Bible Strands
Joshua 2:5
At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rahab addresses the king’s men at dusk, claiming the two men have already fled while the city gate is about to shut. She directs them to pursue quickly, positioning herself as an unwitting informant to buy time.
The words — The Hebrew לִסְגֹּר (li/s.Gor) means “to shut,” paired with בַּחֹשֶׁךְ (ba./Cho.shekh) for “at darkness/dusk.” Together with יָדַעְתִּי (ya.Da'.ti), “I know,” they frame Rahab’s deliberate claim of ignorance.
The thread — The verse’s reference to closing gates echoes Nehemiah 13:19, where city gates are shut at dusk to protect the Sabbath. Isaiah 60:11 contrasts this with a future reality where gates remain open day and night.
Why it lands — The text records Rahab’s tactical delay through claimed ignorance, forcing pursuers into a futile pursuit. Readers observe how strategic speech can alter events without explicit divine intervention noted in the moment.
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 it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 13:19 When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.
- Isaiah 60:11 Your gates will always stand open; they will never be shut, day or night, so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you, with their kings being led in procession.
- Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
- Ezekiel 47:1 Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
- Ezekiel 47:12 Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.”
- Revelation 21:25 Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
- Joshua 2:7 So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut.
- Romans 3:7 However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?