Joshua 6:17

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 were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before – only this time they marched around it seven times. 16The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, “Give the battle cry, for the Lord is handing the city over to you! The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies we sent. 18But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster. 19All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord. They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

Joshua 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 7:1But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. The Lord was furious with the Israelites.
• Leviticus 27:28“‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lord from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord.
• Numbers 21:2So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand, then we will utterly destroy their cities.”
• 1 Corinthians 2:7Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory.
• Ezra 10:8Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
• Isaiah 34:6The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys. For the Lord is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah, a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom.
• Jeremiah 46:10But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! For the Lord God who rules over all will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
• Ezekiel 39:17“As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.
• Micah 4:13“Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion! For I will give you iron horns; I will give you bronze hooves, and you will crush many nations.” You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them, and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler of the whole earth.
• 1 Corinthians 16:22Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come!
• Galatians 3:10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”
• Joshua 2:1Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there.
• Joshua 6:22Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.”
• Joshua 2:4But the woman hid the two men and replied, “Yes, these men were clients of mine, but I didn’t know where they came from.
• Genesis 12:3I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.”
• 1 Samuel 15:6Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among 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

• Accursed
• Ark
• Harlot (Prostitute)
• Hospitality
• Rahab
• Trumpet

In the dictionaries

• Rahab
• Rahab, or Rachab
• Accursed
• Adjure
• Anathema
• Compass
• Consecrate
• Dawn
• Harlot
• Jericho

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