Paragraph 2:22-24
The spies stayed in the hills for three days and then they returned to Joshua.
2:22a
So the spies went out: The clause the spies went out repeats information from verse 21c. It refers to the same event.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
When the two Israelites departed
-or-
After they left
into the hill country: The Israelite men followed the advice that Rahab gave them. They went to the hills that were west of the town of Jericho.
the hill country: See note on “hill country” at verse 2:16a.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
When they left, they went up into the hills
-or-
After they left ⌊the town⌋ they went up into the hills
2:22b
and stayed there three days: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
They stayed there in the hilly country for three days.
-or-
They hid in the hills for three days.
2:22c
until their pursuers had returned: See the note on “set out in pursuit” in 2:7a. In some languages it is awkward to use a long phrase like “the men who were looking for them.” If this is the case in your language you can use some other phrase such as “the soldiers.” Be sure that your readers know that these are the people referred to in verse 16c.
had returned: The verb returned indicates that the pursuers went back to Jericho. In some languages it will be necessary to make that explicit.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
until the people who were looking for them had returned ⌊to Jericho⌋
-or-
⌊They waited⌋ until the soldiers had gone back to Jericho
without finding them: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without finding them is more literally “but not they found.” It means that the king’s soldiers did not find them.
2:22d
having searched all along the road: The phrase searched all along the road means they searched for the two spies all along the roads that led back to the Jordan River.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Those people searched ⌊for them⌋ all along the road but did not find them
-or-
The king’s men looked for them on every road but did not find them
General Comment on 2:22b-d
The events in verse 22b-d are not told in the order that they occurred. In some languages it may be clearer to reorder these events.
Here is a way to reorder the events of this verse:
22b The two Israelites stayed there three days. 22d Meanwhile the men who were looking for them searched all along the road, but they did not find them. 22c So they returned ⌊to Jericho⌋ .”
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