Глава 2

1. Reception of spies in Raavi's house. 9. Confession of Raavi. 12. Her request and the oath of the spies. 21. Their departure from the house of Raavi and their return. Joshua 2:1. And Joshua the son of Nun sent two spies secretly from Shittim, and said, Go, spy out the land and Jericho. [The two young men] went and came [to Jericho and entered] the house of the harlot, whose name was Rahab, and stayed there overnight. The third preparatory measure in the order of biblical speech consisted of a secret embassy from Shittim, where the Israeli camp was located at that time (Num. 25: 1, 33: 49), of two spies to inspect Jericho and the surrounding area. When the spies were sent, it was not said on the same day on which the crossing of the Jordan was announced. They were sent not by divine command and not with the knowledge of the people, as before (Num. 13:1), but secretly: out of fear, as one must think, of the grave consequences that accompanied the previous embassy of spies (Num. 14:1). The words “two young men” are read only in the Greek translation of the LXX, although in some of its ancient copies (Ambrosian) instead of νεανίσκοι it is read ἄνδρες - “men,” as these spies are usually called in this chapter according to the Hebrew text and the translation of Blessed Jerome. While the names of the spies are not mentioned in the biblical text, the name of the sinful Jericho woman in whose house they stayed is preserved. The words “and stayed overnight” represent a translation of the Hebrew verb (“ishkevu”), which is usually used in the sense of “to go down, to lie down, to calm down.” Of the meanings of this verb, the most corresponding to the content of this place is its root meaning: “to descend, to stop,” in view of the purpose of the journey of two husbands as spies; they did not need an overnight stay or even rest after a 5-6 hour (approximately) journey 19, but a shelter in Jericho, from which they could make their observations on its condition and the mood of its inhabitants. The indicated Hebrew word was also understood by the Greek translators to mean “stopped,” who conveyed it through κατελύαν 20 - “vitasta” according to the Slavic Bible, i.e. found shelter for a while; Blessed Jerome translated it quieverunt - “calmed down.” Why they found this shelter in Raavi's house is presumably explained by the fact that, being in it, they hoped least of all to arouse suspicion with their arrival; and Raavi’s place of residence near the city wall, which the spies could have learned about earlier, or, as some suggest 21, from herself, having met her outside the city, made her house the most suitable for observing the condition of the city wall and surveying the surrounding area. Be that as it may, the choice of a place to stop in Jericho made by the spies turned out, not without the permission of the divine will, to be quite appropriate: they found out in Rahab’s house what they needed. Joshua 2:2. And it was said to the king of Jericho, Behold, some men from the children of Israel came hither this night to spy out the land. The spies' hope of avoiding suspicion and persecution did not materialize, however. Their arrival was noticed and became known to the king of Jericho. “On this night” - according to the Hebrew text and some of the ancient lists of 22 LXX (Ambrosian and Oxford), although in the Vatican, Alexandria and many other lists these words are absent, which is why they are placed in brackets in the Slavic Bible. They show that the news of the arrival of some people from the sons of Israel reached the king of Jericho some time after their arrival, at nightfall. Joshua 2:3. The king of Jericho sent to say to Rahab: hand over the people who came to you, who entered your house [at night], for they came to spy out the whole land. Raavi was required to hand over the aliens as dangerous people who had come to “spy out the whole earth” for a successful attack on it. The word "all" is not read here in most Greek translation copies and in the Slavic Bible, but is read in the Hebrew text and in some Greek copies. The king of Jericho, obviously, was aware of the Israelis’ intention to conquer Canaan and therefore saw in the aliens precisely spies who would extend their reconnaissance to other Canaanite cities, which is why those sent from the king attribute to the aliens the intention to spy out “the whole land.” “At night,” put here in brackets, is read in many copies of the Greek translation and, in agreement with them, in the Slavic Bible, but is absent in the Hebrew text, and there is no incentive to insist on including it in the text, since the indication of night in the matter of extradition of aliens could not have much significance; this "at night" is probably transferred from Joshua 2:2. Joshua 2:4. But the woman took those two people and hid them and said: “Sure, people came to me, but I did not know where they came from; Joshua 2:5. when at dusk it was time to close the gates, then they left; I don’t know where they went; chase them quickly, you will catch up with them. Joshua 2:6. And she took them to the roof and hid them in sheaves of flax laid out on her roof. Knowing the extremely alarming mood of her government, Rahab foresaw this demand for the extradition of the aliens and decided in advance not to extradite them, and therefore took measures to shelter them in her house. She gave false testimony to those sent by the king, saying that she did not know from what country and from what people the strangers who were with her came, and that they had already left her house before dusk, “when it was necessary to close the gates.” Without pronouncing judgment on Raavi's action and testimony, the biblical narrator, by further expounding her words and actions, opens up the opportunity to understand the motives for which she acted in this way, and at the same time to evaluate her action. “In sheaves of flax”: in the Hebrew text “bepishte ha etz” - literally translated “in flax wood” or “flax stalks”; in LXX: λινοκαλάμῃ - “in pazder lnyan” in the Slavic Bible, in Jerome: stipula lini - “flax straw”, i.e. in stalks of flax, freshly picked from the field and not yet crushed, the fiber of which is not separated from the wood. There is no indication that the flax was bound into sheaves, either in the text or in the translations. In the Jericho Valley, thanks to the tropical climate, flax, like other grain plants, ripens in March - April and reaches a height of more than 3 feet, and is similar in thickness to reed; flax stems are dried in Syria and Egypt and are currently on the flat roofs of houses 23. Rows of such long flax, similar to reeds, laid out on the roof, could really serve as a good shelter for spies. Joshua 2:7. The messengers chased them along the road to the Jordan until the crossing; The gates were immediately closed after those who were pursuing them came out. In both the Hebrew text and the Greek translation of the LXX, this verse begins with the words “and those people”; the word “sent” represents a free transmission, inspired, in all likelihood, by the translation of Blessed Jerome: qui missi fuerant. “Until the crossing”, literally from Hebrew: “to the crossing”, in LXX: ἐπὶ τὰς διαβάσεις – “to the crossing” in the Slavic Bible. Of course, the place of crossing the Jordan, known in ancient times, near Jericho (Judges 3:28; 2 Kings 19:17), with the usual low water level in it. Joshua 2:8. Before they went to bed, she went up to their roof Joshua 2:9. and she said to them: I know that the Lord has given this land to you, for you have brought terror upon us, and all the inhabitants of this land have become timid because of you; Joshua 2:10. For we have heard how the Lord [God] dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and how you dealt with the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, with Sihon and Og, whom you destroyed; Joshua 2:11. when we heard about this, our heart weakened, and there was no spirit in any [of us] against you; For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below; When the messengers left the king, Rahab went up to the rooftop to the spies and expressed to them the reason why she did not betray them. She showed them mercy out of the conviction that the Lord whom they worshiped would give them the land of Canaan. She already sees the beginning of this in the extraordinary fear and despondency that has seized the inhabitants of this land. In a state of the same fear and under the influence of the belief that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, Whom no one can resist with impunity, she decided to show them mercy rather than hand them over and through this latter to avoid lies and betrayal of her native city. Rahab did not say that last part; perhaps she did not clearly realize this, but nevertheless she gave false testimony to those sent by the king, and therefore committed a sin that did not bring condemnation on her, because she was forgiven for her faith, although imperfect, but living and active, which she demonstrated in the salvation of foreigners, not without danger to herself (in the event of a successful search) and by which she was justified by God (James 2:25; Heb. 11:31); her faith is all the more valuable because it arose from the same news that in others produced only fear. "The Lord gave". The word "Lord" in the Hebrew text corresponds to "Jehovah" or "Jahwe", as this divine name was probably pronounced by the ancient Jews. Rahab learned this name, of course, along with the news of the deeds of His omnipotence, which aroused in her faith in Him. "This land"; the word “this”, placed in brackets in the Slavic Bible, serves as a transfer of the attributive member with which the word “earth” is placed here in the Hebrew text and the Greek translation. “God” after “Lord” is not read in the Hebrew text and was added based on the Greco-Slavic translation. The words “of us” do not find correspondence in the Alexandrian and some other Greek lists. Rahab’s confession of faith: “The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” has an undoubted resemblance to that which Moses instilled in the people of Israel (Deut. 4:39), but is far from complete: in the words “God in heaven” “Elohim” is read without the attributive member with which this divine name is placed in Deuteronomy (ha - elohim) and which shows that the God designated by it is God in in its own sense or the only one. Absent from Rahab’s confession are the words read in the indicated place in Deuteronomy – “yet” (Deut. 4:39) – which exclude the idea of ​​the existence of another God other than the God of Israel. This comparison of both confessions shows that Rahab, although she rose high in her faith above her fellow tribesmen, having believed in the God of Israel as the real God, had not yet achieved, however, at that time the perfect faith that He is the only God. Joshua 2:12. Therefore, swear to me by the Lord [your God], that just as I have shown mercy to you, so you will show mercy to my father’s house, and give me a sure sign, Joshua 2:13. that you will keep alive my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our souls from death. Joshua 2:14. These people said to her: Let our soul be put to death in your place if you [now] do not reveal this matter of ours; when the Lord gives us the land, we will show you mercy and truth. Rahab, having expressed the motive for which she showed mercy to the strangers, for her part asks them not to refuse mercy to her and all her close relatives during the conquest of Jericho, which she does not even mention as a decided matter, and demands that they confirm their promise with an oath in the name of the Lord and give a sure sign of the fulfillment of the oath. Out of a feeling of gratitude and a sincere desire to show mercy for the good done, the spies take an oath, but their fulfillment is conditioned on the fact that their arrival in Jericho remains unknown to any outsiders. The words “true sign” or “sign truly” (Slavic Bible) are read in the Hebrew text of some copies of the Greek translation, Latin translation and Complutensian Polyglot, but are absent in the Vatican, Alexandrian and some other copies. Under the true sign, or, literally from Hebrew, “the sign of truth,” is of course an object that certifies the fulfillment of an oath. The “scarlet rope” indicated in Joshua 2:18 served as such an object. “Let our soul be put to death in your place,” or “our soul in your place to death.” This second, Slavic, translation, which serves as a literal translation of both the Greek and Hebrew texts, is the most powerful and expressive in its brevity, which usually distinguishes an oath. In these words of the oath, of course, the name of God is not invoked, but they, it is necessary to think, do not constitute everything that the spies said when they took Rahab's oath. To believe that they fulfilled her request - “to swear by the Lord” - is forced by the existence among the Israelites of the concept of an oath as precisely the “oath of the Lord” (Ex. 22:11; 2 Sam. 21:7), and also the fact that the oath of the spies, as shown by its exact fulfillment (Josh. 6:20-21), was recognized as completely obligatory, as it was. oath of the Lord. The absence of the name of God in the oath of the spies can be explained by the incompleteness of information about its content on the part of the biblical writer because when he speaks about the oath given to the ambassadors of Gibeon, he also does not indicate that the leaders of the Israelites sealed it with the name of the Lord (Joshua 9:15), although this oath, as can be seen from the further narration (Joshua 9:18), was an oath Lord's. The plural of the verb “if you do not open” according to the current Hebrew text, in some Greek copies and the Latin translation, with which the Slavic Bible agrees (“unless you declare”), is replaced by the singular; this latter is the most appropriate in this place due to the fact that the words of the spies are addressed to Raavi alone and the presence of other members of her family during the conversation is not indicated in the text; This condition is also expressed in the singular according to the Hebrew text in Joshua 2:20: “if you open it.” Another feature that deserves attention is that in the Vatican, Alexandria and some other Greek copies, instead of the words of the spies “if you do not open this matter” and further to the end of the verse, the words of Raavi are conveyed: καὶ αὐτὴ εἶπεν Ὡς ἂν παραδῷ She and he said: and when the Lord delivers [this city] to you, do me mercy and truth” (Slavic Bible). This ancient Greek translation, belonging to the LXX (see Field. Origenis Hexapl.), was not recognized in ancient times as an accurate rendering of the original, which is why it was replaced, as other Greek copies show (NN. X, XI, 85), with another translation consistent with the current Hebrew text. The correctness of the Greek translation represented by these last copies is demonstrated by the translation of Blessed Jerome, which agrees with the current Hebrew text and with the Greek translation of the last copies 24 . Joshua 2:15. And she let them down by rope through the window, for her house was in the city wall, and she lived in the wall; Joshua 2:16. and she said to them: go to the mountain so that those who pursue you do not meet you, and hide there for three days, until those who pursued [you] return; and then you will go on your way. Rahab was satisfied with the oath of the spies and let them go, lowering them on a rope through the window of her house, which overlooked the city wall, which probably served at the same time as the back wall of the house itself. At the same time, she gave them advice to go up the mountain and hide there for three days. Joshua 2:17. And those people said to her: we will be free from your oath with which you swore us, if you do not do this: Joshua 2:18. Behold, when we come to this land, you will tie a scarlet rope to the window through which you let us down, and gather your father and your mother and your brothers, all your father’s family, into your house; Joshua 2:19. and if anyone comes out of the door of your house, his blood will be on his head, but we will be free [from this oath of yours]; and whoever is with you in [your] house, his blood will be on our head if whose hand touches him; Joshua 2:20. if [someone offends us, or] you open this matter of ours, then we will also be free from your oath with which you have cursed us. Leaving Raavi's house, the spies, in brief, somewhat fragmentary words, in accordance with their state of mind, again expressed the conditions that she must fulfill in order for their oath to retain its full force. First, they showed Raavi the visible sign she asked for. There is no word “sign” in the current Hebrew text, but it reads in the Greek translation: θήσεις τὸ σημεῖον - “set up a sign” (Slavic Bible), as well as in Latin, on the basis of which this word could be introduced into the Russian translation, as well as the pronoun “this” read here in Hebrew text, Greek and Latin translations and referring to the “scarlet rope.” The latter was indicated by the spies closest because its bright red color could serve as the most noticeable distinctive sign for the house of Raavi. But at the same time, her choice also depended on the fact that the “scarlet thread,” according to Old Testament ritual institutions, belonged to the symbols of cleansing from leprosy (Lev.14:4,6,52) and touching a dead body (Num.19:6,13), in general, symbols of salvation. On this side, the scarlet rope, which distinguished Rahab’s house from others, indicated the salvation granted to her, and at the same time served as a prototype of the future salvation of the pagans. According to Blessed Theodoret, “just as the spies sent by Joshua saved the believing harlot, giving her “scarlet rope” as a sign of salvation (Joshua 2:18), so the apostles of our Savior distracted the ancient harlot, a church devoted to various idols, from her former indecency and made her worthy of eternal blessings, not using the scarlet branch. a sign, but by granting her salvation through the all-holy blood” 25. Two other conditions for the preservation of Raavi and her family were that everyone belonging to the latter should be in her house during the capture of the city and that she should not tell anyone about this matter. “If you do not do this”: this expression is added to eliminate the ambiguity of the biblical text due to its brevity. Despite this, there is no such addition in other ancient and modern translations. The words “we will be by this oath of yours” were brought from the Slavic Bible, according to the LXX translation: τῷ ὅρκῳ σου τούτῳ. Further words “who will offend us, or” are also added from the Slavic Bible in accordance with most Greek lists: ἐὰν δέ τις ἡμᾶς ἀδικήσῃ; in Origen's Hexaplas these words were marked as superfluous against the Hebrew text (Field). From Shittim to Jordan it is considered a 2 1/2 hour journey (K. Raumer. Palastina, 1860, p. 266); from Jordan to Jericho 2 hours (ibid., 206); crossing the Jordan, which was flooded at that time, of course, took about 1 hour by swimming. This is how it is read in the Vatican, Alexandria and other ancient texts. lists, as well as in Lucian's. Instead of κατελύαν it is read κατέπαυσαν “rested” in the Oxford List and the Aldine Bible. The words τὴν νύκτα read here in the Moscow Greek Bible are not in the Alexandrian list. N. V. Tristram. The natural history of the Bible. 1880: 12: 445–446. Cook. Commentary. U. 2:20. Latin translation of this passage: Cum que tradiderit nobis Dominus terram. faciemus in le misencordiam et ventatem - “and when... the Lord gives us the earth, we will show you mercy and truth.” Works of Blessed Theodoret, vol. I, p. 272. You might be interested in: