Joshua 2:14

“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The two Israelite spies respond to Rahab’s request to spare her family by swearing a conditional oath of mutual protection. They speak to Rahab while she is hiding them in her Jerusalem house, immediately after she has lowered them through a window to evade the king’s pursuit.

The words — The Hebrew phrase נַפְשֵׁנוּ תַחַת נַפְשֵׁכֶם (nafsheinu tachat nafshechem) literally means “our life for your life,” establishing a binding exchange of safety. The conditional clause אִם לֹא תַגִּידוּ (im lo tagidu) translates as “if you do not tell,” framing their promise entirely on her continued silence.

The thread — This conditional exchange of safety mirrors the request for kindness and faithfulness in Genesis 24:49 and the reciprocal mercy declared in Matthew 5:7. The spies’ oath also parallels the conditional guidance offered to a man in Judges 1:24.

Why it lands — The text demands a concrete choice between silence and betrayal, showing that survival in the coming conquest depends on aligning with God’s agents. It asks the reader to recognize that covenant loyalty requires active risk and that divine promises are mediated through human faithfulness.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

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.

Cross-references

Judges 1:24 and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Genesis 24:49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; but if not, let me know, so that I may go elsewhere.”
Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
Numbers 10:29 Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”
Joshua 6:17 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.
Joshua 6:25 And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.
1 Samuel 20:8 Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
2 Samuel 9:1 Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
1 Kings 20:39 As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’