְ יְרִיחֹו לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה אֲנָשִׁים בָּאוּ הֵנָּה הַלַּיְלָה מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַחְפֹּר אֶת הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
BN: And the king of Yericho was told, saying: Be aware that some men have come here tonight, men of the Beney Yisra-El, spying out the land.
King may be an inaccurate translation. The root is HALACH = "to go", but i the Hiphil or causative form, so this is the person "who makes the other people go" - which could be the town Mayor, a local prince, or by whatever other name a "leader" happens to be known. It came to mean "king" in later Yehudit, thoughat this time it is unlikely to have been that, or perhaps a "sacred king", the tribal chieftain or city head serving as high priest in honour of the moon-goddess. By whatever translation, he was responsible for Rachav, who was one of his sacred priestesses; and yet he allows the gang-rapists and murderers to do their wickedness, without interfering.
At the pseudo-historical level, Yericho, or possibly Yareyacho, or Yerecho, alongside Charan and Ur, was one of the great moon-cities of the ancient world - most of which was primaruily sun-worshipping, so these stood out; and logical that Yehoshu'a should send the spies there, because the Beney Yisra-El were themselves a moon-people, and needed the support of co-religionists to establish themselves in the land.
2:3 VA YISHLACH MELECH YERICHO EL RACHAV LEMOR HOTSIY'I HA ANASHIM HA BA'IM ELAYICH ASHER BA'U LE VEITECH KI LACHPOR ET KOL HA ARETS BA'U
2:3 VA YISHLACH MELECH YERICHO EL RACHAV LEMOR HOTSIY'I HA ANASHIM HA BA'IM ELAYICH ASHER BA'U LE VEITECH KI LACHPOR ET KOL HA ARETS BA'U
וַיִּשְׁלַח מֶלֶךְ יְרִיחֹו אֶל רָחָב לֵאמֹר הֹוצִיאִי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַבָּאִים אֵלַיִךְ אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ לְבֵיתֵךְ כִּי לַחְפֹּר אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ בָּאוּ
BN: And the king of Yericho sent for Rachav, and said to her: Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your shrine, for they have come to spy out all the land.
LE VEYTECH: A BAYIT is indeed a house, but the word is used for both a person's domicile and a religious shrine. So, for example, a synagogue is a Beit Knesset, "a house of assembly", and the Temple was the Beit ha-Mikkdash, "the holy house". Setting out from their holy place (Avel-Shitim) at the start of their holy crusade, they will have sought out the priestess, and found her where her mediaeval equivalents would have found the Abbess, which is at the Convent.
2:4 VA TIKACH HA ISHAH ET SHENEY HA ANASHIM VA TITSPENO VA TO'MER KEN BA'U ELAY HA ANASHIM VE LO YADA'TI ME AYIN HEMAH
2:4 VA TIKACH HA ISHAH ET SHENEY HA ANASHIM VA TITSPENO VA TO'MER KEN BA'U ELAY HA ANASHIM VE LO YADA'TI ME AYIN HEMAH
וַתִּקַּח הָאִשָּׁה אֶת שְׁנֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים וַתִּצְפְּנֹו וַתֹּאמֶר כֵּן בָּאוּ אֵלַי הָאֲנָשִׁים וְלֹא יָדַעְתִּי מֵאַיִן הֵמָּה
BN: And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus: "Two men came to me, but I have no idea where they came from...
The story does not make sense as it stands. If she did not know them, and the king wants them, why is she taking the risk of protecting them? Unless, a) she like everyone else knows the Beney Yisra-El are coming and wants to be on the side of the winners; b) she is already on their side; c) something else is tied in with who Rachav really was and this notion of a king of Yericho. See 2:9 below.
At what point do we start asking: wait a minute, is this not the story of Lot's arrival in Sedom, being retold with variations? The two men here are "spies", there they were "angels", but both function as "messengers" (MAL'ACHIM), and the root of one is HALACH, while the root of the other is HAL'ACH, which we find word-gamed throughout both texts, just as we do RAHAV/RECHAV'RECHOV (the town square where so many of the key events take place) and YERICHO ("thigh") and YAREYACH (the moon).
And will the events that follow continue to parallel Lot's story? Oh yes, indeed they will.
2:5 VA YEHI HA SHA'AR LISGOR BA CHOSHECH VE HA ANASHIM YATSA'U LO YADA'TI ANAH HALCHU HA ANASHIM RIDPHU MAHER ACHAREYHEM KI TASIYGUM
וַיְהִי הַשַּׁעַר לִסְגֹּור בַּחֹשֶׁךְ וְהָאֲנָשִׁים יָצָאוּ לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אָנָה הָלְכוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים רִדְפוּ מַהֵר אַחֲרֵיהֶם כִּי תַשִּׂיגוּם
KJ: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
BN: "And it fell out that, around the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men left. Where they went I have no idea. Chase after them quickly and maybe you will overtake them."
The shutting of the gate is probably literal here; most walled cities have a curfew hour. But what modern Jew can hear the phrase and not think of Ne'ilah, the closing ceremony of the 25-hour affliction known as Yom Kippur?
2:6 VE HI HE'ELATAM HA GAGAH VA TITMENEM BE PHISHTEY HA ETS HA ARUCHOT LAH AL HA GAG
2:6 VE HI HE'ELATAM HA GAGAH VA TITMENEM BE PHISHTEY HA ETS HA ARUCHOT LAH AL HA GAG
וְהִיא הֶעֱלָתַם הַגָּגָה וַתִּטְמְנֵם בְּפִשְׁתֵּי הָעֵץ הָעֲרֻכֹות לָהּ עַל הַגָּג
BN: But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them underneath the stalks of flax which she had laid out especially on the roof.
As with the birth of Jesus among the corn stubble on the floor of the manger, as with Mosheh and Osher (Osiris) among the bulrushes, as with Tammuz and John Barleycorn in the same manner... this is not a roof-garden with dahlias, this is a shrine with a threshing-floor.
2:7 VE HA ANASHIM RADPHU ACHAREYHEM DERECH HA YARDEN AL HA MA'BEROT VE HA SHA'AR SAGARU ACHAREY KA ASHER YATS'U HA RODPHIM ACHAREYHEM
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים רָדְפוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם דֶּרֶךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן עַל הַמַּעְבְּרֹות וְהַשַּׁעַר סָגָרוּ אַחֲרֵי כַּאֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ הָרֹדְפִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם
BN: And the men chased after them, along the road to the Yarden, as far as the fords; and as soon as their pursuers were gone, they shut the gate.
2:8 VE HEMAH TEREM YISHKAVUN VE HI ALTAH ALEYHEM AL HA GAG
וְהֵמָּה טֶרֶם יִשְׁכָּבוּן וְהִיא עָלְתָה עֲלֵיהֶם עַל הַגָּג
BN: And before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof.
2:9 VA TO'MER EL HA ANASHIM YADA'TI KI NATAN YHVH LACHEM ET HA ARETS VE CHI NAPHLAH EYMAT'CHEM ALEYNU VE CHI NAMOGU KOL YOSHVEY HA ARETS MI PENEYCHEM
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל הָאֲנָשִׁים יָדַעְתִּי כִּי נָתַן יְהוָה לָכֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִי נָפְלָה אֵימַתְכֶם עָלֵינוּ וְכִי נָמֹגוּ כָּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפְּנֵיכֶם
BN: And she said to the men: "I know that YHVH has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainting because of you...
How does she know? And why the assumption that these desert vagabonds are bound to be victorious? Is it from her priestly status, or simply the zeitgeist? Cf Numbers 20:18ff, or 21:1ff, or 22:2ff, or...
The verse, of course, also provides a perfect definition of the concept of "terrorism".
2:10 KI SHAMA'NU ET ASHER HOVISH YHVH ET MEY YAM SUPH MI PENEYCHEM BE TSE'T'CHEM MI MITSRAYIM VE ASHER ASIYTEM LI SHENEY MALCHEY HA EMORI ASHER BE EVER HA YARDEN LE SICHON U LE OG ASHER HECHERAMTEM OTAM
כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הֹובִישׁ יְהוָה אֶת מֵי יַם סוּף מִפְּנֵיכֶם בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם וַאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם לִשְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן לְסִיחֹן וּלְעֹוג אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱרַמְתֶּם אֹותָם
KJ: 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.
BN: "For we have heard how YHVH dried up the water of the Reed Sea for you, when you came out of Mitsrayim; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori, who were on the other side of the Yarden, to Sichon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed...
YAM SUPH: See my note to Exodus 14:16.
MALCHEY HA EMORI: The episode is recounted in Numbers 21.
HECHERAMTEM: From the root "cherem" - the translation gives "destroyed" but that would be LEHASHMID. This is a cherem, which is very different: in religious wars, the destruction of the town is less important than the destruction or take-over of the shrine.
2:11 VA NISHMA VA YIMAS LEVAVENU VE LO KAMAH OD RU'ACH BE ISH MI PENEYCHEM KI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM HU ELOHIM BA SHAMAYIM MI MA'AL VE AL HA ARETS MI TACHAT
וַנִּשְׁמַע וַיִּמַּס לְבָבֵנוּ וְלֹא קָמָה עֹוד רוּחַ בְּאִישׁ מִפְּנֵיכֶם כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת
KJ: And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
BN: "And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts melted, nor was there any more courage left in any of the men, because of you: for YHVH your god, he is god in the heavens above, and on the Earth beneath...
An interesting conception of the deity! Not classically Jewish, to say the least. Although the last phrases from it are also the last phrases of the opening paragraph of the Aleynu (the phrase "Eyn od - there is no other" is added there).
2:12 VE ATAH HISHAV'U NA LI BA YHVH KI ASIYTI IMACHEM CHASED VA ASIYTEM GAM ATEM IM BEIT AVI CHESED U NETATEM LI OT EMET
וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעוּ נָא לִי בַּיהוָה כִּי עָשִׂיתִי עִמָּכֶם חָסֶד וַעֲשִׂיתֶם גַּם אַתֶּם עִם בֵּית אָבִי חֶסֶד וּנְתַתֶּם לִי אֹות אֱמֶת
KJ: Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
BN: "Now, therefore, I implore you, swear to me by YHVH, since I have shown you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token...
Her "father" in this case being not the god, but her biological family (confirmed in the next verse). This is about self-preservation, not religion.
OT EMET: What kind of a token can you give, when a city is being besieged and, when it falls, there will be a rushing of soldiers, setting fire to houses, looting, raping, randomly murdering? Putting, say, a scarlet bracelet on their wrists, isn't going to help. A red cross on their house door perhaps?
(you can look up my entirely deliberate "scarlet bracelet" allusion in several places, but a good start here; and then go on to verse 18, below).
2:13 VE HACHAYITEM ET AVI VE ET IMI VE ET ACHI VE ET ACHOTI VE ET KOL ASHER LAHEM VE HITSALTEM ET NAPHSHOTEYNU MI MAVET
וְהַחֲיִתֶם אֶת אָבִי וְאֶת אִמִּי וְאֶת אַחַי וְאֶת [אַחֹותַי כ] (אַחְיֹותַי ק) וְאֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם וְהִצַּלְתֶּם אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵינוּ מִמָּוֶת
BN: "And that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."
"And all that they have" is going to be problematic, precisely because of the information given in verse 15. When we get to the story of the taking of Yericho, all those circumambulations and trumpet-alarums, the main focus will be on the walls tumbling down in their entirety.
2:14 VA YOMRU LAH HA ANASHIM NAPHSHENU TACHTEYCHEM LAMUT IM LO TAGIYDU ET DEVARENU ZEH VE HAYAH BETET YHVH LANU ET HA ARETS VE ASIYNU IMACH CHESED VE EMET
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהּ הָאֲנָשִׁים נַפְשֵׁנוּ תַחְתֵּיכֶם לָמוּת אִם לֹא תַגִּידוּ אֶת דְּבָרֵנוּ זֶה וְהָיָה בְּתֵת יְהוָה לָנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְעָשִׂינוּ עִמָּךְ חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
BN: And the men answered her: "Our life for yours. If you do not tell anyone our business, then it shall be, when YHVH has given us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you."
Another piece used in the liturgy here, on Yom Kippur on this occasion.
2:15 VA TORIDEM BA CHEVEL BE AD HA CHALON KI VEITAH BE KIR HA CHOMAH U VA CHOMAH HI YOSHAVET
2:15 VA TORIDEM BA CHEVEL BE AD HA CHALON KI VEITAH BE KIR HA CHOMAH U VA CHOMAH HI YOSHAVET
וַתֹּורִדֵם בַּחֶבֶל בְּעַד הַחַלֹּון כִּי בֵיתָהּ בְּקִיר הַחֹומָה וּבַחֹומָה הִיא יֹושָׁבֶת
BN: Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was on the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
YOSHAVET: grammatical error? If it is past tense, it should be TASHVAH, if it is present YOSHEVET.
BE KIR HA CHOMAH: Confirming her status: as we know from various Biblical accounts, (see the account of the rebuilding by Nechem-Yah for example, in Nehemiah 3), the best houses were the ones on the wall, given principally to the priests, some as homes, some for their offices and places of worship, but specifically so that they could have a patch of land outside the wall to grow their herbs and vegetables (for which see Numbers 35:1-8), and to provide occupation for those priests who were excluded from services because of "blemishes".
2:16 VE TO'MAR LAHEM HA HARAH LECHU PEN YIPHGE'U VACHEM HA RODPHIM VE NACHBETEM SHAMAH SHELOSHET YAMIM AD SHOV HA RODPHIM VE ACHAR TELCHU LE DARCHECHEM
וַתֹּאמֶר לָהֶם הָהָרָה לֵּכוּ פֶּן יִפְגְּעוּ בָכֶם הָרֹדְפִים וְנַחְבֵּתֶם שָׁמָּה שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים עַד שֹׁוב הָרֹדְפִים וְאַחַר תֵּלְכוּ לְדַרְכְּכֶם
KJ: 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.
BN: And she said to them: "Get yourselves up into the mountain, lest the men hunting for you should find you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the men hunting for you have come back: and afterwards go on your way."
The use of SHELOSHET rather than SHELOSHAH is significant; SHELOSHET implies a HA, which is the definite article, as in "the three days", rather than a simple number; but the HA is missing. At the same time, SHELOSHET HA would infer that Rachav knew how long the men would be out pursuing. This is only problematic because three days is always a symbolic time period - the gap between the waning and the new moon, and RACHAV is a moon-goddess, in Yericho, a moon-shrine.
2:17 VA YOMRU ELEYHA HA ANASHIM NEKIYIM ANACHNU MI SHEVU'ATECH HA ZEH ASHER HISHBA'TANU
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶיהָ הָאֲנָשִׁים נְקִיִּם אֲנַחְנוּ מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ
KJ: And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
BN: And the men said to her: "We agree to this in principle, but we cannot give you any guarantees...
HISHBATANU: My translation is far from literal, but I hope conveys the essence of what they are saying, which entirely hangs on the word NEKIYIM: "we will be clean". What are they really saying? That she has chosen to do this, and they are grateful, but don't blame us if you get caught, and they do to you as is normal to be done to traitors? They are swearing the oath, and hoping to uphold it, but also conscious that they may not be able to fulfill it, because they may be caught, or she may be caught, and their ability to control outcomes is limited; but they are making the oath in full sincerity, and therefore exonerated if it becomes impossible to fulfill.
2:18 HINEH ANACHNU VA'IM BA ARETS ET TIKVAT CHUT HA SHANI HA ZEH TIKSHERI BA CHALON ASHER HORADETENU VO VE ET AVIYCHA VE ET IMECH VE ET ACHAYICH VE ET KOL BEIT AVIYCHA TA'ASPHI ELAYICH HABAYETAH
הִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ בָאִים בָּאָרֶץ אֶת תִּקְוַת חוּט הַשָּׁנִי הַזֶּה תִּקְשְׁרִי בַּחַלֹּון אֲשֶׁר הֹורַדְתֵּנוּ בֹו וְאֶת אָבִיךְ וְאֶת אִמֵּךְ וְאֶת אַחַיִךְ וְאֵת כָּל בֵּית אָבִיךְ תַּאַסְפִי אֵלַיִךְ הַבָּיְתָה
BN: "Behold, when we come into the land, you shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window by which you let us down: and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father's household, home to you...
The other family members are not at this Bayit now, but she will need to bring them here? Obviously, if she is the priestess, and living at the shrine, then no, they wouldn't be there. And of all the buildings in the town, the one that Yehoshu'a could be asked to designate as "Red Crossed" is the shrine. And then that scarlet thread, that holy object, the "token" she has requested - I recommended previously the tale of Parets and Zerach in Genesis 38; but they were the sons of Yehudah fathered on Tamar, and Tamar too is a goddess, in her case of the palm-trees - and didn't we just learn, when Mosheh handed over to Yehoshu'a in Deuteronomy 34:3, that Yericho is known as "the city of the palms", Tamar's city?
And then, if we are to regard this pseudo-history as genuine, rather than a later rewrite of an original mythological fragment: why all this dialogue, why all these oaths? If, as ZONAH insists in verse 1, these are just some spies who bedded down at some whore's place for the night, what debt do they owe her?? Sure we'll protect you - if we can; we're only spies after all, and who can tell what might happen in a battle, when walls come down, and you living right on the wall. No. Whores don't live right on the wall. This dialogue is the writing of a pact, if not actually a full-scale treaty. This is Rachav agreeing to provide a fifth column inside the city to assist the invaders. If it isn't, then it isn't worth the telling. And the scarlet thread, which we know is a holy object, becomes the symbol of the pact - like two Christian chieftains exchanging crosses. Can we assume from the next paragraph that Rachav's people will all now wear the scarlet thread during the attack, in order to identify themselves as allies? No, as with my bracelet, above, it wouldn't help; but "bring them home to you" means "if they are in the shrine with you, they are safe, because we have agreed to make it a place of sacred refuge".
2:19 VE HAYAH KOL ASHER YETSE MI DALTEY VEITECH HA CHUTSAH DAMO VE ROSHO VA ANACHNU NEKIYIM VE CHOL ASHER YIHEYEH ITACH BA BAYIT DAMO VE RO'SHENU IM YAD TIHEYEH BO
וְהָיָה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִדַּלְתֵי בֵיתֵךְ הַחוּצָה דָּמֹו בְרֹאשֹׁו וַאֲנַחְנוּ נְקִיִּם וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה אִתָּךְ בַּבַּיִת דָּמֹו בְרֹאשֵׁנוּ אִם יָד תִּהְיֶה בֹּו
KJ: And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
BN: "But it will be that anyone who steps outside your front door and goes into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. But anyon who stays inside the house with you, his blood shall be on our heads, if any hand be upon him...
Something very similar happened when Lot left Sedom. But how do you protect one house, even a shrine whose physical appearance - a spire, a minaret, a dome - makes it stand out, when you are destroying a whole city? Look ahead and see what happens?
I can only summarise this by saying: if this is not a tale told for the purpose of establishing the Biblical equivalent of the Geneva Convention, and specifically the Red Cross, then I can see little purpose to its being here. Indeed, to such a degree in this verse, that I wonder what spying they even did, or needed to do, if the city was going to be taken by siege. And if, then, they were not spies at all, but envoys, sent to negotiate the terms of the conquest with the priestess, who was the spiritual ruler of the city, after the king had made clear his refusal to surrender. And if correct, then it makes for an interesting parallel with the negotiations between General Vespasian and the head of the Sanhedrin, Yochan ben Zakkai, at the time of the siege of Yeru-Shala'im in 70 CE - click here.
2:20 VE IM TAGIYDI ET DEVARENU ZEH VE HAYIYNU NEKIYIM MI SHEVU'ATEYNU ASHER HISHBA'TANU
וְאִם תַּגִּידִי אֶת דְּבָרֵנוּ זֶה וְהָיִינוּ נְקִיִּם מִשְּׁבֻעָתֵךְ אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ
KJ: And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
BN: "But if you utter a word about our business to anyone, then we will be free of this oath of yours which you have made us swear."
2:21 VA TOMER KE DIVREYCHEM KEN HU VA TESHALCHEM VA YELCHU VA TIKSHOR ET TIKVAT HA SHANI BA CHALON
וַתֹּאמֶר כְּדִבְרֵיכֶם כֶּן הוּא וַתְּשַׁלְּחֵם וַיֵּלֵכוּ וַתִּקְשֹׁר אֶת תִּקְוַת הַשָּׁנִי בַּחַלֹּון
BN: And she said: "According to your words, so be it". And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
VA TOMER: again the Masoretic pointing is equivocal; surely this should be VA TOMAR?
2:22 VA YELCHU VA YAVO'U HA HARAH VA YESHVU SHAM SHELOSHET YAMIM AD SHAVU HA RODPHIM VA YEVAKSHU HA RODPHIM BE CHOL HA DERECH VE LO MATSA'U
וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ הָהָרָה וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים עַד שָׁבוּ הָרֹדְפִים וַיְבַקְשׁוּ הָרֹדְפִים בְּכָל הַדֶּרֶךְ וְלֹא מָצָאוּ
BN: And they left, and went up into the mountain, and stayed there for three days, until the men hunting for them had gone home. And the pursuers sought them the whole length of the road, but could not find them.
There is something cosmological going on here: something to do with the three days of darkness between the waning of the old moon and the rising of the new moon, all of which should become clearer when the pilgrims start to make hakafot around the Ka'aba that is Yericho - forgive the mixed metaphor, but something of both appears to be taking place, as we will see when we get to those verses. Worth looking in Drummond in the meanwhile. From the nature of the event, the multiple parallels, I am once again left wondering if, in some early version of the tale, the two "spies" here were not the same as the two messengers who went to Lot's house in Sedom; his escape, with what then became his two daughters, was likewise into the mountain, to another cosmologically associated location, Tso'ar.
2:23 VA YASHUVU SHENEY HA ANASHIM VA YERDU ME HA HAR VA YA'AVRU VA YAVO'U EL YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN VA YESAPRU LO ET KOL HA MOTS'OT OTAM
וַיָּשֻׁבוּ שְׁנֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים וַיֵּרְדוּ מֵהָהָר וַיַּעַבְרוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל יְהֹושֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן וַיְסַפְּרוּ לֹו אֵת כָּל הַמֹּצְאֹות אֹותָם
BN: So the two men returned, came down from the mountain and crossed over [the Yarden], and came to Yehoshu'a bin Nun, and told him everything that had happened to them.
VA YA'AVRU: "And passed over"? Not the obvious way to translate this, but the insinuation behind the phrase, in English, is once again of Red Crosses on Pesach doorposts... King James' editors could not have translated it thus by chance.
But nothing did happen to them; not in this version anyway, based on the words we have. They went to a "brothel", took no advantage, hid, escaped, went back. Did they bring any information? Did they do any reconnaissance? No. Why did they go then? Perhaps to visit the high priestess at the shrine, and to enlist the support of insiders for when the siege came? Perhaps to obtain the blessing of the local god?
Unless, of course, Rachav is not just some local prostitute, but the local priestess of the local cult, and her keeping her people at home will diminish the fighting forces, but also show that the favour of the moon-goddess has been withdrawn from the city, which will add to the alarm about the Beney Yisra-Elim etc. The taking of Mecca by Muhammad merits comparison. The key word in this passage is "zonah", and we have already seen (Yehudah and Tamar for example) how its meaning came to shift as later proto-Judaism rejected the fertility cults. A priestess-hierodule is not the same as a streetwalker.
We need to note that Yericho was also Av-Raham's first calling place when he came into Kena'an, and probably for the same moon-related reason.
2:24 VA YOMRU EL YEHOSHU'A KI NATAN YHVH BE YADENU ET KOL HA ARETS VE GAM NAMOGU KOL YOSHVEY HA ARETS MI PANEYNU
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל יְהֹושֻׁעַ כִּי נָתַן יְהוָה בְּיָדֵנוּ אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ וְגַם נָמֹגוּ כָּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפָּנֵינוּ
KJ: And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
BN: And they said to Yehoshu'a: Truly YHVH has delivered all the land into our hands; all the inhabitants of the country are fainting with fear because of us.
samech break
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