Lectionary Calendar
Friday, May 16th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Joshua 2:17

The men told her, "In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it's his own fault—we aren't responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it's our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we're no longer responsible."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Reconnoissance;   Treaty;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible Stories for Children;   Children;   Home;   Pleasant Sunday Afternoons;   Religion;   Stories for Children;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Rahab;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Family Life and Relations;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Hoshea;   Jericho;   Joshua;   Rahab;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jericho;   Rahab, Rachab ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Jericho;   Rahab;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Handicraft;   Rahab;   Shittim;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Handicraft;   Jer'icho;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Cord;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,
Hebrew Names Version
The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.
King James Version
And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Lexham English Bible
The men said to her, "We will be released from this oath of yours that you made us swear.
English Standard Version
The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.
New Century Version
The men said to her, "You must do as we say. If not, we cannot be responsible for keeping this oath you have made us swear.
New English Translation
The men said to her, "We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met:
Amplified Bible
The men said to her, "We shall be blameless and free from this oath which you have made us swear,
New American Standard Bible
And the men said to her, "We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear,
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the men said vnto her, We will be blamelesse of this thine othe, which thou hast made vs sweare.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the men said to her, "We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,
Contemporary English Version
The spies said: You made us promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our promise, but you can't tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this red rope on your window when we attack, and your father and mother, your brothers, and everyone else in your family must be here with you. We'll take the blame if anyone who stays in this house gets hurt. But anyone who leaves your house will be killed, and it won't be our fault.
Complete Jewish Bible
The men said to her, "We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that
Darby Translation
And the men said to her, We will be quit of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Easy-to-Read Version
The men said to her, "We made a promise to you. But you must do one thing, or we will not be responsible for our promise.
George Lamsa Translation
And the men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath which you have made us swear.
Good News Translation
The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give.
Literal Translation
And the men said to her, We will be guiltless from this oath of yours which you made us swear.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the men sayde vnto her: As for this ooth that thou hast taken of vs, we wyll be discharged of it
American Standard Version
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Bible in Basic English
And the men said to her, We will only be responsible for this oath which you have made us take,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the men sayde vnto her: We wyl be blamelesse of this thy oth which thou hast made vs sweare:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the men said unto her: 'We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
King James Version (1611)
And the men said vnto her, Wee will bee blamelesse of this thine oath which thou hast made vs sweare:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the men said to her, We are clear of this thy oath.
English Revised Version
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Berean Standard Bible
The men said to her, "We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whiche seiden to hir, We schulen be giltles of this ooth, bi which thou hast chargid vs,
Young's Literal Translation
And the men say unto her, `We are acquitted of this thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear:
Update Bible Version
And the men said to her, We will be innocent of this oath of yours which you have made us to swear.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the men said to her, We [will be] blameless of this thy oath which thou hast made us swear.
World English Bible
The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.
New King James Version
So the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear,
New Living Translation
Before they left, the men told her, "We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.
New Life Bible
The men said to her, "We will be free from this promise you have made us swear
New Revised Standard
The men said to her, "We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the men said unto her, - Free, will we be from this thine oath which thou hast made us swear:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said to her: We shall be blameless of this oath, which thou hast made us swear,
Revised Standard Version
The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours which you have made us swear.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The men said to her, "We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,

Contextual Overview

8Before the spies were down for the night, the woman came up to them on the roof and said, "I know that God has given you the land. We're all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. We heard how God dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt, and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under a holy curse and destroyed. We heard it and our hearts sank. We all had the wind knocked out of us. And all because of you, you and God , your God, God of the heavens above and God of the earth below. 12"Now promise me by God . I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters—everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!" 14 "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." 15She lowered them down out a window with a rope because her house was on the city wall to the outside. She told them, "Run for the hills so your pursuers won't find you. Hide out for three days and give your pursuers time to return. Then get on your way." 17The men told her, "In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it's his own fault—we aren't responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it's our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we're no longer responsible." 21 She said, "If that's what you say, that's the way it is," and sent them off. They left and she hung the red rope out the window.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Joshua 2:20, Genesis 24:3-8, Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:11, Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, 2 Samuel 21:1, 2 Samuel 21:2, 2 Samuel 21:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 24:8 - clear Joshua 6:22 - as ye sware unto her Ecclesiastes 9:2 - feareth

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail.
Genesis 2:10
A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
Genesis 2:18
God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.
Genesis 2:21
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
Genesis 3:11
God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"
Genesis 3:17
He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, ‘Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
Deuteronomy 30:15
Look at what I've done for you today: I've placed in front of you Life and Good Death and Evil.
Deuteronomy 30:19
I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God , your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God , your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
1 Samuel 14:44
Saul said, "Yes. Jonathan most certainly will die. It's out of my hands—I can't go against God, can I?"
1 Samuel 22:16
The king said, "Death, Ahimelech! You're going to die—you and everyone in your family!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile