Rahab (image)

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1972).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

See also Rahab.

complete verse (Joshua 2:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 2:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Before the two spies laid down to sleep, the woman climbed on that roof” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Before those spies went to sleep, that woman came up to the roof terrace,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Before the two spies went-to-sleep, Rahab climbed-up to the roof and” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Before the two men lay down to sleep that night, Rahab went up to the roof” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 2:8

Before the spies settled down for the night may be translated “Before the spies got ready for bed that night.” It may even be helpful to identify the spies as “the two Israelite spies” or “the two Israelite men.”

Rahab went up on the roof may need to be rendered “Rahab went back up on the roof” or “Rahab went up on the roof again.” The phrase on the roof may need to be rendered “on the roof where they were” or “on the roof where she had hidden them.” The roof was flat and provided a good place to hide.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 2:8

Paragraph 2:8-11

Rahab told the spies that the news about the Israelites had made her people afraid. She believed that the God of Israel would help the Israelites to conquer the land.

2:8

In this verse the storyline changes back to what the two Israelite spies did. This action takes place at approximately the same time as the action in the previous verse. While the soldiers were searching for the Israelite spies along the road to the Jordan River, the spies were getting ready to sleep on the roof of Rahab’s house.

2:8a

Before the spies lay down for the night: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Before the spies lay down is more literally “and they, before they lay down.” The Hebrew conjunction together with the emphatic pronoun indicates a change of subject, from the king’s men back to the Israelite men. Some languages have a grammatical marker which indicates a change of subject.

lay down for the night: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lay down indicates that the men were lying down to go to sleep.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

As for the Israelite men, before they lay down to sleep
-or-
Meanwhile, before the two men went to sleep ⌊that night⌋

2:8b

Rahab went up on the roof: The name Rahab refers to Rahab. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Rahab went up to them ⌊again⌋ on the roof
-or-
Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them (New Living Translation (2004))

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