God’s Word Translation
Joshua 6:17
17The city has been claimed by the Lord. Everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and all who are in the house with her will live because she hid the messengers we sent.
Joshua 6:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
- New International Version (NIV)The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Context of Joshua 6:17
15On the seventh day they got up at dawn. They marched around the city seven times the same way they had done it before. That was the only day they marched around it seven times. 16When they went around the seventh time, the priests blew their rams’ horns. Joshua said to the troops, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city! The city has been claimed by the Lord. Everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and all who are in the house with her will live because she hid the messengers we sent. 18But stay away from what has been claimed by the Lord for destruction, or you, too, will be destroyed by the Lord. If you take anything that is claimed by the Lord, you will bring destruction and disaster on the camp of Israel. 19All the silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron are holy and belong to the Lord. They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”
Read all of Joshua 6Joshua 6:17 word by word
וְהָיְתָ֨ה הָעִ֥יר חֵ֛רֶם הִ֥יא וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֖הּ לַֽיהוָ֑ה רַק֩ רָחָ֨ב הַזּוֹנָ֜ה תִּֽחְיֶ֗ה הִ֚יא וְכָל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתָּ֣הּ בַּבַּ֔יִת כִּ֣י הֶחְבְּאַ֔תָה אֶת־הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁלָֽחְנוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- shall be accursedחֵ֫רֶםchêrem cherem · devoted thingH2764
- therein, to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- only Rahabרָחָבrâchâb · RahabH7343
- the harlotזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
- shall liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
- with her in the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- because she hidחָבָאchâbâ' · to hideH2244
- the messengersמַלְאָךְmal'âk · messengerH4397
- that we sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
Cross-references for Joshua 6:17
- Joshua 7:1The people of Israel proved to be disloyal about the things claimed by the Lord. Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Zabdi, great-grandson of Zerah, and a member of the tribe of Judah, took something that had been claimed by the Lord. So the Lord became angry with the people of Israel.
- Leviticus 27:28“However, everything dedicated to the Lord for destruction—a person, an animal, or a field that belongs to you—must not be sold or bought back. Everything dedicated in that way is very holy. It belongs to the Lord.
- Numbers 21:2Then the Israelites made this vow to the Lord: “If you will hand these people over to us, we’ll destroy their cities because you’ve claimed them.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:7We speak about the mystery of God’s wisdom. It is a wisdom that has been hidden, which God had planned for our glory before the world began.
- Ezra 10:8If any of them didn’t come within three days as the leaders and the older men had advised, then they would lose all their property and be excluded from the community of former exiles.
- Isaiah 34:6The Lord’s sword is covered with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of rams’ kidneys. The Lord will receive a sacrifice in Bozrah, a huge slaughter in the land of Edom.
- Jeremiah 46:10That day belongs to the Almighty Lord of Armies. It is a day of vengeance when he will take revenge on his enemies. His sword will devour until it has had enough, and it will drink their blood until it’s full. The Almighty Lord of Armies will offer them as sacrifices in the north by the Euphrates River.
- Ezekiel 39:17“Son of man, this is what the Almighty Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild animal, ‘Assemble, and come together from all around for the sacrifice that I’m preparing for you. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel. You can eat meat and drink blood there.
- Micah 4:13Get up and thresh, people of Zion. I will make your horns as hard as iron and your hoofs as hard as bronze. You will smash many nations into small pieces. You will claim their loot for the Lord, their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
- 1 Corinthians 16:22If anyone doesn’t love the Lord, let him be cursed! Our Lord, come!
- Galatians 3:10Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.”
- Joshua 2:1From Shittim Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two men as spies. He told them, “Go, look at that country, especially the city of Jericho.” So they went to Jericho and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab to spend the night there.
- Joshua 6:22But Joshua said to the two spies, “Go to the prostitute’s house. Bring the woman out, along with everything she has, as you swore you would do for her.”
- Joshua 2:4But the woman had already taken the two men inside and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come here. But I didn’t know where they had come from.
- Genesis 12:3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. Through you every family on earth will be blessed.”
- 1 Samuel 15:6Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Get away from the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them. You were kind to all the Israelites when they came from Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.
Commentaries on Joshua 6:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17The city shall be accursed - That is, it shall be devoted to destruction; ye shall take no spoils, and put all that resist to the sword. Though this may be the meaning of the word חרם cherem in some places, see the note on Leviticus 27:29, yet here it seems to imply the total destruction of all the inhabitants, see Joshua 6:21; but it is likely that peace was offered to this city, and that the extermination of the inhabitants was in consequence of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Accursed - Better as in margin, (“devoted” (Leviticus 27:28 note). In other cases the inhabitants only of the towns were slain; their cattle and property became the booty of the victors. But Jericho, as the first Canaanite city that was captured, was devoted by Israel as first-fruits to God, as a token that Israel received all the land from Him. Every living thing was put to death (Rahab and her household excepted) as a sacrifice to God, and the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-27Verses 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, He 11:31. All her kindred were saved with her; thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Ac 16:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17devoted to the LORD for destruction: Joshua reminded his troops that the town and everything in it belonged to God as the firstfruits of their inheritance in the land of Canaan. See Leviticus 27:28–29; 1 Samuel 15:3. Rahab: See Joshua 2:12–21.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-1917-19. And the city shall be accursed--(See on Le 27:28). The cherem, or "anathema," was a devotion to utter destruction (De 7:2; 20:17; 1Sa 15:3). When such a ban was pronounced against a hostile city, the men and animals were killed--no booty was allowed to be taken. The idols and all the precious ornaments on them were to be burned (De 7:25; compare 1Ch 14:12). Everything was either to be destroyed or consecrated to the sanctuary. Joshua pronounced…Read the comment
Topics related to Joshua 6:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Joshua 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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