Joshua 2:18

This line. The scarlet “line” is not the same as the “cord” (verse 15) by which the men were lowered. These are described by different words in the original. The word translated “cord” (verse 15), or “rope,” is chebel, whereas the word here translated “line” is tiqwah. Elsewhere in the Old Testament (31 times) it is translated “hope” or “expectation” (Psalm 62:5; 71:5; etc.). It comes from a root meaning “to twist,” “to bind,” and consequently, “to be firm,” “to be strong,” or figuratively, “to be confident,” “to hope.” It would have been preposterous to require Rahab to display in her window the means by which the spies had escaped. It would at once have declared to all beholders the very thing Rahab was pledged not to disclose. The “line of scarlet thread” was probably of linen. A product of her trade (verse 6), it would not be likely to attract undue attention.

Which. That is, the window, not the “cord.”

Thou shalt bring. A reasonable provision. If her relatives would not perish with the people of Jericho, who believed not, they must manifest their belief by finding shelter in the place of refuge, as Noah and his family did in the ark. In a similar way, those today who would escape the judgments of God upon an unbelieving world will be found associating with others who have chosen the way of life.