17 and the city hath been devoted, it and all that 'is' in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot doth live, she and all who 'are' with her in the house, for she hid the messengers whom we sent; 18 and surely ye have kept from the devoted thing, lest ye devote 'yourselves', and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it; 19 and all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, holy they 'are' to Jehovah; into the treasury of Jehovah they come.' 20 And the people shout, and blow with the trumpets, and it cometh to pass when the people hear the voice of the trumpet, that the people shout—a great shout, and the wall falleth under it, and the people goeth up into the city, each over-against him, and they capture the city; 21 and they devote all that 'is' in the city, from man even unto woman, from young even unto aged, even unto ox, and sheep, and ass, by the mouth of the sword. 22 And to the two men who are spying the land Joshua said, 'Go into the house of the woman, the harlot, and bring out thence the woman, and all whom she hath, as ye have sworn to her.' 23 And the young man, the spies, go in and bring out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all whom she hath; yea, all her families they have brought out, and place them at the outside of the camp of Israel. 24 And the city they have burnt with fire, and all that 'is' in it; only, the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass, and of iron, they have given 'to' the treasury of the house of Jehovah; 25 and Rahab the harlot, and the house of her father, and all whom she hath, hath Joshua kept alive; and she dwelleth in the midst of Israel unto this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26 And Joshua adjureth 'them' at that time, saying, 'Cursed 'is' the man before Jehovah who raiseth up and hath built this city, 'even' Jericho; in his first-born he doth lay its foundation, and in his youngest he doth set up its doors;' 27 and Jehovah is with Joshua, and his fame is in all the land.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 6:17-27
Commentary on Joshua 6:17-27
(Read Joshua 6:17-27)
Jericho was to be a solemn and awful sacrifice to the justice of God, upon those who had filled up the measure of their sins. So He appoints, from whom, as creatures, they received their lives, and to whom, as sinners, they had forfeited them. Rahab perished not with them that believed not, Acts 14:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as brands from the burning. With Rahab, or with the men of Jericho; our portion must be assigned, as we posses or disregard the sign of salvation; even faith in Christ, which worketh by love. Let us remember what depends upon our choice, and let us choose accordingly. God shows the weight of a Divine curse; where it rests there is no getting from under it; for it brings ruin without remedy.