Joshua 2:12

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:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Joshua 2:12-13. Swear unto me by the Lord — Hebrew, by Jehovah, your God, who is the only true God: so she owns his worship, one eminent act whereof is, swearing by his name. My father’s house — My near kindred, which she particularly names, (Joshua 2:13,) husband and children, it seems, she had none. And for herself it was needless to speak, it being a plain and undeniable duty to save their preserver. True tokens — Either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin, or a token which I may produce as a witness of this agreement, and a means of my security. This is all that she asks. But God did for her more than she could ask or think. She was afterward advanced to be a princess in Israel, the wife of Salmon, and one of the ancestors of Christ. All that they have — That is, their children, as appears from Joshua 6:23.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:8-21 Rahab had heard of the miracles the Lord wrought for Israel. She believed that his promises would certainly be fulfilled, and his threatenings take effect; and that there was no way of escape but by submitting to him, and joining with his people. The conduct of Rahab proved that she had the real principle of Divine faith. Observe the promises the spies made to her. The goodness of God is often expressed by his kindness and truth, Ps 117:2; in both these we must be followers of him. Those who will be conscientious in keeping promises, are cautious in making them. The spies make needful conditions. The scarlet cord, like the blood upon the doorpost at the passover, recalls to remembrance the sinner's security under the atoning blood of Christ; and that we are to flee thereto for refuge from the wrath of a justly offended God. The same cord Rahab used for the saving of these Israelites, was to be used for her own safety. What we serve and honour God with, we may expect he will bless, and make useful to us.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A true token - literally, "a sign" or "pledge of truth; "something to bind them to keep their promise faithfully. The "token" was the oath which the spies take Joshua 2:14.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 2:8-21. The Covenant between Her and Them.

8-13. she came up unto them upon the roof and said—Rahab's dialogue is full of interest, as showing the universal panic and consternation of the Canaanites on the one hand (Jos 24:11; De 2:25), and her strong convictions on the other, founded on a knowledge of the divine promise, and the stupendous miracles that had opened the way of the Israelites to the confines of the promised land. She was convinced of the supremacy of Jehovah, and her earnest stipulations for the preservation of her relatives amid the perils of the approaching invasion, attest the sincerity and strength of her faith.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By the Lord; by your God, who is the only true God: so she shows her conversion to God, and owns his worship, one eminent act whereof is swearing by his name.

My father’s house; my near kindred, which she particularly names, Joshua 2:13. Husband and children it seems she had none. And for herself; it was needless to speak, it being a plain and undeniable duty to save their preserver.

A true token; either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin; or a token which I may produce as a witness of this-agreement, and a mean of my security.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord,.... Which being a religious action, and done by men that feared the Lord, she knew it would be binding upon them: the Targum is,"swear to me by the Word of the Lord:"

since I have showed you kindness; by receiving them with peace into her house, and hiding them when inquired for and demanded of her; in doing which she risked her own, life, had this treachery to her country, as it would have been deemed, been discovered;

that you will also show kindness unto my father's house; she mentions not herself and household, for if this was granted that would be implied and included; and this she presses for by the law of retaliation and friendship, for since she had shown kindness to them, it was but reasonable it should be returned:

and give me a true token; that she and her father's house would be saved by them when the city should be taken and the inhabitants destroyed; a token that would not deceive her, on which she might depend, and would be firm and sure.

Geneva Study Bible

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. a true token] “a verrey tokne,” Wyclif; i.e. a token of truth, a sign; comp. Exodus 3:12, “And this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee;” 1 Samuel 2:34; Isaiah 7:11; Luke 2:12.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. ? Kindness. The original is perhaps a little stronger, and involves usually the idea of mercy and pity. This, however, is not always the case (see Genesis 21:23; 2 Samuel 10:2). "It had been an ill nature in Rahab if she had been content to be saved alone: that her love might be a match to her faith, she covenants for all her family, and so returns life to those of whom she received it," (Bp. Hall). A true token. Literally, a token of truth. The construction is that in which the latter noun often stands in Hebrew for an adjective. Here, however, it would seem to be a little more, a token of truth - a pledge, that is, of sincerity. Rahab wanted some guarantee that her life and the lives of her kindred would be saved. The bare word of the spies would not suffice, for how could she and her kindred be identified in the confusion attending the sack of the city? But if the spies would agree upon some sign by which she could be recognised, it would at once be a pledge that they intended to keep their word, and a means of protection in the approaching downfall of the city. Joshua 2:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After this confession Rahab entreated the spies to spare her family (father's house), and made them promise her on oath as a sign of their fidelity, that on the capture of Jericho, which is tacitly assumed as self-evident after what had gone before, they would save alive her parents, and brothers and sisters, and all that belonged to them (i.e., according to Joshua 6:23, the children and families of her brothers and sisters), and not put them to death; all of which they promised her on oath. "A true token," lit. a sign of truth, i.e., a sign by which they guaranteed the truth of the kindness for which she asked. This sign consisted in nothing but the solemn oath with which they were to confirm their assurance, and, according to Joshua 2:14, actually did confirm it. The oath itself was taken in these words, "our soul shall die for you," by which they pledged their life for the life of Rahab and her family in this sense: God shall punish us with death if we are faithless, and do not spare thy life and the lives of thy relations. Though the name of God is not really expressed, it was implied in the fact that the words are described as swearing by Jehovah. But the spies couple their assurance with this condition, "if ye utter not this our business," do not betray us, sc., so that we should be pursued, and our life endangered; "then will we show thee mercy and truth" (cf. Genesis 24:27).