Joshua instructs the two spies to go to Rahab’s house and bring her and her family out to safety. It is to be assumed that this happened while the killing was going on in the city; it could not have been after all the city’s other inhabitants had been put to death (verse 21). It may be important translationally to shift from Joshua then told to “Joshua had told,” indicating a previous command given before the beginning of the battle. The Hebrew will support either rendering, and this would tend to provide a less complicated sequence of events.

Nothing is gained in translation by continually emphasizing Rahab’s profession. Go into the prostitute’s house may then be translated “Go into Rahab’s house.” Moreover, the events may be arranged in chronological sequence: “You promised Rahab that we would not harm her or the people in her house. So go to her house and bring them out here to safety.” Direct discourse may be preferable for the promise made by the spies: “You promised Rahab, ‘We will not harm you or anyone in your house.’ So go….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .