Purpose of the Spies in Yehoshua 2/2
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Purpose of the Spies in Yehoshua 2
Exegetical Approaches
Morale Boosting Mission
The spies were sent to gauge the morale of the Canaanites, and thereby boost the confidence of the novice Israelite fighting force.
"וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ... מְרַגְּלִים חֶרֶשׁ" – Ralbag explains that the word "חֶרֶשׁ" relates to thought,2 rather than secrecy3 and suggests that the phrase reveals the purpose of the mission: Yehoshua sent the men to evaluate the thoughts of the people.
Biblical parallels – Ralbag compares the mission to Gidon's visit to the Midianite camp in Shofetim 7, whose sole purpose was also to instill confidence and not to gather information for battle.
The spies' report – As proof that the mission was to appraise morale, Ralbag points to the fact that the spies' report focused exclusively on the fear of the Canaanites and did not include any military data.
Report to Yehoshua alone – If the mission's purpose was to encourage the nation, it is surprising that the spies reported back to Yehoshua alone and not to the whole nation. Ralbag might respond that Yehoshua had learned from the debacle of Moshe's spies not to chance a negative report, and that despite the text's silence, after the secret debriefing the findings were made public.
Why visit Rachav? The choice might have been a practical one as a brothel allowed visitors to maintain their anonymity.4 Moreover, it had significant occupant turnover which would make Rachav a good source of information regarding the nation's feelings towards the Israelites.
Why sleep over? It is not clear why the spies would think it worthwhile to risk their lives by spending the night in Yericho just to appraise the morale of the people. It is possible that Rachav did not open her home to visitors until after dark, but surely they could have gathered information from a different source earlier in the day when there was no chance of being trapped in the city!
Purpose of red cord – Ralbag maintains that the cord was a response to Rachav's request for an "אוֹת אֱמֶת" (a true sign). It served as an indicator of Rachav's abode so that the Israelites would be able to spare her during the Israelite invasion. He likely assumes that the spies were not yet aware that the city was to be conquered miraculously and thus had no reason to think that the house and cord might no longer be around when they invaded. Nonetheless, it is still difficult to understand why they thought that such a cord would have been visible to soldiers inside the city, if it were hung out the window in the city's exterior walls.5
Conditions of oath – Ralbag explains that the spies made Rachav swear not to reveal the pact to ensure that no other residents of Yericho sought refuge in Rachav's home, passing themselves off as relatives. Since Hashem had commanded to totally destroy the Canaanites, they did not want to be tricked into saving any non-family members.
