Commentary for Joshua 2:30

And Yehoshua sent. I am forced to say that it was during the mourning for Moshe that he sent them, since at the end of three days following the conclusion of the mourning for Moshe, they crossed the Jordan, and it was from this fact that we learned that Moshe died on the seventh day of Adar, by counting back thirty three days from the day they came up from the Jordan which was the tenth day of the first month.¹The month of Nissan. And you must say that from the time the spies were sent they did not cross the Jordan until the fifth day, as it is said: they remained there three days until the pursuers returned.²See verse 22. That same night they crossed [the Jordan] and came back to Yehoshua ben Nun. Yehoshua rose early that morning and they departed from Shittim.³See Chapter 3:1. That was the fourth day. They spent the night there before crossing. Therefore they did not cross the Jordan until the fifth day.

Secret. In secret—this is the translation of Targum Yonason. He said to them: “Pretend to be deaf-mutes so they will not conceal their activities from you.” Another explanation: translate חֶרֶשׁ as חֶרֶשׂ or חֶרֶס, [חֶרֶס means pottery [in other words] “Load yourselves with pots in order to look like pottery salesmen.”

And view the land and Yericho. Wasn’t Yericho part of the land? Why then was it mentioned specifically? To indicate that it was as strong [fortified] as the entire land combined, because it was situated on the border. There are other such verses: Among the servants of David that were missing were nineteen men and Asaheil.⁴II Shmuel, 2:30. Wasn’t Asaheil included among the nineteen? [Why then was he mentioned specifically?] Because he was as strong as all of them. Another example: ‘And King Solomon was enamoured of many foreign wives and of Pharaoh’s daughter.’⁵I Kings, 11:1. Wasn’t Pharaoh’s daughter included among them? Why then was she mentioned specifically? Because he loved her as much as all of them. And also because of the sin involved since she caused him to sin more than all of them. This was taught in Sifre.⁶Bamidbar, 31:6.

A lady innkeeper. According to Targum Yonasson, an innkeeper who sold various kinds of foodstuff.

Zonah literal, or a seller of baked goods, like the Targum Yonatan has it, seller of baked goods [pundekita], and this is with a good weight. And the true opinion of Yonatan was an actual zonah, since such was the way in places, to translate zonah as seller of baked goods. And so "two women who were prostitutes [zonot]" (I Kings 3:16), [is translated in Targum Jonathan as] sellers of baked goods [pundekan]. And this even though a few of the translations are according to the opinion of Bara, and his opinion was that a zonah is like a seller of baked goods in that she sells herself to all.

To scout. To search, and similarly it is said: ‘There he searched for food.’⁷Eyov, 39:29.

And she hid them.⁸The word וַתִּצְפְנוֹ is singular but the verse is said regarding the two men and should be plural. There are scriptural verses that speak of the plural as if it were singular. Since she was in a hurry to hide them and she hid them in a narrow place⁹She hid them in a place that normally would have sufficed for one person. it was as though they were one person. The Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma states ‘That these two men were Pinchos and Caleiv, and Pinchos stood before them¹⁰Before the pursuers. but they did not see him because he was [invisible] like an angel.’¹¹Therefore there was no need to hide him and thus she actually hid only one man. Another interpretation: She hid each of them separately.¹²Therefore it is correct to say: she hid him. We find a similar verse: ‘Oil and incense gladden the heart’¹³Mishlei, 27:9. and it does not say יְשַׂמְחוּ לֵב, in the plural.

Stalks of flax. with their pods.

To the fords. These were places for crossing the water,¹⁴There were a number of crossing places linking both sides of the Jordan. for the pursuers thought they had turned back to return to the plains of Moav and the Jordan was between them.

And the shut the gate. The gatekeepers shut the gate.¹⁵According to Metsudas Dovid this refers to the gate of the city. The pursuers suspected that the spies were still in the city and by shutting the gates, they would be locked in and they would be able to find them.

And there was no longer any spirit. [The men had no spirit (desire)] even to lie with a woman. It was said by the Sages: There was no prince or ruler who had not had [sexual] relationships with Rochav, the harlot. She was ten years old when the Bnei Yisroel went out of Egypt, and she engaged in harlotry for forty years.

A true sign. You create the sign, so that when you come and capture the city, you will recognize the sign and keep me alive.

Then she lowered them down with the rope. With the same rope and through the same window her admirers would use to come up to her. She said: “Master of the World with these I have sinned, with these forgive me.”

Until the pursuers return.¹⁶How could she possibly have known that the pursuers would be coming back after three days? She must have had Divine inspiration to know they would return after three days.¹⁷Radak maintains that she reasoned that it was a day’s journey from Yericho to the Jordan. They would spend a day searching for the spies and then return to Yericho making a total of three days.

We will be free. We are holding you responsible for this, we depend on you to make this sign.

The line of red string. תִּקְוַת means a line or rope.

His blood is on his own head. The guilt of his killing is on his own head, for he will have caused his own death.

His blood is on our heads. The guilt of his killing will be upon us.

And crossed over. The Jordan river.