Yehoshua - Perek 2: The Spies
Part 1: The Spies’ arrival and discovery (2:1-7)
Summary
What was Rachav’s occupation?
Most of the mefarshim understand the term “zonah” to mean that she was a prostitute. There is another approach which suggests that she was an innkeeper, as this word is rooted in the term mazon – food. The likely reason why the spies went there was because they would be able to go incognito, so nobody would guess that they would be there.
What was the purpose of the spies’ mission?
Before answering this question, let us strengthen it first. From the Torah, it appears that there is a resounding message that sending spies to the land of Israel when Hashem instructs that you should enter, is highly problematic. Why would Yehoshua repeat the same episode of the meraglim under his own watch? Furthermore, within our chapter, the person sending the spies is Yehoshua. He himself was one of the original spies to Israel during the times of Moshe and saw firsthand just how disastrously the first national spying mission fHa’ailed. Additionally, Chazal tell us that one of the two spies that Yehoshua sent was Calev. Calev was the other spy who, like Yehoshua, was on that original tragic mission in parshas Shelach.
The mefarshim, including the Ralbag, the Malbim and the Radak, all address this difficulty. The consensus which they come to is that there are two reason to send spies. One type of mission is a delegation, sent to inspect the given place. This type of mission is inquisitive in nature. It questions whether this is a wise prospect in the first place. It therefore includes a representative on behalf of each tribe, ascertaining whether this is the sort of land they would want to dwell in. Such was the approach at the times of Moshe and it was clearly an unwise idea, because it tacitly questioned Hashem's command.
The other type of mission is a military operation. The assumption is that conquest will happen, and the only question is how to best achieve that goal. As opposed to sending a delegation of people, for this kind of mission one sends only a few very skilled individuals who enter the potential target area, find its weaknesses, and report back. Such an exercise will provide extra strength to the nation when they conquer. This was Yehoshua’s aim in this chapter. Since he was sending military spies, Yehoshua sent them quietly. This is also the reason why nobody else among the nation of Israel knew about them and why there were only two men dispatched.
Part 2: Rachav reveals the fear of Canaan, makes a deal with the spies and sends them on their way (2:8-24)
Summary
What is the symbolism of the red string?
Rashi suggests that because of her profession as a woman of the night, she would have the practice to allow her clientele to enter and exit through the same window through which she saved the spies. For this reason, she put this red thread there, to indicate that she was repenting for her lifestyle. She was seeking to cleanse the complexity of her lifestyle by reusing the window for good. The red, in a certHa’ain sense, presents sin and she tries to rectify her shortcomings through this act of salvation, which in turn is going to be the cause of her own salvation.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel, points out that if one considers the role of the red string by the entranceway to her apartment, it is strikingly similar to the another use of red by a doorpost, namely, the blood, which was pHa’ainted on the lintels and the doorposts in Egypt when the mashchis, the destructive force, was present at midnight, on the night of the plague of the first born. There is an eerie parallel between these two episodes, where a protection is limited only to those who are afforded it, in other words, those who are inside the apartment themselves. It is almost as if she is being transported into a microcosm of Israel on that night of destruction. This becomes her entry point into the nation of Israel.
How do we reconcile the seemingly mutually exclusive dates given for the various events over the course of these two chapters?
The calculation of time in our chapter does not appear to add up. We know that the nation of Israel is to cross the Jordan on the 10th day of Nissan, as that is explicit in the verses. We also know that Moshe Rabbeinu died on the 7th of Adar and there was a thirty-day weeping period which ends on the 7th of Nissan. As we saw in the first chapter, Yehoshua had told the people to ready themselves for three days. But in our chapter we learn of another three days that the spies wHa’ait in hiding. That means the crossing of the Yarden will take place a total of at least six days from the 7th of Adar which is past the date of the 10th of Nissan. How does this all add up?
The mefarshim debate how this works. Many suggest complicated calculations. The Malbim makes an astonishing suggestion, he clHa’aims that the timeline in this book is in fact out of sequence. He explHa’ains that the first thing the book started with was not Hashem's speech in chapter 1. Rather, the book starts with Yehoshua performing two actions: speaking to the children of Gad and Reuven and sending spies. Hashem saw that Yehoshua was becoming anxious, and was making all these military preparations, making sure that children of Gad and Reuven had reinforcements and that there would be spies, so Hashem sHa’aid to him, "Yehoshua, chazak v'amatz, - "Calm down. Be strong. Know that you are going to conquer these people. No one is going to stand in front of you.” The next step was Yehoshua telling the people to prepare to go in three days’ time, regardless of whether the spies would come back in time. He instructed that they would leave then because he was strengthened by Hashem's speech. That means that all these events took place in the three days between the 7th and 10th of Adar, and that the preparation to enter the land was made independent of the spies return. This is a true atonement for the spies sent during the days of Moshe.
Summary
- Yehoshua sends two spies to Jericho, the first city which the children of Israel hope to conquer.
- The spies spend the night in the inn of Rachav, who is a zonah.
- The arrival of the spies is leaked on the very night they arrive and is made known to the king of Yericho.
- Rachav’s home is searched, but she hides the spies and convinces the royal messengers that they have already left, and encourages the soldiers to chase after them.
What was Rachav’s occupation?
Most of the mefarshim understand the term “zonah” to mean that she was a prostitute. There is another approach which suggests that she was an innkeeper, as this word is rooted in the term mazon – food. The likely reason why the spies went there was because they would be able to go incognito, so nobody would guess that they would be there.
What was the purpose of the spies’ mission?
Before answering this question, let us strengthen it first. From the Torah, it appears that there is a resounding message that sending spies to the land of Israel when Hashem instructs that you should enter, is highly problematic. Why would Yehoshua repeat the same episode of the meraglim under his own watch? Furthermore, within our chapter, the person sending the spies is Yehoshua. He himself was one of the original spies to Israel during the times of Moshe and saw firsthand just how disastrously the first national spying mission fHa’ailed. Additionally, Chazal tell us that one of the two spies that Yehoshua sent was Calev. Calev was the other spy who, like Yehoshua, was on that original tragic mission in parshas Shelach.
The mefarshim, including the Ralbag, the Malbim and the Radak, all address this difficulty. The consensus which they come to is that there are two reason to send spies. One type of mission is a delegation, sent to inspect the given place. This type of mission is inquisitive in nature. It questions whether this is a wise prospect in the first place. It therefore includes a representative on behalf of each tribe, ascertaining whether this is the sort of land they would want to dwell in. Such was the approach at the times of Moshe and it was clearly an unwise idea, because it tacitly questioned Hashem's command.
The other type of mission is a military operation. The assumption is that conquest will happen, and the only question is how to best achieve that goal. As opposed to sending a delegation of people, for this kind of mission one sends only a few very skilled individuals who enter the potential target area, find its weaknesses, and report back. Such an exercise will provide extra strength to the nation when they conquer. This was Yehoshua’s aim in this chapter. Since he was sending military spies, Yehoshua sent them quietly. This is also the reason why nobody else among the nation of Israel knew about them and why there were only two men dispatched.
Part 2: Rachav reveals the fear of Canaan, makes a deal with the spies and sends them on their way (2:8-24)
Summary
- When the king’s men have left, Rachav returns to the spies, telling them how the entire land of Canaan live in absolute fear and trepidation of the nation of Israel.
- She helps them escape by lowering them with a rope down the wall of her house, which was also a wall of the city. She makes a deal with them that in return for her kindness, they must ensure that she and her family is to be saved when the city is conquered.
- They agree to the request and instruct her to hang a red string by her window and ensure her family remHa’ain inside the house.
- Upon her instruction, they hide in the mountHa’ains for three days, until the search party sent by the king of Yericho has returned.
What is the symbolism of the red string?
Rashi suggests that because of her profession as a woman of the night, she would have the practice to allow her clientele to enter and exit through the same window through which she saved the spies. For this reason, she put this red thread there, to indicate that she was repenting for her lifestyle. She was seeking to cleanse the complexity of her lifestyle by reusing the window for good. The red, in a certHa’ain sense, presents sin and she tries to rectify her shortcomings through this act of salvation, which in turn is going to be the cause of her own salvation.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel, points out that if one considers the role of the red string by the entranceway to her apartment, it is strikingly similar to the another use of red by a doorpost, namely, the blood, which was pHa’ainted on the lintels and the doorposts in Egypt when the mashchis, the destructive force, was present at midnight, on the night of the plague of the first born. There is an eerie parallel between these two episodes, where a protection is limited only to those who are afforded it, in other words, those who are inside the apartment themselves. It is almost as if she is being transported into a microcosm of Israel on that night of destruction. This becomes her entry point into the nation of Israel.
How do we reconcile the seemingly mutually exclusive dates given for the various events over the course of these two chapters?
The calculation of time in our chapter does not appear to add up. We know that the nation of Israel is to cross the Jordan on the 10th day of Nissan, as that is explicit in the verses. We also know that Moshe Rabbeinu died on the 7th of Adar and there was a thirty-day weeping period which ends on the 7th of Nissan. As we saw in the first chapter, Yehoshua had told the people to ready themselves for three days. But in our chapter we learn of another three days that the spies wHa’ait in hiding. That means the crossing of the Yarden will take place a total of at least six days from the 7th of Adar which is past the date of the 10th of Nissan. How does this all add up?
The mefarshim debate how this works. Many suggest complicated calculations. The Malbim makes an astonishing suggestion, he clHa’aims that the timeline in this book is in fact out of sequence. He explHa’ains that the first thing the book started with was not Hashem's speech in chapter 1. Rather, the book starts with Yehoshua performing two actions: speaking to the children of Gad and Reuven and sending spies. Hashem saw that Yehoshua was becoming anxious, and was making all these military preparations, making sure that children of Gad and Reuven had reinforcements and that there would be spies, so Hashem sHa’aid to him, "Yehoshua, chazak v'amatz, - "Calm down. Be strong. Know that you are going to conquer these people. No one is going to stand in front of you.” The next step was Yehoshua telling the people to prepare to go in three days’ time, regardless of whether the spies would come back in time. He instructed that they would leave then because he was strengthened by Hashem's speech. That means that all these events took place in the three days between the 7th and 10th of Adar, and that the preparation to enter the land was made independent of the spies return. This is a true atonement for the spies sent during the days of Moshe.