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Translation
King James Version
¶ And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Complete Jewish Bible
But the city and everything in it is to be set aside for ADONAI and therefore to be destroyed completely; only Rachav the prostitute is to be spared, she and everyone with her in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent.
Berean Standard Bible
Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
American Standard Version
And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
World English Bible Messianic
The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And the citie shalbe an execrable thing, both it, and all that are therein, vnto the Lord: onely Rahab the harlot shall liue, shee, and all that are with her in the house: for shee hid the messengers that we sent.
Young's Literal Translation
and the city hath been devoted, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot doth live, she and all who are with her in the house, for she hid the messengers whom we sent;
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Commentary on Joshua 6 verses 17–27
17 ¶ And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
The people had religiously observed the orders given them concerning the besieging of Jericho, and now at length Joshua had told them (Jos 6:16), "The Lord hath given you the city, enter and take possession." Accordingly in these verses we have,
I. The rules they were to observe in taking possession. God gives it to them, and therefore may direct it to what uses and intents, and clog it with what provisos and limitations he thinks fit. It is given to them to be devoted to God, as the first and perhaps the worst of all the cities of Canaan. 1. The city must be burnt, and all the lives in it sacrificed without mercy to the justice of God. All this they knew was included in those words, Jos 6:17. The city shall be a cherem, a devoted thing, at and all therein, to the Lord. No life in it might be ransomed upon any terms; they must all be surely put to death, Lev 27:29. So he appoints from whom as creatures they had received their lives, and to whom as sinners they had forfeited them; and who may dispute his sentence? Is God unrighteous, who thus taketh vengeance? God forbid we should entertain such a thought! There was more of God seen in the taking of Jericho than of any other of the cities of Canaan, and therefore that must be more than any other devoted to him. And the severe usage of this city would strike a terror upon all the rest and melt their hearts yet more before Israel. Only, when this severity is ordered, Rahab and her family are excepted: She shall live and all that are with her. She had distinguished herself from her neighbours by the kindness she showed to Israel, and therefore shall be distinguished from them by the speedy return of that kindness. 2. All the treasure of it, the money and plate and valuable goods, must be consecrated to the service of the tabernacle, and brought into the stock of dedicated things, the Jews say because the city was taken on the sabbath day. Thus God would be honoured by the beautifying and enriching of his tabernacle; thus preparation was made for the extraordinary expenses of his service; and thus the Israelites were taught not to set their hearts upon worldly wealth nor to aim at heaping up abundance of it for themselves. God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, not a land abounding with silver and gold; for he would have them live comfortably in it, that they might serve him cheerfully, but not covet either to trade with distant countries or to hoard for after times. He would likewise have them to reckon themselves enriched in the enriching of the tabernacle, and to think that which was laid up in God's house as truly their honour and wealth as if it had been laid up in their own. 3. A particular caution is given them to take heed of meddling with the forbidden spoil; for what was devoted to God, if they offered to appropriate it to their own use, would prove accursed to them; therefore (Jos 6:18) "In any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing; you will find yourselves inclined to reach towards it, but check yourselves, and frighten yourselves from having any thing to do with it." He speaks as if he foresaw the sin of Achan, which we have an account of in the next chapter, when he gives this reason for the caution, lest you make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it, as it proved that Achan did.
II. The entrance that was opened to them into the city by the sudden fall of the walls, or at least that part of the wall over against which they then were when they gave the shout (Jos 6:20): The wall fell down flat, and probably killed abundance of people, the guards that stood sentinel upon it, or others that crowded about it, to look at the Israelites that were walking round. We read of thousands killed by the fall of a wall, Kg1 20:30. that which they trusted to for defence proved their destruction. The sudden fall of the wall, no doubt, put the inhabitants into such a consternation that they had no strength nor spirit to make any resistance, but they became an easy prey to the sword of Israel, and saw to how little purpose it was to shut their gates against a people that had the Lord on the head of them, Mic 2:13. Note, The God of heaven easily can, and certainly will, break down all the opposing power of his and his church's enemies. Gates of brass and bars of iron are, before him, but as straw and rotten wood, Isa 45:1, Isa 45:2. Who will bring me into the strong city? Wilt not thou, O God? Psa 60:9, Psa 60:10. Thus shall Satan's kingdom fall, nor shall any prosper that harden themselves against God.
III. The execution of the orders given concerning this devoted city. All that breathed were put to the sword; not only the men that were found in arms, but the women, and children, and old people. Though they cried for quarter, and begged ever so earnestly for their lives, there was no room for compassion, pity must be forgotten: they utterly destroyed all, Jos 6:21. If they had not had a divine warrant under the seal of miracles for this execution, it could not have been justified, nor can it justify the like now, when we are sure no such warrant can be produced. But, being appointed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth to do it, who is not unrighteous in taking vengeance, they are to be applauded in doing it as the faithful ministers of his justice. Work for God was then bloody work; and cursed was he that did it deceitfully, keeping back his sword from blood, Jer 48:10. But the spirit of the gospel is very different, for Christ came not to destroy men's lives but to save them, Luk 9:56. Christ's victories were of another nature. The cattle were put to death with the owners, as additional sacrifices to the divine justice. The cattle of the Israelites, when slain at the altar, were accepted as sacrifices for them, but the cattle of these Canaanites were required to be slain as sacrifices with them, for their iniquity was not to be purged with sacrifice and offering: both were for the glory of God. 2. The city was burnt with fire, and all that was in it, Jos 6:24. The Israelites, perhaps, when they had taken Jericho, a large and well-built city, hoped they should have that for their head-quarters; but God will have them yet to dwell in tents, and therefore fires this nest, lest they should nestle in it. 3. All the silver and gold, and all those vessels which were capable of being purified by fire, were brought into the treasury of the house of the Lord; not that he needed it but that he would be honoured by it, as the Lord of hosts, of their hosts in particular, the God that gave the victory and therefore might demand the spoil, either the whole, as here, or, as sometimes, a tenth, Heb 7:4.
IV. The preservation of Rahab the harlot, or inn-keeper, who perished not with those that believed not, Heb 11:31. The public faith was engaged for her safety by the two spies, who acted therein as public persons; and therefore, though the hurry they were in at the taking of the town was no doubt very great, yet Joshua took effectual care for her preservation. The same persons that she had secured were employed to secure her, Jos 6:22, Jos 6:23. They were best able to do it who knew her and her house, and they were fittest to do it, that it might appear it was for the sake of her kindness to them that she was thus distinguished and had her life given her for a prey. All her kindred were saved with her; like Noah she believed to the saving of her house; and thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Act 16:31. Some ask how her house, which is said to have been upon the wall (Jos 2:15), escaped falling with the wall; we are sure it did escape, for she and her relations were safe in it, either though it joined so near to the wall as to be said to be upon it, yet it was so far off as not to fall either with the wall or under it; or, rather, that part of the wall on which her house stood fell not. Now being preserved alive, 1. She was left for some time without the camp to be purified from the Gentile superstition, which she was to renounce, and to be prepared for her admission as a proselyte. 2. She was in due time incorporated with the church of Israel, and she and her posterity dwelt in Israel, and her family was remarkable long after. We find her the wife of Salmon, prince of Judah, mother of Boaz, and named among the ancestors of our Saviour, Mat 1:5. Having received Israelites in the name of Israelites, she had an Israelite's reward. Bishop Pierson observes that Joshua's saving Rahab the harlot, and admitting her into Israel, were a figure of Christ's receiving into his kingdom, and entertaining there, the publicans and the harlots, Mat 21:31. Or it may be applied to the conversion of the Gentiles.
V. Jericho is condemned to a perpetual desolation, and a curse pronounced upon the man that at any time hereafter should offer to rebuild it (Jos 6:26): Joshua adjured them, that is, the elders and people of Israel, not only by their own consent, obliging themselves and their posterity never to rebuild this city, but by the divine appointment, God himself having forbidden it under the sever penalty here annexed. 1. God would hereby show the weight of a divine curse; where it rests there is no contending with it nor getting from under it; it brings ruin without remedy or repair. 2. He would have it to remain in its ruins a standing monument of his wrath against the Canaanites when the measure of their iniquity was full, and of his mercy to his people when the time had come for their settlement in Canaan. The desolations of their enemies were witnesses of his favour to them, and would upbraid them with their ingratitude to that God who had done so much for them. The situation of the city was very pleasant, and probably its nearness to Jordan was an advantage to it, which would tempt men to build upon the same spot; but they are here told it is at their peril if they do it. Men build for their posterity, but he that builds Jericho shall have no posterity to enjoy what he builds; his eldest son shall die when he begins the work, and if he take not warning by that stroke to desist, but will go on presumptuously, the finishing of his work shall be attended with the funeral of his youngest, and we must suppose all the rest cut off between. This curse, not being a curse causeless, did come upon that man who long after rebuilded Jericho (Kg1 16:34), but we are not to think it made the place ever the worse when it was built, or brought any hurt to those that inhabited it. We find Jericho afterwards graced with the presence, not only of those two great prophets Elijah and Elisha, but of our blessed Saviour himself, Luk 18:35; Luk 19:1; Mat 20:29. Note, It is a dangerous thing to attempt the building up of that which God will have to be destroyed. See Mal 1:4.
Lastly, All this magnified Joshua and raised his reputation (Jos 6:27); it made him not only acceptable to Israel, but formidable to the Canaanites, because it appeared that God was with him of a truth: the Word of the Lord was with him, so the Chaldee, even Christ himself, the same that was with Moses. Nothing can more raise a man's reputation, nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God's presence with him.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 17–27. Public domain.
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John ChrysostomAD 407
HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 7.5.15-16
Pay attention to me; how strange was the preaching of God’s love toward humanity! He who says in the law, “You shall not commit adultery” and “You shall not commit prostitution,” changes the commandment by clemency and proclaims through the blessed Joshua, “Let Rahab the prostitute live.” Joshua the son of Nun, who says, “Let the prostitute live,” prefigured the Lord Jesus, who says, “The prostitutes and tax collectors go into the kingdom of the heavens before you.” If she must live, how can she be a prostitute? If she is a prostitute, why should she live? “I speak about her previous condition,” he says, “so you may marvel at her subsequent change.” He asks, “What did Rahab, to whom he granted salvation, do?” She accepted the spies peacefully? Even an innkeeper does this. However, she reaped the fruits of salvation not only by speech but beforehand by faith and by her disposition before God.And so you may learn the abundance of her faith, listen to the very Scripture that describes in full and bears witness to her achievements. She was in a brothel, like a pearl mixed up in mire, like gold thrown in mud, the rose of piety hidden in thorns, a pious soul enclosed in a place of impiety. Pay attention so you may understand well. She accepted the spies and the One whom Israel denied in the desert; Rahab preached this One in the brothel.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Joshua 6:17 declares God's absolute decree for the city of Jericho: it and all within it are to be utterly devoted to the LORD, signifying a complete consecration to divine judgment and purification from Canaanite wickedness. Simultaneously, this verse strikingly reveals God's precise and profound mercy by explicitly exempting Rahab, a harlot, and her entire household from the impending destruction, a direct consequence of her courageous act of faith in protecting the Israelite spies.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Joshua 6:17 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its profound message. The most prominent is Contrast, which is central to the verse's impact. The stark opposition between the city's complete destruction ("accursed... to the LORD") and Rahab's complete preservation ("only Rahab... shall live") powerfully highlights the dual nature of God's character: His righteous judgment against sin and His boundless mercy toward those who respond in faith. This contrast underscores the selective and sovereign nature of divine action. Additionally, the verse uses Emphasis through specific phrasing. The repeated inclusion of "all that are therein" and "all that are with her in the house" underscores the totality of both the judgment and the salvation. The specific mention of "Rahab the harlot" is a form of Irony or Paradox, as it is precisely the one least expected to be saved by societal standards who receives divine favor, thereby magnifying God's grace and demonstrating that His ways are not man's ways. Finally, the narrative serves as a form of Foreshadowing, hinting at the future inclusion of Gentiles into God's redemptive plan, a theme that becomes fully realized in the New Testament.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Joshua 6:17 is a profound theological statement, revealing the intricate interplay of divine justice and mercy. It demonstrates that while God's holiness demands judgment against pervasive wickedness, His sovereign grace can extend even to those outside the covenant community who respond in faith. Rahab's salvation underscores that God's redemptive plan is not limited by human ethnicity, social status, or past sins, but is open to all who turn to Him. Her story serves as a powerful testament to the transformative power of faith, which, when genuine, manifests in tangible acts of obedience and leads to deliverance from judgment. This narrative foreshadows the broader New Testament theme of salvation by grace through faith, accessible to both Jew and Gentile.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The story of Rahab in Joshua 6:17 offers timeless lessons for believers today. It serves as a powerful reminder that God's grace is truly indiscriminate, extended not based on our past achievements, social standing, or perceived righteousness, but on His sovereign choice and our faith-filled response. Rahab, a Canaanite harlot, stands as a beacon of hope, illustrating that no one is beyond the reach of God's redemptive love. Her active faith, demonstrated by her courage to protect the spies, teaches us that genuine faith is never passive; it compels us to action, to align our lives with God's revealed will, even when it demands personal risk or goes against societal norms. We are called to trust in God's promises and act upon them, knowing that He honors those who honor Him. This verse also challenges us to consider the depth of God's holiness and His righteous judgment against sin, prompting us to live lives of purity and obedience, while simultaneously embracing the vastness of His mercy that offers salvation even in the face of overwhelming condemnation.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean for a city to be "accursed to the LORD" (herem)?
Answer: The term "accursed" translates the Hebrew word ḥērem, which means "devoted" or "set apart" to the LORD, often for destruction. In the context of holy war, it signified that the city and all its contents (people, animals, possessions) were to be utterly destroyed, with no spoils taken by the Israelites. This was not merely a military strategy but a profound theological act, symbolizing God's righteous judgment against the profound wickedness and idolatry of the Canaanites. It also served to prevent Israel from being corrupted by the pagan practices and to emphasize God's absolute claim over the land and its purification, as commanded in Deuteronomy 7:1-6. The ḥērem was a demonstration of God's holiness and His demand for a pure people in a pure land.
Why was Rahab, a harlot, singled out for salvation when the entire city was destroyed?
Answer: Rahab was spared not because of her profession, but despite it, and specifically because of her active faith in the God of Israel. As detailed in Joshua 2, she demonstrated her belief in the power and sovereignty of the Israelite God by hiding the spies, acknowledging His divine authority over the land and His impending victory. Her actions were a tangible expression of her faith, which the New Testament later commends in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. Her salvation highlights God's boundless mercy, which transcends social status, past sins, and ethnic boundaries, extending grace to anyone who turns to Him in genuine faith.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The story of Rahab in Joshua 6:17, with its striking contrast between universal judgment and selective mercy, finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Rahab, a Gentile harlot, is saved by faith, not by works or lineage, foreshadowing the radical inclusivity of the New Covenant. Her inclusion in the lineage of Christ (Matthew 1:5) powerfully demonstrates that God's redemptive plan has always been expansive, breaking down barriers of ethnicity and social standing. Just as Jericho was "accursed" (ḥērem) as a sacrifice to the LORD, bearing the full weight of divine judgment for its sin, so too did Christ become accursed for us, bearing the curse of sin on the cross (Galatians 3:13). He is the ultimate fulfillment of the ḥērem, taking upon Himself the complete devotion to destruction so that we, like Rahab, might be spared. Through Him, God's righteous judgment is satisfied, and His boundless mercy is extended to all who, like Rahab, place their faith in Him, regardless of their past (Ephesians 2:8-9). Rahab's story is a beautiful Old Testament echo of the Gospel: salvation by grace through faith, available to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10).