Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Deliver our lives from death - She had learned, either from the spies or otherwise, that all the inhabitants of the land were doomed to destruction, and therefore she obliges them to enter into a covenant with her for the preservation of herself and her household.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters,.... She makes no mention of any husband or children she had, as harlots seldom have, and which seems to confirm her character as such; and so Abarbinel observes, that her father's house is only mentioned to tell us that she had no husband, for she was an harlot and had no children, and puts her father and mother in the room of an husband, and her brethren and sisters in the room of children:

and all that they have; not their substance only, but their children more especially, the children of her brethren and sisters:

and deliver our lives from death; here she manifestly includes herself, and requests the saving of her life, and the lives of all her relations, when she knew the inhabitants of the city would be all put to death upon the taking of it: thus she provided for the safety of her family, as Noah in another case and manner did, Hebrews 11:7; and indeed seemed more concerned for them than for herself; and thus souls sensible of their own estate and condition, by nature and grace, are very solicitous for the salvation of their relations and friends, Romans 9:3.

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

How earnest are the feelings of natural affection! Are we not taught by this instance to be very anxious for the everlasting welfare of our relations after the flesh, and to feel somewhat of Abraham ' s longing for the salvation of Ishmael. Genesis 17:18.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

All that they have — That is, their children, as appears from Joshua 6:23.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Joshua 2:13 And [that] ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Ver. 13. And that ye will save alive.] Man is ζωον φιλοζωον, a creature that would fain live, said Aesop. Quis vitam non vult? said Augustine. The Gibeonites were desirous to live upon any terms. [Joshua 9:3-14] Rahab’s greatest care was for her kindred, because unconverted. Augustine professeth that he would not for the gain of a million of worlds be an atheist for half an hour: because he knew not but God might in that time call him to account.

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 13. That ye will save alive my father, &c.— We here see what Rahab means in the foregoing verse by her father's house;—namely, his family: her enumeration of which demonstrates that she had neither husband nor children. By all that they have, she meant the children of her brethren and sisters, and all her kindred. See chap. Joshua 6:23.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

13.And that ye will save alive my father — The English version wrongly supplies that. Read, And ye shall save alive, etc. She was by no means destitute of natural affection. That she does not stipulate for the salvation of the entire state of Jericho is no evidence of her want of patriotism. She was too deeply impressed with the belief of the coming overthrow to ask so much. Our ties of consanguinity should induce us to make extraordinary efforts for the conversion of our kindred to God. This is the highest purpose of the creation of such ties in the human soul.

All that they have — It is not necessary to limit this clause to persons only; it may include portable possessions also. Comp. Joshua 6:23, note.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

lives. Hebrew "souls". See App-13.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters.—Whatever Rahab may have been herself, her acknowledgment of all her family is observable. She was in no way separated or degraded from their society. When we remember what Moses describes the Canaanites to have been (in certain passages of the Pentateuch, as Leviticus 18:24-28; Leviticus 20:22-23) and compare this chapter, we may reasonably conclude Rahab to have been morally not inferior to her countrymen as they were then, but rather their superior. We are reminded that the “publicans and harlots “were not the worst members of the “evil and adulterous generation” to whom the Word of God came. They believed John the Baptist, and were among the most constant hearers of the true Joshua (Matthew 21:32; Luke 15:1).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

my father

It is observable that in this enumeration of her kindred, there is no mention made of a husband. It is most likely that she was a single woman or widow, who obtained an honest livelihood by keeping a house for the entertainment of strangers; and not a woman of ill fame, as some have supposed. The spies sent on this occasion were certainly some of the most confidential persons that Joshua had in his host, and their errand was of the greatest importance; is it then not most likely that they lodged at an inn?