What Does Joshua 2:18 Mean in the King James?
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The scarlet cord is called tiqvah, a Hebrew word for both cord and hope, and the same verse repeats “come” as Rahab brings her whole household into refuge.
THE MEANING
Hope takes visible form at the boundary between exposure and shelter. The promise reaches beyond one person to make room for a whole household, parents, siblings, and everyone under one roof. Here, deliverance gathers people together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one person’s shelter ends with that one person: the marked place is prepared for the whole household.
THE ROOT
תִּקְוַת
tiqvat
GROWS FROM
קוה
To wait for, expect, or hope; tiqvah also means a cord or line.
The word for the cord, תִּקְוָה (tiqvah), is also used for hope or expectation. The sign in the window therefore carries both a visible line and the word’s sense of what is awaited.
ALSO GROWS
tiqvah: Cord, line; also hope or expectation.
תִּקְוָה
The noun used here for the cord is also used for hope, giving the visible sign a second sense.
qavah: To wait for, expect, or hope.
קָוָה
This verb names expectation directed toward what is coming, echoing the household’s promised rescue.
בוא
bo
GROWS FROM
בוא
To come or enter; in a causative form, to bring or cause to enter.
“come / bring” in this verse is bo. English gives “come” to the men and “bring” to Rahab, but Hebrew repeats the root בוא. As the spies enter the land, Rahab causes her family to enter the house; the verse’s movement of arrival extends from one person to a whole household.
ALSO GROWS
bo: To come or enter.
בּוֹא
This root appears in “when we come into the land,” describing the spies’ arrival.
hevi: To bring, or cause to come in.
הֵבִיא
The same root appears in “thou shalt bring” the household, turning arrival into a way of gathering others into shelter.
רָחָב
Rachav
GROWS FROM
רחב
To be broad, wide, or spacious.
Rahab’s name carries the sense of spaciousness. As she makes room for her whole household, the name resonates with the movement from exposure toward refuge.
ALSO GROWS
rachav: To be broad, wide, or spacious.
רָחַב
This is the root carried by Rahab’s name, echoing the widening of safety to include her household.
rechov: A broad street or open place.
רְחֹב
This related word carries the root’s sense of open space, resonant with refuge made wide enough for others.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance reaches beyond one person and gathers a whole household into safety.
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.THE THREAD
And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.The next verse repeats both the scarlet line and the root בוא’s companion action, binding it in the window: the sign named here is now tied in place. The cord is tiqvah, a word also used for hope or expectation, made visible at the opening.
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