The Walls of Jericho
Trumpets, a shout, and falling walls
Israel destroys Jericho, and the Bible says they killed everyone in the city except Rahab's family.
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Story
What happened?
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Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- Joshua: The son of Nun. He took over as Israel's leader after Moses died.
- The LORD: God. LORD in capital letters stands for God's personal name. Jewish readers traditionally don't say it aloud, out of respect.
- Rahab: A Canaanite woman who lived in Jericho. The Bible calls her a prostitute, a woman paid for sex. Her house was built into the city wall.
- The two spies: Two Israelite men Joshua sent into Jericho. The Bible does not tell us their names.
- The king of Jericho: The ruler of the city.
- The priests: Men from the family of Aaron, Moses's brother, in the tribe of Levi. They carried the ark and blew the rams' horns.
Setting
- Jericho, a walled city in Canaan, a few miles west of the Jordan River. At first, Israel's camp was across the river, at a place called Shittim. Then the camp moved close to the city.
When
- After Israel's forty years in the desert. Scholars disagree about the exact date. Many place it between about 3,200 and 3,450 years ago.
Before the Story
Moses had died. For forty years, Moses led Israel through the desert. Now God told Joshua to lead them (1:1-2).
God made a promise. God told Joshua to cross the Jordan River into Canaan. God said he was giving them this land (1:2-3).
Jericho stood in the way. It was the first city on the other side of the river. It had strong walls.
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: The person who saves Israel's spies is a Canaanite woman. More than a thousand years later, Jesus will be born into her family line (Matthew 1:5).
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Two spies | 2:1-3 | The spies go to Rahab's house. The king finds out |
| 2. On the roof | 2:4-7 | Rahab hides the spies and sends the king's men away |
| 3. What Rahab knew | 2:8-11 | Rahab says the LORD is God |
| 4. The scarlet cord | 2:12-21 | Rahab and the spies make a promise |
| 5. Back to Joshua | 2:22-24 | The spies return with their report |
| 6. Shut tight | 6:1-5 | God tells Joshua the plan |
| 7. Six quiet days | 6:6-14 | Israel marches around the city once a day |
| 8. The shout | 6:15-20 | Seven times around. The horns blow. The wall falls |
| 9. Everyone in the city | 6:21 | Israel kills everyone in Jericho |
| 10. Rahab is saved | 6:22-27 | Rahab and her family are brought out alive. The city is burned |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 10Two Spies
A wall stood around the city of Jericho. Across the river, in Israel's camp at Shittim, Joshua chose two men. He sent them out secretly. He said, "Go and look over the land, especially Jericho."
So the two spies went into Jericho. They went to the house of a woman named Rahab and stayed there. Rahab was a prostitute.
Someone told the king of Jericho, "Men from Israel came here tonight to spy on the land."
So the king sent a message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to your house. They came to spy out the whole land."
Scene 2 of 10On the Roof
But Rahab had already hidden the two men.
Rahab told the king's men, "Yes, the men came to me. But I didn't know where they were from."
She said the men left at dusk, when the city gate was about to close. "I don't know which way they went. Hurry after them, and you may catch them."
That was not true. Rahab had taken the spies up to her flat roof. She hid them under stalks of flax she had laid out there. Flax is a plant people used to make linen cloth.
The king's men ran off down the road toward the Jordan River crossings. As soon as they left, the city gate was shut.
Scene 3 of 10What Rahab Knew
Before the spies lay down to sleep, Rahab went up on the roof. She told them what she knew.
"I know that the LORD has given you this land" (2:9). Rahab said the people of the land were melting in fear. This is a comparison. Their courage was draining away, like wax melting in heat.
Rahab explained why they were afraid. They had heard how the LORD dried up the Red Sea for Israel. They had heard how Israel defeated two kings east of the Jordan.
Then Rahab said something amazing for a Canaanite to say. "The LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below" (2:11).
One likely reason this was amazing: Rahab had grown up among people who worshiped other gods. Now she said Israel's God was the true God of everything.
Scene 4 of 10The Scarlet Cord
Rahab asked the spies for a promise. She had been kind to them. She asked them to be kind to her family in return. She asked them to spare her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, and everyone who belonged to them. She asked for a sure sign.
The men agreed. "Our lives for your lives!" (2:14). If Rahab kept their mission secret, they would treat her family with kindness when the LORD gave them the land.
Rahab's house was built into the city wall. So she let the men down through her window on a rope. She told them to hide in the hills for three days.
The spies told her what the sign would be. She must tie a scarlet cord in that same window. Scarlet is a bright red color. She must also bring her whole family into her house. Anyone inside would be safe.
"Let it be as you say," Rahab said (2:21). She sent them off. Then she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Scene 5 of 10Back to Joshua
The spies hid in the hill country for three days. The king's men searched all along the road. They came back without finding them.
Then the two spies came down from the hills and crossed the river back to camp. They told Joshua everything that had happened.
They said, "The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands" (2:24). The people of the land were melting in fear of Israel.
After this, God led all Israel across the Jordan River. They camped near Jericho (Joshua 3 to 5).
Halfway thereThis is a good place for a break. Your spot is saved on this device.
Scene 6 of 10Shut Tight
Now Jericho's gates were shut tight because of the Israelites. No one went out. No one came in.
The LORD spoke to Joshua. "Behold, I have delivered Jericho into your hand" (6:2). God said this before anyone had marched even once.
Then God gave Joshua an unusual plan. For six days, Israel's soldiers were to march around the city once a day.
Seven priests would carry seven rams' horns in front of the ark. A ram's horn was an animal's horn, hollowed out and blown like a trumpet. The ark was a gold-covered wooden chest. It held the stone tablets of God's law. It showed that God was with his people.
On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times. The priests would blow the horns. At one long blast, all the people would give a mighty shout. Then the wall would fall down.
Scene 7 of 10Six Quiet Days
Joshua called the priests. He told them to take up the ark.
The march began. Armed soldiers went first. Then came the seven priests, blowing the rams' horns. Then came the ark. More soldiers followed behind it.
Joshua gave the people a strict order. No battle cry. No talking. Not one word, until the day Joshua told them to shout.
So they circled the city once, with only the horns sounding. Then they went back to camp for the night.
The next morning, Joshua got up early. The priests and soldiers did it all again. They marched around the city once a day for six days.
The Bible doesn't say how the people inside Jericho felt watching this. But remember what Rahab said: they were already melting in fear.
Scene 8 of 10The Shout
On the seventh day, they got up at dawn. They marched around the city seven times.
The seventh time around, the priests blew the horns.
Joshua gave the command. "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!" (6:16).
Joshua also gave a warning. The city and everything in it must be "devoted to the LORD for destruction" (6:17). Only Rahab and the people in her house would live. No one could take anything for themselves. The silver, gold, bronze, and iron belonged to the LORD.
The horns sounded. The people shouted.
The wall collapsed.
Israel's army charged straight into the city and captured it.
Scene 9 of 10Everyone in the City
Then came the hardest part of this story. Israel devoted the city to destruction, as Joshua had said. The Bible says they killed every living thing in it with the sword. Men and women. Young and old. Oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
The Bible does not describe the killing in detail. But it does not hide it either. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with a parent, pastor, or trusted adult.
Scene 10 of 10Rahab Is Saved
In the middle of all this, Joshua kept the spies' promise. He sent the two spies to Rahab's house. "Bring out the woman and all who are with her" (6:22).
The spies went in. They brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers, and everyone who belonged to her. They settled the family outside Israel's camp.
Then Israel burned the city and everything in it. They put the silver, gold, bronze, and iron in the treasury of the LORD's house.
Joshua spared Rahab because she had hidden the spies. "So she has lived among the Israelites to this day" (6:25).
Joshua spoke a solemn curse on anyone who would rebuild Jericho. And the LORD was with Joshua. People all over the land heard about Joshua.
Rahab had asked for a sure sign. She tied the scarlet cord in her window, as the spies had asked. And God's people kept their promise. A woman from outside Israel was welcomed in.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "Melting in fear" (2:9) | This is a comparison. The people's courage was draining away, like wax in the heat. |
| "The LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below" (2:11) | Rahab confessed that Israel's God is the only true God. This is her faith, spoken out loud. |
| "Our lives for your lives!" (2:14) | The spies promised their own lives would answer for the safety of Rahab's family. |
| "You have tied this scarlet cord in the window" (2:18) | The red cord was the sign of the promise. Anyone inside that house would be safe. |
| "I have delivered Jericho into your hand" (6:2) | God spoke of the city as already given. The victory was God's, not the army's. |
| "Devoted to the LORD for destruction" (6:17) | This is one Hebrew word, herem. It meant the city was given over wholly to God. No one could keep anything from it. The people of the city were to be killed. |
| "She has lived among the Israelites to this day" (6:25) | The writer of Joshua says Rahab's family was still part of Israel when the book was written. |
Back Then
Jericho was called the city of palm trees (Deuteronomy 34:3). It sat on a plain near the Jordan River, with springs of water nearby. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
A ram's horn is called a shofar in Hebrew. It was used to call people together and to signal in war. Jewish people still blow the shofar today, especially at the new year festival, Rosh Hashanah. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Flax grew in Egypt and Canaan. People dried the stalks on flat roofs, then used the fibers to make linen. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
The ark of the covenant was a wooden chest covered with gold. Inside were the two stone tablets of the law. It went ahead of Israel as a sign that God was with them. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Scholars talk about how ancient war reports were written. Kings in the ancient world often described their wins as total. They said they wiped out an enemy completely, even when they had not. This was a common way of boasting in war. Many scholars think Joshua uses this kind of language too. The books of Joshua and Judges both say that many Canaanites were still living in the land (Joshua 17:12-13, Judges 1:27-28).
Archaeologists have dug at Jericho for more than a hundred years. In the 1950s, the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon studied the city. She concluded that Jericho had few or no people, and no city walls, at the time many scholars give for Joshua. Other archaeologists read the evidence and the dates differently. The question is still debated.
These ideas do not make the passage easy. Even if the words are an exaggeration, Joshua still says God commanded this and the people did it. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time.
Literal Reader Alert
Did God really command Israel to kill everyone in the city? That is what the text says (6:17, 6:21). Joshua does not explain it beyond that. It is okay to feel upset or disturbed when you read it. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time. Martin Luther taught that God's hidden ways are not ours to figure out. We look to God where he shows himself to us. He does this in his Word, and most clearly in Jesus (The Bondage of the Will, 1525). Luther wrote this about other questions, not about war. Using it for a passage like this one is our own step, following his lead. Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). When two of his followers wanted to call down fire on a village, Jesus "turned and rebuked them" (Luke 9:55).
Does this story mean people can fight wars in God's name today? No. This story is not permission for anyone to hurt people for God. Jesus taught, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Christians have sometimes used stories like this to justify violence. That was wrong.
Did God approve of Rahab's lie? The Bible doesn't say. Hebrews praises her faith and her welcome of the spies (Hebrews 11:31). It does not praise the lie. It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.
Was Rahab really a prostitute? The Hebrew word, and the New Testament, call her that (Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25). Some ancient readers thought she ran an inn instead. The Jewish historian Josephus, writing about AD 93, called her house an inn (Antiquities 5.1.2). Either way, the Bible does not hide who she was. It honors her faith.
Rahab's house was built into the wall. What happened to it when the wall fell? The Bible doesn't say. It only says the spies went into her house and brought her family out alive (6:22-23). It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.
Did the walls fall because of the shout? No. God said the city was already given before the first march (6:2). The shout was the people trusting God's word. The walls fell because God acted.
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The people of Jericho | Afraid | They had heard what the LORD did for Israel (2:9-11) |
| Rahab | Afraid, and hopeful | She knew the city would fall, and she asked for a promise to save her family (2:12-13) |
| The king of Jericho | Alarmed | Spies from Israel had come into his city (2:2-3) |
| The two spies | Confident | They reported that the LORD had given them the land (2:24) |
| The Israelites | The Bible doesn't say | Joshua does not tell us how they felt during the six silent days |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
What stays with you from this story? Tap one.
The people who died
That is hard to read, and it should be. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time. Bring your questions to God, and to a pastor or trusted adult. Jesus shows us what God is like. He came to save the world, not to condemn it (John 3:17).
Rahab being welcomed
A woman from outside, with a hard past, ended up in Jesus's own family line. God welcomes outsiders. That includes you.
Marching without knowing
Six days of walking in circles, with no sign of change. God had already spoken, even before anyone could see it.
I feel like an outsider
Rahab was an outsider too. God did not ask her to become someone else first. He brought her in.
It's really bad right now
You don't have to carry it alone. Please tell a trusted adult today. If you are in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 any time, day or night. Outside the U.S., findahelpline.com lists free helplines.
You Might Have Heard
"Keep marching in faith, and your walls will fall down too."
What's true: The letter to the Hebrews says, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell" (Hebrews 11:30). Faith trusts what God has promised.
What the story is mainly about: What God did. God said the city was already given before anyone marched (6:2). The walls fell because God acted, not because the people marched hard enough. This story is not a promise that every problem in your life will fall if you keep trying. Sometimes hard things stay. God is still with you in them.
Where Jesus is: Christians believe faith like Rahab's is God's gift, given by the Holy Spirit. That same God came to us in Jesus. Jesus did not come to conquer with an army. He came to die for his enemies and to bring them near to God (Romans 5:10).
Good News
Rahab was an outsider. She was a Canaanite, from the city Israel came to destroy. She had a past the Bible does not hide. God saved her and her whole family anyway.
Rahab's story did not end at Jericho. Matthew lists her in the family line of Jesus. "Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab" (Matthew 1:5). Boaz was the great-grandfather of King David. Hebrews says, "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish" (Hebrews 11:31).
Paul wrote to people who were once outsiders to God's people too. "You who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). Paul said Jesus "has torn down the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14). This is a comparison. It means Jesus removes what keeps people apart from God and from each other.
At Jericho, God saved an outsider. In Jesus, God brings every outsider near, and that includes you.
From the Wider Church
A very early Christian letter, called 1 Clement (about AD 96), writes about Rahab. It says her scarlet cord was a sign given ahead of time. The letter says the cord pointed ahead to the blood of the Lord. Through that blood, people who believe and hope in God are redeemed, or set free (1 Clement 12). This is a comparison Christians have made for a long time. It is not what the cord meant to Rahab or the spies. To them, it was the sign of a promise.
Big Idea
At Jericho, God did what he said and saved Rahab's whole family, and in Jesus he still brings outsiders near.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
In The Bondage of the Will (1525), Luther wrote about God hidden and God revealed. Where God hides himself, Luther said, "it is no business of ours." Instead, we deal with God as he is "clothed and set forth in his Word," where he offers himself to us (Luther's Works, vol. 33, pp. 138-139). For Luther, that Word points most of all to Jesus. Luther was writing about other questions, not about war. Going to Jesus when a passage like Joshua 6 frightens us is our use of his teaching.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.
How did that feel?