by Jen | Feb 25, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Introduction, Joshua 2
Welcome to this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) study of Joshua 2. I’m glad you’re here with me!
This is the second study in a series of seven I’m calling Restoration. I explored these passages years ago using the original “20 Questions” version of DISO, but those posts are no longer available online. Rather than republish those entries (with the old process), I’ve decided to work through the texts again using the current DISO method. I can’t wait to see what new revelations the Holy Spirit will help me see this time.
Let’s Study Joshua 2!
This week, I’ll pray and survey Joshua 2. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready::
- A copy of Joshua 2, plus access to the entire book of Joshua.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from www.blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google Docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Joshua 2, and the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the posts I publish here. That’s good, too because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. You may find that’s enough to make it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Joshua 2 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer that I can pray every time I study Joshua 2. I’m going to write it in my study journal, so I’ll have it handy each time I study.
- SURVEY: And then I’ll read Joshua 2, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig more deeply into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with snippets of my previous study from 2022 as appropriate—I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Mar 4, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again!
For many Christians, tomorrow begins the season of Lent: forty days (excluding Sundays) from my favorite holiday, Easter Sunday (April 20). Some faith traditions observe lent by fasting, Scripture study, and/or prayers to refocus busy lives on the events leading up to Jesus’s death and resurrection. In Jesus’s name, I ask that this Lenten season be a time of rebirth: that we who were dead in our sins and trespasses may be raised to life again, bursting forth from tombs of our past into the light of your everlasting love. Use this study for Your glory, Lord. Help us grow stronger in the faith, hope, and love that enables us to share your light with others. Amen.
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
This time, I’m adapting a previous study prayer as follows:
Father God, thank you for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit as I study Joshua 2 again. Open my eyes, ears, and heart. Help me observe this Scripture, understand the lesson You have for me in this season, and put it to good use in my life so that others are blessed by it and give You the glory. I pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Next, I read Joshua 2 and focused on my reactions. Here’s what I noted:
HUH?s
- Verse 1 indicates the men were supposed to secretly… go, view the land, especially Jericho. So, who told the king they had arrived? (vv1-2) And how did Rahab know so much about them? (vv9-10)?
- Would Israelite men spending the night in a prostitute’s house (v1) be a violation of Jewish law?
- Why would a prostitute have stalks of flax on her roof (v6)?
- What did Rahab mean when she talked about melted hearts (v11) [similar language also in vv9, 24]?
WOW!s
- Israelite spies going to a prostitute’s house seems out of character; on the other hand, it wouldn’t appear strange to the neighbors that men she didn’t know would come and go from her home.
- Feels like it would take a lot of nerve for a prostitute to lie to the king’s guard (vv4-5). And a lot of nerve (or desperation) to offer a deal to strangers whom she’d heard bad things about (vv9-13).
- Putting the men on the roof (v6) would have given them a good view of the surrounding area and possibly Rahab’s exchange with the guard (vv3-5). V15 indicates she lived in the city wall, so maybe her roof was attached to the wall as well.
- Pretty cool of the spies to agree to Rahab’s deal (v14).
- After the agreement was struck, she helped them escape (through a window in the wall) and told them how to avoid the pursuers (v16).
- Rahab was instructed to tie a red cord in her window to ensure the safety of all inside (v18), which she did (v21) [this reminds me of the blood on Israelite doorposts in Egypt during the Passover (Exodus 12:7)!].
I’ll be in prayer this week to determine what I should focus on for this study. Once that decision is made, I’ll start mining treasure from Joshua 2 as indicated below. I hope you’ll keep checking back with me to see how it goes!
Dig-In Challenges
If you’re studying this passage, too, listen to the Spirit this week, and choose a personal Huh? or Wow! to dig more deeply into. Going forward, I’ll refer to this as your personal treasure from Joshua 2. It can be something you noticed in your study, one of the items I’ve listed above, or anything else the Holy Spirit has laid upon your heart as you think about this passage. Write this treasure in your study journal and note the verse(s) most relevant to it. As we study, we’ll consider everything in the chapter, but we’ll gradually narrow the focus to the relevant verse(s).
Then:
- PRAY.
- MINE: Dig into the facts recorded in Joshua 2. This week, we’ll focus specifically on the setting (who’s involved, and where and when the action took place). Note anything the Spirit emphasizes.
I hope you’ll join me again soon!
GO TO WEEK 3 >
by Jen | Mar 11, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back and thank you for checking in with me today!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
Of the Huh?s and Wow!s the Spirit showed me last week, I feel drawn to melt and melted in verses 9, 11, and 24. Both Rahab (v9) and the spies (v24) said the inhabitants of [Jericho] melt away before the Israelites. She also revealed the hearts of her people melted when they heard what God had done (vv10-11). I’m interested in learning about that history and understanding exactly what she means by melting.
WHO (CHARACTERS)
I noticed these main characters in Joshua 2:
- Joshua. Son of Nun (vv1, 23-24), the Israelite commander who ordered the spies to view Jericho and the surrounding area.
- Two unnamed men. The whole book is about their secret (v1) mission from Shittim to Jericho to search out the land (v2); how they lodged with the prostitute, Rahab, in Jericho (v1) and made a deal with her to preserve her family (vv12-14) in exchange for her hiding them (vv4, 6), lying to the king’s guard (vv4-5), helping them escape through the window in the wall, and telling them the best way to avoid the returning posse (vv15-16).
- Rahab, the treasonous prostitute who lived in the Jericho city wall.
- King of Jericho, who apparently sent his dullest men to Rahab’s house to find the spies.
- Men, pursuers, sent to find the Israelite spies (vv7, 16, 22).
- The LORD. First mentioned by Rahab as the One who had [already!] given the Israelites her land and dried up the Red Sea in front of them (vv9-10). She also acknowledged He is God in the heavens and the earth (v11), and asked the men to swear by Him they won’t harm her and her family (vv12-13). The Israelite men agreed, indicating they’d deal fairly with her when the LORD gives [them] the land (v14). The spies also told Joshua the LORD had already given the land into their hands (v24).
Interestingly, the author didn’t name the spies, only the conquered kings (v10), plus Joshua, Rahab, and the LORD.
WHERE (LOCATIONS)
I noted these locations:
- Shittim, where the spies and Joshua were when he gave them the command to view the land and Jericho (v1). The spies returned there and reported the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us (vv23-24).
- The land and Jericho (vv1-3), the area Joshua wanted the men to spy out, where most of the action happens.
- Rahab’s house (v1), where the spies lodged (v1), where the guard inquired about them and were told they’d gone (v3-5).
- The gate (v5), where Rahab said the spies had gone out (v5). It was shut right after the pursuers went out (v7).
- Rahab’s roof, where she hid the spies (v6), and where she and they made the deal to spare her and her family (vv8-14).
- The king’s men pursued the spies on the way to the Jordan [River], as far as the fords(v7).
- In the heavens above and on the earth beneath(v11), where Rahab says the LORD is God (v11). This reminded me of Ruth’s profession of faith (Ruth 1:16). Neither of these women knew the Hebrew God through culture or tradition but still believed in Him!
- Rahab’s window in the city wall, by which she helped the spies escape after the city gate had been closed (v15). In this window, she tied the scarlet cord that alerted the Israelites to save her family (vv18, 21).
- The hills, where the spies hid for three days so the pursuers wouldn’t find them (vv16, 22).
WHEN (TIMEFRAMES)
Here’s the timeline for the events in this passage:
- Day 1: Two spies, sent by Joshua, arrived at Rahab’s house in Jericho (v1). The same evening [tonight (v2)], the King of Jericho learned they’d arrived. The King sent his guard to Rahab’s to get them; she said they’d already left when the gate was about to be closed at dark (v5). So, the pursuers left town, and the gate was closed after them (v7).
- Before the [spies] lay down (v8) that night, Rahab struck a deal with them to keep her family alive. She told them the inhabitants of the land melt away because they knew what God did when [the Israelites] came out of Egyptand destroyed the Amorites. Their hearts melted as soon as [they] heard about the Israelites. The spies said they would deal kindly and faithfully with her, when the LORD gives us the land (vv9-14).
- Then(v15), she lowered them from a window in the wall and told them to hide in the hills for three days(v16). The spies told her to gather her family into her house and tie a scarlet cord in that same window when we come into the land.
This context seems to indicate they discussed when and how the family would be saved as they were escaping out the window (vv15-20).
- The spies waited the three days, then they returned to Joshua and gave him their report (vv22-24).
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan for this week:
- PRAY this prayer before I study.
- MINE: Look for repeated concepts in this passage, including synonyms and pronouns referring to those concepts.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage. This time, I’m also going to notice another category: questions.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Joshua 2.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions. I hope you’ll check in with me next week!
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | Mar 18, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hi, again: this time through Joshua 2, I noticed many more details than I did during my previous study. The Spirit has been sharpening my skills, and I pray He’s doing that for you, too!
Last Week’s Work
REPETITION
- Melt [away] (vv9, 11, 24). This describes the inhabitants of the land, including Rahab.
- Sure sign (v12), scarlet cord (vv18, 21). This alerted the coming invaders to spare Rahab and her family.
SPECIAL STATEMENTS
- One blessing: …the LORD has given all the land into [the Israelites’] hands (vv8, 24).
- Nine commands:
Joshua to the two spies: Go, view the land (v1).
Jericho’s king to Rahab: Bring out the [spies](v3).
Rahab to the king’s men: Pursue them quickly (v5).
Rahab to the spies: give me a sure sign (v12),
Go into the hills…
hide there three days…
then… go your way (v16).
- Four promises:
The spies to Rahab: our life for yours,
If you [keep our mission secret], … we will [keep our word to you] (v14),
if a hand is laid on anyone… in the house, his blood shall be on our head (v19).
Rahab to the spies: According to your words, so be it (v21).
- One request from Rahab to the spies: Please swear to me… as I have dealt kindly with you, … you will save alive my [family] … and deliver our lives from death (v12-13).
- One warning from the spies to Rahab: If anyone [leaves Rahab’s house during the siege] his blood shall be on his own head, … we shall be guiltless (v19).
LISTS
- Five ways Rahab helped the spies:
Hid them (vv4,6).
Misdirected the king’s guard (vv4-5).
Kept their business a secret (vv4-5).
Helped them escape through her window in the wall (vv15-16).
- Three things Rahab must do to save her family (in addition to her help in vv4-6, 15-16):
Tie the cord in the window,
Bring her family into her house during the siege (v18),
Keep her family in her house (v19).
- The spies’ three promises to Rahab:
Our lives for yours…
They would deal kindly and faithfully with her (v14), and
Refrain from attacking Rahab’s family within her home (v19).
Through all this, I felt the Spirit pointing out Rahab’s vulnerability. Because of her treasonous behavior (vv4-6), both the king’s guard and the foreigners (vv9-11) were a threat to her. Why did she choose to work with strangers she clearly feared (v9)? I believe the answer is in her statement, the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath (v11).
Dig-In Challenges
Next week, we’ll wrap up Step 3 by:
- PRAYING: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
- MINING: Read through the passage again looking for comparisons in or related to your focus verses. Look for similarities using like or as, quantitative/qualitative comparisons using more or less, and/or contrasts.
- MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors.
- In this chapter, look for the connectors lest, for, and because.
- Then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason for that action.
For example: I went to the store because I was out of milk:
the action = I went to the store because the reason = I was out of milk.
NOTE A: for doesn’t always connect an action and a reason. To determine if it does here, read the sentence replacing for with because. If the new sentence makes sense and means the same as the original, make a note of the action and its cause.
NOTE B: Most often the action will occur before the cause connector and the reason will follow it (like the example above). If you have questions about this or any other part of the study, please reach out to me at [email protected]!
- MINING: Finally, look for conditions or methods the author describes. For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition is met, some outcome will happen (e.g., whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matt 21:22)? Or does the author describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8)? Does he use any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how action was accomplished?
These exercises are more involved, I know, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.
GO TO WEEK 5 >
by Jen | Mar 25, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back! Here’s what Joshua 2 revealed to me this week.
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
Like my prior study of this passage, I can’t help but wonder about the contrast of Israelites (God’s chosen people!) seeking shelter in a brothel. God told these people, “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). What could be less holy than a prostitute?
Yet Rahab did have something in common with the Israelite spies: they both believed in God. She expressed her faith plainly in v11. Likewise, the men’s statements in vv14 and 24 reveal their trust in Him and what He could do.
But the most meaningful comparison to me was the contrast between whom we’d expect Rahab would trust for her physical salvation—her own king and countrymen—and whom she actually did trust—representatives of a destructive, invading force. Incredibly, she placed her and her family’s welfare in the hands of strangers who worshipped a God she knew only one thing about: He favored the people set on destroying her city.
CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS
By focusing on the cause connectors in this passage I found these explanations for action:
- The spies came to Jericho [in order] to search out the land (vv2, 3).
- The king’s guard wanted the spies for [because] the Israelites had come to search out the land (v3).
- Rahab suggested the guard pursue [the spies] quickly for [because] they’d overtake them if they hurried (v5).
- Rahab said all the inhabitants of the land melt away… for [because] they’d heard how the LORD had brought them out of Egypt and conquered the Amorites (vv9-10).
- She also said there was no spirit left… because of [Israel], for [because] the LORD your God is God in … heaven… and on earth (v11)
- Rahab helped them escape the city through her window for [because] her house was built into the city wall (v15).
- The spies told Joshua all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us (v24).
Wait, what? Doesn’t that sound like they think they’re the reason for the melting? I don’t think so, because right before that they say, “the LORD has given all the land into our hands.”
CONDITIONS/METHODS
Finally, I discovered these conditions and methods:
- I’m still wondering how the king of Jericho knew so much about this “secret” expedition (vv1-2)!
- Rahab helped the spies by:
– hiding them on her roof among flax stalks (v6)
– telling the guard she didn’t know where they were from (v4), and
– quickly shifting the search’s focus away from her home (v5)
– helping them escape through her window in the wall (v15)
– telling them specifically how to evade capture outside the city (v16).
- Rahab described the condition of her country thus: fear had fallen on them and their hearts had melted away (vv9, 11). I suspect this wasn’t good, like losing heart or not having the will to fight the enemy.
- Rahab wanted the men to swear by the LORD(theirGod, not a Canaanite one) they’d:
– deal kindly with her family (v12)
– give her a sure sign, and
– save her family alive/ deliver them from death (vv12-13).
- The men put four conditions on granting Rahab’s request for their mercy: she must
– not tell their business (vv14, 20)
– tie the scarlet cord in the window in the city wall and
– gather the family into the house (v18)
– make sure everyone stays in the house during the siege (v19).
Dig-In Challenges
This week, I hope you’ll join me as I start refining my understanding of this passage:
- PRAY. Of course!
- REFINE by skimming the book of Joshua to determine which of the following types of writing appears most often in it: instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, or prophecy. Then reread Joshua 2 to see if you can find any of the other types in use. Note all the types you find on your Scripture study sheet or in your journal. Recognizing writing types helps us determine whether the author intended the text to be interpreted literally or have an alternative meaning the original audience would probably have understood.
- REFINE: Next, research the book’s historical context by referencing an Introduction to the book of Joshua. This can be found in most bound Bibles immediately before Joshua 1, or by checking out the ESV online. Introductions are written by Bible publishers and provide historical details like who wrote the book, to whom, and when. They often also contain a summary of the book’s content. As you read the intro, note any relevant or interesting facts. Based on what you discover there, how will you interpret Joshua 2.
- REFINE: Last, look up the meaning of a few key words and/or phrases from your study using an interlinear Bible tool. I like Biblehub.com’s Hebrew tool for this research. To use: Click the blue arrow to the left or right of the verse citation (“Joshua 2:1”) to scroll to the verse containing words you want to review, then click the number in the Strong’s column that corresponds to the English word or phrase you’re researching. Note anything the Spirit highlights in the information provided.
This “refining” step is more involved than the “mining” we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!
GO TO WEEK 6 >
by Jen | Apr 1, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Joshua 2
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hi there—I’ve lots to share, so I’ll get right to it!
Last Week’s Work
WRITING TYPES
Overall, I believe Joshua 2 is narrative, and I think it was intended to be interpreted literally. Still, I suspect the hearts of the people in Jericho weren’t literally “turning to liquid” when they heard about the Israelites (vv9, 11, 24)—this is definitely a metaphor (see my interlinear research below)..
LITERAL CONTEXT
I read Joshua 1 and 3-6 to get a timeline of the events leading up to and following the study text scenario. In chapter 1, Moses dies, and Joshua takes over leadership of the Israelites. God tells him to be strong and courageous and stick to the Law (vv1-9), and Joshua tells the people to prepare to cross the Jordan.
In chapters 3-5, they cross the Jordan River, create a memorial on the other side from 12 stones picked up in the river, and set up camp. Next, they circumcise all the men who hadn’t been circumcised in the desert [if you’re curious about that, see the covenant between God and Abraham established about 2067 BC (661 years before Joshua 2!) and described in Genesis 17:6-14]. They also celebrate the Passover feast (Joshua 5:1-12). You can learn more about Passover in Exodus 12. Finally, in Chapter 6, they attack and take Jericho, sparing only Rahab and her family as the spies agreed.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
We know the cultures involved (Israelites and Canaanites), their co-location in Jericho in Canaan, and the approximate date of the events described in Joshua 2 (1406 BC). I didn’t find much information about either culture from the ESV Global Study Bible, so I tried a secular source, Britannica.com, and discovered the Canaanites were influenced by several dominant cultures in the area surrounding them. They worshiped many gods, including Resheph, Kothar, Astarte, El, Asherah, and Baal, unlike their forefather, Noah, who walked so closely with God only Noah and his family were spared in the great flood (Genesis 6:5-18).
INTERLINEAR RESEARCH
I focused on the curious use of melt/melting in verses 9, 11, and 24, and discovered the author used two different terms to describe this phenomenon.
In verses 9 and 24, H4147, nā-mō-ḡū, is translated in the ESV melt away. This metaphor is based on the Hebrew belief that the heart was the center of emotion and will, and indicates fear, despair, or overwhelm. It was often used in the context of warfare or divine judgment where strength and resolve are tested. This connects with other research indicating the conquest of Jericho and surrounding areas represented God’s judgment on the Canaanites for various abominations (see Leviticus 18).
In Verse 11 though, melted is a totally different word(H4549 masas) that was also used metaphorically to symbolize weakening or fainting courage, strength, or resolve. In other words, fear or discouragement caused one’s heart to weaken in the face of overwhelming circumstances. When reading for context, I noticed the same word used in Joshua 5:1 to describe the hearts of the kings who learned about the LORD drying up the Jordan (not unlike Rahab’s statement in 2:10 referencing His drying up the Red Sea!). Really thinking about this meaning reminded me of how I felt that day in the desert right before God saved my life. I know exactly how Rahab and her countrymen felt. Knowing her place in the genealogy of my Savior (Matthew 1:5), I am so glad she trusted God, too!
Dig-In Challenges
This week, let’s wrap up the second half of the Refine step by examining cross-references and other translations.
- Don’t forget to begin with your prayer from Step 1.
- REFINE: Then consult a concordance or online cross-reference study tool (I’ll be starting at this blb.org page) to find and read through the available cross-references for the verses you’re most interested in and log what the Spirit shows you.
NOTE: if you’re interested in other verses, follow the above link, then scroll down to the verse you want to study, click the TOOLS button on the left side, and choose Cross-Refs from the menu.
- REFINE: Finally, compare at least a few other translations of your study verses and write about what you find in your study journal. I’ll be comparing ESV, AMP, NIV, and GNT using this biblehub.com page. You can compare your own verses from that link by entering them in the Enter Reference or Keyword box at the top of the page and clicking the spyglass icon there.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover with you next week. I hope you join me then!
GO TO WEEK 7 >
