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Joshua 2:14

The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

  • KJV 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.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (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.'

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Cross-references (10)

Passages linked to Joshua 2:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Judges 1:24-25 The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
  • Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
  • Genesis 24:49 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”
  • Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
  • Numbers 10:29-32 Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel.” He said to him, “I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives.” Moses said, “Don’t leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. It shall be, if you go with us—yes, it shall be—that whatever good Yahweh does to us, we will do the same to you.”
  • Joshua 6:17 The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
  • Joshua 6:25 But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
  • 1 Samuel 20:8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?”
  • 2 Samuel 9:1 David said, “Is there yet any who is left of Saul’s house, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
  • 1 Kings 20:39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over, and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 14. Our life for yours, etc. They imprecate death…

14. Our life for yours, etc. They imprecate death upon themselves, if they do not faithfully make it their business to save Rahab. For the interpretation adopted by some, We will pledge our lives, seems far-fetched, or too restricted, since their intention was simply to bind themselves before God. They constitute themselves, therefore, a kind of expiatory victims, if any evil befalls Rahab through their negligence. The expression, for yours, ought, doubtless, to be extended to the parents, brothers, and sisters. They therefore render their own lives liable in such a sense, that blood may be required of them, if the family of Rahab do not remain safe. And herein consists the sanctity of an oath, that though its violation may escape with impunity, so far as men are concerned, yet God having been interposed as a witness, will take account of the perfidy. In Hebrew, to do mercy and truth, is equivalent to performing the office of humanity faithfully, sincerely, and firmly.

A condition, however, is inserted, — provided Rahab do not divulge what they have said. This was inserted, not on account of distrust, as is usually expounded, but only to put Rahab more upon her guard, on her own account. The warning, therefore, was given in good faith, and flowed from pure good will: for there was a danger that Rahab might betray herself by a disclosure. In one word, they show how important it is that the matter should remain, as it were, buried, lest the woman, by inconsiderately talking of the compact, might expose herself to capital punishment. In this they show that they were sincerely anxious for her safety, since they thus early caution her against doing anything which might put it out of their power to render her a service. In further distinctly stipulating, that no one should go out of the house, or otherwise they should be held blameless, we may draw the important inference, that in making oaths soberness should be carefully attended to, that we may not profane the name of God by making futile promises on any subject.

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The advice of Rahab, to turn aside into the mountain, and there remain quiet for three days, shows that there is no repugnance between faith and the precautions which provide against manifest dangers. There is no doubt that the messengers crept off to the mountain in great fear, and yet that confidence which they had conceived, from the remarkable interference of God in their behalf, directed their steps, and did not allow them to lose their presence of mind.

Some have raised the question, whether, seeing it is criminal to overleap walls, it could be lawful to get out of the city by a window? But it ought to be observed, first, that the walls of cities were not everywhere sacred, because every city had not a Romulus, who could make the overleaping a pretext for slaying his brother; and secondly, That law, as Cicero reminds us, was to be tempered by equity, inasmuch as he who should climb a wall for the purpose of repelling an enemy, would be more deserving of reward than punishment. The end of the law is to make the citizens secure by the protection of the walls. He, therefore, who should climb over the walls, neither from contempt nor petulance, nor fraud, nor in a tumultuous manner, but under the pressure of necessity, could not justly on that account be charged with a capital offence. Should it be objected that the thing was of bad example, I admit it; but when the object is to rescue one’s life from injury, violence, or robbery, provided it be done without offence or harm to any one, necessity excuses it. It cannot be charged upon Paul as a crime, that when in danger of his life at Damascus, he was let down by a basket, seeing he was divinely permitted to escape, without tumult, from the violence and cruelty of wicked men.

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.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain We warrant you on pain of our lives.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Our life for yours; we pawn and will venture…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the men answered her,.... The two spies:
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain For yours - We will venture our lives for…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. Our life for yours] "May our life…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 2:14. Our life for yours — We will…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Our life for yours - See the margin. This…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Death. We are willing to die instead of you,…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the men answered her, Our life for yours, if…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14. Our life for yours — According to Osiander,…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. Our life for yours] Literally, Our soul instead…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Our life for yours. Literally, our souls (vp,n, answering…
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jos_2:14. Our life for yours] The sentiment is, “If…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:14 When Israel attacked Jericho, Joshua and the two…

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