Joshua 2:14

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

"Our lives for your lives!" the men agreed. "If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Hebrew Names Version
The men said to her, Our life for yours, if you don't utter this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.

King James Version
And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Lexham English Bible
And the men said to her, "Our lives for yours. If you do not report this business of ours, we will show you loyalty and faithfulness when Yahweh gives us the land."

English Standard Version
And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."

New Century Version
The men agreed and said, "It will be our lives for your lives if you don't tell anyone what we are doing. When the Lord gives us the land, we will be kind and true to you."

New English Translation
The men said to her, "If you die, may we die too! If you do not report what we've been up to, then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance to you."

Amplified Bible
So the men said to her, "Our lives for yours if you do not tell [anyone about] this business of ours; then when the LORD gives us the land we will show you kindness and faithfulness [and keep our agreement with you]."

New American Standard Bible
So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the men answered her, Our life for you to die, if ye vtter not this our businesse: and when the Lorde hath giuen vs the lande, we will deale mercifully and truely with thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it will be when Yahweh gives us the land that we will show lovingkindness and truth to you."

Contemporary English Version
"Rahab," the spies answered, "if you keep quiet about what we're doing, we promise to be kind to you when the Lord gives us this land. We pray that the Lord will kill us if we don't keep our promise!"

Complete Jewish Bible
The men replied to her, "Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don't betray our mission. So when Adonai gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith."

Darby Translation
And the men said to her, Our lives shall pay for yours, if ye do not make this our business known; and it shall be when Jehovah shall give us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
The men agreed and said, "We will trade our lives for yours. Don't tell anyone what we are doing. Then, when the Lord gives us the land, we will be kind to you. You can trust us."

George Lamsa Translation
And the men said to her, We will give our lives to death instead of you, if you will not disclose this affair. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us this land, then we will deal kindly and truly with you.

Good News Translation
The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well."

Literal Translation
And the men said to her, Our life instead of yours, if you do not tell this matter of ours, then it shall be, when Jehovah gives this land to us that we shall deal with you in kindness and truth.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The men sayde vnto her: Yf we shewe not mercy and faithfulnesse vpon the, whan the LORDE geueth vs the londe, then let oure soule dye for you, so farre as thou betrayest not oure deuyce.

American Standard Version
And the men said unto her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business; and it shall be, when Jehovah giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Bible in Basic English
And the men said to her, Our life for yours if you keep our business secret; and when the Lord has given us the land, we will keep faith and be kind to you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the men aunswered her: Our lyues for you to dye, yf ye vtter not this our busynesse. And when the Lorde hath geuen vs the lande, we wyll deale mercyfully and truely with thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the men said unto her: 'Our life for yours, if ye tell not this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.'

King James Version (1611)
And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if yee vtter not this our businesse. And it shall bee when the Lord hath giuen vs the land, that wee will deale kindely and truely with thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the men said to her, Our life for yours even to death: and she said, When the Lord shall have delivered the city to you, ye shall deal mercifully and truly with me.

English Revised Version
And the men said unto her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whiche answeriden to hir, Oure lijf be for you in to deeth, if netheles thou bitraiest not vs; and whanne the Lord hath bitake to vs the lond, we schulen do mercy and treuthe in thee.

Young's Literal Translation
And the men say to her, `Our soul for yours -- to die; if ye declare not this our matter, then it hath been, in Jehovah's giving to us this land, that we have done with thee kindness and truth.'

Update Bible Version
And the men said to her, Our life for yours, if you do not utter this business of ours; then it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

World English Bible
The men said to her, Our life for yours, if you don't utter this our business; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.

New King James Version
So the men answered her, "Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."

New Living Translation
"We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. "If you don't betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land."

New Life Bible
So the men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell anyone what we are doing, we will be faithful and show you kindness when the Lord gives us the land."

New Revised Standard
The men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the men said unto her, Our souls in your stead unto death, if ye utter not this our business, - so shall it be, when Yahweh shall give us the land, that we will deal with thee in lovingkindness and in faithfulness.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They answered her: Be our lives for you unto death, only if thou betray us not. And when the Lord shall have delivered us the land, we will shew thee mercy and truth.

Revised Standard Version
And the men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land."

THE MESSAGE
"Our lives for yours!" said the men. "But don't tell anyone our business. When God turns this land over to us, we'll do right by you in loyal mercy."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."

Contextual Overview

⁸Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof ⁹and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all the inhabitants of the land are melting in fear of you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. ¹¹When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. ¹²Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will deliver us from death." ¹⁴"Our lives for your lives!" the men agreed. "If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land."¹⁵Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city. ¹⁶"Go to the hill country," she said, "so that your pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there for three days until they have returned; then go on your way." ¹⁷The men said to her, "We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

for yours: Heb. instead of you to die, 1 Kings 20:39

when the Lord: Joshua 6:17, Joshua 6:25, Genesis 24:49, Numbers 10:29-32, Judges 1:24, Judges 1:25, 1 Samuel 20:8, 2 Samuel 9:1, Proverbs 18:24, Matthew 5:7

Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:4 - to do evil Deuteronomy 7:2 - make no Joshua 2:19 - his blood Proverbs 11:13 - he Acts 23:22 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 10:11
From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

Genesis 10:22
The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land-from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates-

Genesis 25:18
Ishmael's descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Deuteronomy 1:7
Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.

Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.

Daniel 10:4
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,

Revelation 9:14
saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the men answered her,.... The two spies:

our life for yours; or "our souls in your stead to die" i; that is, we engage for the security of your lives, should they be in danger; we promise to die in your room and stead rather than you should: this they said not as though their lives would be required of them for them, but to assure her of the safety of her and her father's house, on the following condition:

if ye utter not this our business; not their business in searching the land, for the discovery of that would be of little avail after they were gone; for it was known already that there were persons come to search the land; but "this our word" k, what they were going to say to her and bid her do, as a sign of safety to her and hers; which, if she discovered, others would give out the same sign, and then they could not promise her safety; or if she did not take care to bring in her father, mother, brethren, and sisters, and theirs into her house, they could not engage to protect them:

and it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land; not the whole land, but Jericho and the laud about it, that when that part of it should be delivered into their hands:

that we will deal kindly and truly with thee; "kindly", by sparing her and her father's house; "truly", by faithfully performing the promise and oath they made to her.

i נפשנו תחתיכם למות "anima nostra pro vobis ad moriendum", Pagninus, Montanus. k את דברנו זה "verbum nostrum hoc", Pagninus, Montanus; "sermonem nostrum hunc", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Our life for yours - See the margin. This is (see Joshua 2:17) a form of oath, in which God is in effect invoked to punish them with death if they did not perform their promise to save Rahab’s life. Compare the more common form of oath, 1 Samuel 1:26, etc.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 2:14. Our life for yours — "May our life be destroyed if we suffer yours to be injured!" This is what was anciently called in our country pledging - staking, a man's life for that of his neighbour or friend.