קוד: מהי מטרת הסיפור על רחב מיריחו בתנ"ך
סוג: תכלית
מאת: אבנר רמו
אל:
In the Book of Numbers we read that Moses sent from Kadesh of the wilderness of Paran, twelve men, to spy out the land of Canaan. Before they left on their mission Moses instructed them in detail on the information that they should gather about Canaan and its peoples (Num 13:18-20). Similar to his mentor, Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly. But unlike his predecessor, Joshua’s instructions to the spies were only: לכו ראו את הארץ, ואת יריחו - - - “Go view the land, and Jericho” (Jos 2:1). While this mission was intended to be carried out in stealth, the arrival of these men to Rahab’s house was reported without delay to the king of Jericho. For saving her family the harlot Rahab lied to her king’s agents and betrayed her fellow citizen.
Rahab told the spies:
ותאמר אל האנשים - -ידעתי כי נתן יהוה לכם את הארץ; וכי נפלה אימתכם עלינו, וכי נמגו - - - -- -
כל ישבי הארץ מפניכם. -
“And she said to the men: I know that YHWH had given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you” (Jos 2:9).
ונשמע וימס לבבנו, ולא קמה עוד רוח באיש מפניכם: -
“And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man” (Jos 2:11). After their escape from Jericho, the spies cut their mission short and returned to Shittim, where they reported to Joshua:
ויאמרו אל יהושע, כי נתן יהוה בידנו את כל הארץ; וגם נמגו כל ישבי הארץ מפנינו. - - - - - -
“And they said to Joshua: Truly YHWH had delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us” (Jos 2:24). We should notice that the information reported by the spies was exactly that which they heard from the harlot Rahab, and there is no indication that the spies made further effort to verify this information by checking other sources, nor did they survey any other place beside Jericho. Soon we will hear:
ויהי כשמע כל המלכים אשר בעבר הירדן בהר ובשפלה ובכל חוף הים הגדול, אל מול - -
הלבנון - -החתי, והאמרי, הכנעני הפרזי, החוי והיבוסי. --
ויתקבצו יחדו להלחם עם יהושע ועם ישראל - -פה אחד. -- - -
“And it came to pass, when all the kings that were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and on all the shore of the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof, That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord” (Jos 9:1-2).
These verses suggest that the intelligence that Rahab delivered to Joshua through the spies was
not even reliable. Furthermore, it might have given the Israelites a false self-confidence that led
to a military defeat in the first battle with the town of Ai (Jos 7:5) or in the words of the writer of
the Book of Joshua:
ויעלו מן-העם שמה כשלשת אלפים איש; וינסו לפני אנשי העי.
ויכו מהם אנשי העי כשלשים וששה איש, וירדפום לפני השער עד-השברים, ויכום במורד;
וימס לבב-העם ויהי למים.
“So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men; and they fled before the
men of Ai.
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; and they chased them from
before the gate even to Shebarim, and smote them at the descent; and the hearts of the
people melted, and became as water” (Jos 7:4-5).
While later, following God’s instructions, Joshua conducted another campaign against Ai, and
we are told:
ויהי ככלות ישראל להרג את-כל-ישבי העי בשדה, במדבר אשר רדפום בו, ויפלו כלם לפי-
חרב עד-תמם; וישבו כל-ישראל העי ויכו אתה לפי-חרב.
ויהי כל-הנפלים ביום ההוא, מאיש ועד-אשה--שנים עשר אלף: כל אנשי העי.
ויהושע לא-השיב ידו אשר נטה בכידון, עד אשר החרים את כל-ישבי העי.
רק הבהמה ושלל העיר ההיא בזזו להם ישראל--כדבר יהוה, אשר צוה את-יהושע.
וישרף יהושע את-העי; וישימה תל-עולם שממה עד היום הזה.
“And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in
the field, even in the wilderness wherein they pursued them, and they were all fallen by the
edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it
with the edge of the sword.
And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men
of Ai.
For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had
utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey to themselves, according to
the word of YHWH which He commanded Joshua.
So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, unto this day” (Jos 8:24-
28).
The treatment of the defeated inhabitants of Ai followed the instructions found in the Book of
Deuteronomy:
כי יביאך יהוה אלהיך אל-הארץ אשר-אתה בא-שמה לרשתה; ונשל גוים-רבים מפניך החתי
והגרגשי והאמרי והכנעני והפרזי, והחוי והיבוסי--שבעה גוים, רבים ועצומים ממך.
ונתנם יהוה אלהיך לפניך--והכיתם: החרם תחרים אתם, לא-תכרת להם ברית ולא תחנם.
“When YHWH your God shall bring you into the land whither you go to possess it, and
shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite,
and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations
greater and mightier than you;
And when YHWH your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall smite them;
then you shall utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show
mercy to them” (Deu 7:1-2; see also: Ex 23:31-33; 34:11-16; Num 33:50-56; Deu 7:16-18, 21-26; 20:16-18; Jos 23:2-13; Jud 2:1-5).
In the Book of Judges we hear that the house of Joseph went up against Beth-el (which for unknown reason was not conquered by Joshua):
ויתירו בית יוסף בבית אל; ושם העיר לפנים לוז. - - -
ויראו השמרים איש יוצא מן העיר; ויאמרו לו, הראנו נא את מבוא העיר ועשינו עמך חסד. - -
ויראם את מבוא העיר, ויכו את העיר לפי חרב; ואת האיש ואת כל משפחתו שלחו. - - - - - -
וילך האיש ארץ החתים; ויבן עיר ויקרא שמה לוז - -הוא שמה עד היום הזה. --
“And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Beth-el--now the name of the city before time was Luz. And the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him: Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. And he showed them the entrance into the city, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day” (Jud 1:23-26).
The sparing of this Gentile man and his family did not strictly follow the law stated in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deu 7:1-2). Although this law does not indicate that annihilation of the native people of Canaan can be substituted by casting them away from the land, the sending of this man away to a foreign land may have achieved the intention of the law which was to prevent the Israelites from intermingling with people from the “seven nations of the land.”
We are told that when the Hivite people of the town of Gibeon heard about the annihilation of Jericho and Ai, some of them disguised themselves as people coming from a faraway land and came to Israelites and said: עבדיכם אנחנו, ועתה כרתו לנו ברית - - “We are your servants; and now make you a covenant with us” (Jos 9:11).
Although it is not clear why people from a faraway land need a covenant with the Israelis, or what the Israelis will gain by making a covenant with people from a faraway land, we are told that without consulting God:
ויעש להם יהושע שלום, ויכרת להם ברית לחיותם; וישבעו להם נשיאי העדה.
“And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore to them” (Jos 9:15).
We are told that when the truth was revealed and Joshua asked the Hivites “why you beguiled us” they answered:
ויאמרו, כי הגד הגד לעבדיך את אשר צוה יהוה אלהיך את משה עבדו, לתת לכם את כל- - -
הארץ, ולהשמיד את כל ישבי הארץ מפניכם; ונירא מאד לנפשתינו מפניכם, ונעשה את- - -
הדבר הזה.
“And they answered Joshua, and said: Because it was certainly told your servants, how that YHWH your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing” (Jos 9:24).
We also read about the Hivites:
ולא הכום בני ישראל, כי נשבעו להם נשיאי העדה ביהוה אלהי ישראל; וילנו כל העדה על- - -
הנשיאים.
ויאמרו כל הנשיאים אל כל העדה, אנחנו נשבענו להם ביהוה אלהי ישראל; ועתה לא נוכל - - -
לנגע בהם.
“And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by YHWH, the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said to all the congregation: We have sworn to them by YHWH, the God of Israel; now therefore we may not touch them” (Jos 9:18-19).
These verses indicate that vowing by the name of God take precedent to the Law of Moses. Yet we have to wonder, why a covenant that was obtained by deceit should be respected. We read that the five kings of the Amorites encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it, because “it had made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel” (Jos 10:4). This was an opportunity for the Israelites to undo a bad covenant and get rid of the Hivites (which the Law of Moses commanded them to do), all done for them by others. It is therefore odd to read that Joshua with “all the people of war”, and “all the mighty men of valor” went to rescue Gibeon (Jos 10:6-7).
In the Book of Numbers we read:
ואם לא תורישו את ישבי הארץ מפניכם - -והיה אשר תותירו מהם, לשכים בעיניכם ולצנינם -- - -
בצדיכם; וצררו אתכם - -על הארץ אשר אתם ישבים בה. - --
והיה כאשר דמיתי לעשות להם - -אעשה לכם. --
“But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that you let remain of them be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein you dwell. And it shall come to pass, that as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you” (Num 33:55-56).
It is therefore not clear why the Israelites did not cast out the Hivites from the land of Canaan to “a far country” and left them living among the Israelites “to this day.”
Now we return to Rahab of Jericho. It appears that the help that she gave to the two spies was not out of her good heart, or of love of the Israelis but was conditioned on:
ועתה השבעו נא לי ביהוה כי עשיתי עמכם חסד; ועשיתם גם אתם עם בית אבי חסד, - - - -
ונתתם לי אות אמת.
והחיתם את אבי ואת אמי ואת אחי ואת אחותי)אחיותי(ואת כל אשר להם; והצלתם את- - - - - -
נפשתינו ממות.
ויאמרו לה האנשים, נפשנו תחתיכם למות, אם לא תגידו את דברנו זה; והיה בתת יהוה לנו - -
את הארץ ועשינו עמך חסד ואמת. -
“Now therefore, I pray you, swear to me by YHWH, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house--and give me a true token--And save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
And the men said to her: Our life for yours, if you tell not this our business; and it shall be, when YHWH gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you” (Jos 2:12-14).
We read that after the fall of Jericho’s wall:
ויחרימו את כל אשר בעיר, מאיש ועד אשה, מנער ועד זקן; ועד שור ושה וחמור, לפי חרב. - - - - -
“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword” (Jos 6:21).
Yet:
ואת רחב הזונה ואת בית אביה ואת כל אשר לה החיה יהושע, ותשב בקרב ישראל, עד - - - - -
היום הזה: כי החביאה את המלאכים אשר שלח יהושע לרגל את יריחו. - - -
“But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel, to this day; because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Jos 6:25).
Once again, we find that even the oath of “the young men the spies” given to a selfish treasonous harlot appear more obliging than the Law of Moses. In addition, we have to wonder again why Rahab and her father’s house were not sent away and were allowed to settle among the Israelites “to this day.”
It appears that the information gathered by these spies did not even help the war efforts of the Israelites against Jericho. We read:
ויאמר יהוה אל יהושע, ראה נתתי בידך את יריחו ואת מלכה - -גבורי החיל. -- - - -
וסבתם את העיר כל אנשי המלחמה - -הקיף את העיר פעם אחת; כה תעשה ששת ימים. - -- -
ושבעה כהנים ישאו שבעה שופרות היובלים לפני הארון, וביום השביעי תסבו את העיר שבע -
פעמים; והכהנים יתקעו בשופרות.
והיה במשך בקרן היובל, בשמעכם)כשמעכם(את קול השופר, יריעו כל העם תרועה גדולה; - -
ונפלה חומת העיר תחתיה, ועלו העם איש נגדו.
“And YHWH said to Joshua: See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, even the mighty men of valor. And you shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shall you do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven rams' horns before the ark; and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the horns. And it shall be, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the horn, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him” (Jos 6:2-5).
Previously we read about Rahab: כי ביתה בקיר החומה, ובחומה היא יושבת - “for her house was upon the side of the wall, and she dwelt upon the wall” (Jos 2:15).
The narrative about Rahab, does not really tell us what Joshua tried to achieve by sending the spies to Jericho. However, if indeed the wall of Jericho fell down, then the fact that Rahab survived should be viewed as miraculous and we may wonder whether the actual purpose of this narrative was to show that those that help Israel are rewarded well even if the award contradicts Moses’ Law.