Yehoshua 2 - Summary

(Text) - Yehoshua sends two spies into Jericho, the nearest settlement on the other side of the Jordan. When the spies enter Jericho they find refuge in the house of Rachav who tells them that she, and the whole city of Jericho knows are quite certain that the Bene Yisrael is on the verge of conquering them. She adds that they heard about all the miracles that Hashem the G-d of the Hebrews did for them for the exodus from Egypt through their battles in the desert and that the inhabitants of Jericho are terrified about the imminent invasion. However, the king of Jericho hears that there are spies in his land and sends messengers to Rachav’s house to give over the spies. Rachav saves the spies’ lives and tells the messengers that the spies already left and doesn’t know where they went. When the king’s messengers leave, Rachav helps the spies go down from her roof to other side of the city walls and makes them promise her that when Bene Yisrael come to conquer Jericho, that they spare her life and the lives of her family. The spies tell Rachav that in order to they spare her and her family’s lives they must place the rope that Rachav lowered them down with on her window sill so that Bene Yisrael will know to leave that house alone. However, they warn her to anyone outside the house will be killed and if they find out that other people are hiding in Rachav’s house everyone including her and her family will be killed. Three days after making the treaty the spies return to Yehoshua and tell him that they are confident that Hashem will deliver Jericho to their hands.

Posted in Chapter 02, Summaries, Yehoshua - Joshua by Samuel Calvo on January 27, 2007 | No Comments

Yehoshua 2 - Review Questions

  1. Whose house do the spies stay by?
  2. What does Rachav do when the king’s messengers request that she hand over the spies
  3. What does Rachav tell the spies on what Jericho feels about Bene Yisrael
  4. How are the spies able to leave Jericho if the gates were closed?
  5. What does Rachav make the spies promise her? What are the conditions of the promise?

Posted in Chapter 02, Review Questions, Yehoshua - Joshua by Samuel Calvo on January 27, 2007 | No Comments

Yehoshua 2 - Points of Interest

  1. What does the term “Hesed Ve Emet”(14) signify? Compare this term here to where it’s used in Perashat Vayechi regarding the promise of Ya’aqob to Yosef to bury him in Israel.
  2. Why the double lashon of “her house was on the wall of the city-next to the wall of the city she lived” (16)
  3. Compare the story of these spies to the spies moshe sent in sefer Bamidbar. What where the differences that made these spies successful and confident in Hashem and those in the Chumash who doubted Hashem and convinced the nation that conquering Israel would be impossible.
  4. What is the meaning of Rachav’s title of “Zonah” what connotation does it imply?
  5. Notice in pasuk 11, how it seems as if Rachav believes in Hashem. Very strange

Posted in Chapter 02, Points of Interest, Yehoshua - Joshua by Samuel Calvo on January 27, 2007 | No Comments