^2:6(Now she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax she had spread out¹³ on the roof.) ^2:7Meanwhile¹⁴ the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River¹⁵ near the fords.¹⁶ The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them.¹⁷

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Footnotes

13 Heb “arranged in rows by her.”
14 Another way to translate vv. 6–7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them …, the king’s men tried to find them.…” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.
15 The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
16 Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.
17 Heb “And they shut the gate after—as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.

NLTNew Living Translation

(Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

(But she had taken them to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax that she had spread out on the roof.) So the men chased after them on the way to the Jordan at the fords; and they shut the gate behind the pursuers that had gone out after them.

KJV 1900King James Version

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

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