“Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:”
My Notes
What Does Joshua 2:12 Mean?
"Swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house." Rahab negotiates her family's survival: she showed kindness (chesed — loyal love, covenant kindness) to the spies. Now she asks for kindness in return. The request is reciprocal: I saved you. Save my family. The kindness she gave becomes the basis for the kindness she requests.
The demand for a sworn oath (shaba — to swear, to bind by oath) means Rahab wants a commitment stronger than a promise. She wants an oath — a divine-witness guarantee. Having seen what God does to nations that oppose Israel, she wants Israel's strongest possible commitment: swear by the God who scares us.
The scope of the request — "my father's house" — extends the protection beyond Rahab personally to her entire family: father, mother, brothers, sisters (verse 13). The salvation Rahab negotiates isn't individual. It's familial. She uses her leverage to save everyone connected to her.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you using your spiritual leverage to save only yourself or your whole family?
- 2.What does Rahab's demand for an oath teach about the strength of commitments?
- 3.How does the red cord parallel the Passover blood?
- 4.What kindness have you shown that creates the basis for asking kindness in return?
Devotional
I showed you kindness. Now show kindness to my family. Rahab's negotiation is the most strategic conversation in the book of Joshua: the prostitute who hid the spies leverages her favor into her family's survival.
The reciprocal kindness — I helped you, now help me — isn't selfish. It's relational. Rahab showed chesed (covenant-quality kindness) and asks for chesed in return. The exchange is built on relationship, not transaction. She risked her life to hide the spies. She's asking them to spare her family's lives in return. The proportions are equal: life for life.
The oath demand shows Rahab's shrewdness: she's dealing with people whose God can destroy cities. She wants more than a verbal promise. She wants them to swear — by the LORD, the God whose reputation preceded them. The strongest guarantee available. The oath that invokes the God who parts seas and melts hearts.
The family scope reveals Rahab's character: she doesn't negotiate for herself alone. She saves everyone she loves. Father, mother, brothers, sisters — the entire household. Her individual courage becomes her family's collective salvation. The faith of one woman preserves a household.
Rahab's red cord (verse 18) will mark her window — the sign that distinguishes her house from the rest of Jericho during the destruction. The sign functions like Passover blood: it identifies the protected household in a city under judgment. The cord saves the family the way the blood saved the firstborn.
Whose salvation are you negotiating — yours alone or your family's?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord,.... Which being a religious action, and done by men that feared…
A true token - literally, “a sign” or “pledge of truth; “something to bind them to keep their promise faithfully. The…
Swear unto me by the Lord - This is a farther proof that this woman had received considerable instruction in the Jewish…
The matter is here settled between Rahab and the spies respecting the service she was now to do for them, and the favour…
a true token "a verrey tokne," Wyclif; i.e. a token of truth, a sign; comp. Exo 3:12, "And this shall be a token unto…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture