THE MEN ACROSS THE STREET WERE THRILLED WHEN they saw the guards go into Rahab’s house. Word had spread quickly and by the time the family came filing out of the house onto the street, an even bigger crowd had gathered. For one delicious moment the hopeful men caught a glimpse of Rahab as she turned her face toward them and gave them a furious glare.
“She’s gorgeous!”
“Magnificent!”
“More beautiful than I ever imagined!”
A chorus of ecstasy poured out of their throats. Then Rahab’s father hustled her into the house next door and came back out alone, shaking his fist at the gathered group.
The men didn’t even care when the guards came out of Rahab’s house empty-handed. They had gotten what they were waiting for, a glimpse of the most beautiful woman in Canaan. Something to share with their mates at the wine shop.
One of the guards crossed the street to speak to them as Rahab’s family began to return into their house.
Yes, they said, they were certain they had seen two men enter the house yesterday when the family was next door at a party. No, they had not seen them go out.
The guard recrossed the street and spoke to his companions. Then they knocked on the door of Rahab’s house once more.
Rahab had been thinking furiously all the time the guards were searching and she had come to the conclusion that the spies would never be able to get away unless the search for them was called off. And the only way to make the search cease was for the guards to think the spies had already escaped. So when the guards came back into the house to ask once again if anyone in the family knew something about the two men who had been reported, Rahab stepped forward.
“I think I know who you must be looking for,” she said.
Stunned silence greeted her admission.
She gave the guards an apologetic smile. “My brothers rushed me out of the house so quickly just now that I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
“Tell us what, lady?” the largest guard said deferentially.
She gave her father an apologetic glance before she answered. “I came back into our house yesterday during the party. I wanted to get something to show to one of my cousins, and I found two men in my mother’s kitchen.”
Kata gave a horrified moan.
Mepu cried, “Why did you never tell me this?”
Shemu looked grim.
Rahab said, “I’m sorry, Papa, but I didn’t want to worry you.” She turned back to the guards. “I was frightened when I saw them and I asked them what they were doing in my family’s house. They said they had come in to see if they could find something to eat, that they were hungry.”
The big guard asked eagerly, “How did they speak? Did they sound foreign?”
“Yes, they did. They had such thick accents that I could hardly understand them. But so many strangers are coming into the city these days that I didn’t think too much about it.”
She gave them a big-eyed, pleading look, an innocent girl who could be easily duped by cunning men.
“You should have left the house immediately and come to tell me,” Mepu said angrily.
“But they did me no harm, Papa. I gave them something to eat because they said they were going on a journey and then they left.”
“That was wrong of you,” Mepu said.
Another big-eyed look from Rahab. “But, Papa, you always say hospitality is sacred.”
The big guard said, “Did they say what kind of journey they were going on?”
“They were in a hurry to get out of the city before the gate closed for the night. They didn’t say where they were going.”
“And you didn’t think to ask?” the guard asked with audible exasperation.
Rahab looked down and her voice became even huskier than usual. “I am sorry. I was only trying to be kind. Do you think these may be the men you are looking for?”
“Yes, I do.” The large guard turned to the others. “We must report this to the commander immediately. The two of them will be heading for the Jordan. If we pursue them quickly enough we can overtake them.”
He turned back to Rahab. “Thank you, lady, you have been very helpful.”
Rahab rewarded him with her best smile. “I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing.”
The three guards smiled back, one of them even bowed, and they left the house.
Once the door had closed behind them, Mepu rounded on his daughter. “Why didn’t you tell me about these men? Don’t you realize what could have happened to you, alone in the house with them?”
“Yes, Papa, I did realize,” she returned in her normal voice. “I thought the best thing I could do was to give them some food and get rid of them. And I didn’t tell you because I knew you would be upset. How could I know they were Israelite spies?”
Shemu said, “Don’t scold her, Papa. She did the best she could under the circumstances.”
Rahab’s other brothers agreed.
“It was those cursed men who put the guards on to us,” Mepu shouted. “I am going to demand the guards arrest every one of them! You were the hierodule. You should not be treated like this. I am going to the palace to demand action!”
It took the combined powers of his family to calm him down and convince him that now that the men had had their chance to see Rahab, they would have no more reason to continue their vigil.
While everyone was gathered around Mepu, Shemu said softly to Sala, “Go back up to the roof. I will meet you there.”
Sala slipped up the stairs. Rahab watched him go and looked at Shemu. He shook his head.
Rahab had to repeat her story for her family at least a dozen times. Finally she asked if she could go up to her room to rest and Kata agreed, telling everyone to give her some time alone because she had had such a terrible experience.
Rahab went immediately to the roof and found Sala there by himself. He whirled around at the sound of the door opening and when he saw her, his face lighted up as if the sun had just shone on it.
“You were magnificent!” he said.
She lifted a hand, as if to stop him from touching her. “My whole family is in danger as long as these men remain here. We must be rid of them, Sala.”
The radiance faded from Sala’s face. “I know. I know. And you have made it much easier for us to do that. Once the guards are out of the city and in pursuit, it will be simple for our men to get out through the gates. No one will be looking for them.”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” It was Shemu, opening the door and coming out onto the roof himself. “They will be stopping and questioning every person who goes out through that gate. They may even keep the gate shut until the pursuers return. Your men won’t be able to get out that way, Sala.”
Sala looked at Shemu and said, “What do you want me to do?”
“First, I want to know exactly what information you have given these men. What are the results of your own spying?” The last word was pronounced with the utmost contempt.
“Why do you want to know that?”
“I want to know if it is safe for me to turn these men loose or if I will have to kill them.”
Rahab gasped in horror.
Sala had gone pale. “I will be honest with you, Shemu. The information my father and I have gathered is slight. The walls of this city are a formidable barrier. My father and I saw that as soon as we arrived. Joshua will lose most of his army if he tries to come against them.”
Shemu’s lip curled cynically. “If you think I will believe that your message to your leader is that he should turn away from here, you are mistaken. I am not such a fool as that. So let me repeat what I said before: I want to know the message you are sending to this Joshua.”
Sala looked at Rahab and then back to Shemu. He nodded. “Very well, I will tell you. The report we are sending is that Joshua should concentrate his attack on the weakest side of the city, which is the north wall. You must know that yourself—you live right next to it. The stone revetment is formidable, but the mud-brick wall on top of it is only one brick thick.”
Shemu’s lips pressed together so his mouth was one grim line. “And what other information have you gathered?”
Sala laughed ironically. “What else is there to report, Shemu? Jericho is a fortress unequalled anywhere in the land. I do not think it can be taken by an ordinary army.”
“But you don’t think the Israelites are an ordinary army, do you?”
“No, I don’t. We are men guided by the will of Yahweh, the One True God. He has been with my people since the beginning of time, Shemu. He was with our father Abraham, to whom He gave the land of Canaan. Now we have come to take it back. And we will. Jericho, no matter how great its walls, cannot stand against the will of Yahweh.”
In spite of himself, Shemu was stirred by Sala’s words and by his belief. He tried to shake off the feeling and said, “We have done well enough in Canaan under Baal. We do not need this Yahweh of yours.”
Silence fell as the two men measured each other. Then Sala said, “The Israelites will come against Jericho whether or not the spies return. They will come and one of two things will happen. You will be right and Joshua will either give up or wreck his army by throwing it against these walls. Or I will be right and these walls will fall before the will of Yahweh. If that happens, and I believe it will, nothing will be left alive in this city, Shemu. Nothing.”
Silence. Then Rahab said, “Shemu, if you are right, it won’t matter if we let these men go. And if Sala is right it won’t matter either. What will happen will happen whether the spies get to Joshua or not. But to kill them? That makes no sense at all. What would we do with the bodies?”
Shemu let out a long, audible breath. “Ever the practical one. All right, my sister, do you also have a plan for how we can get them away from here?”
“Yes,” Rahab said. “I do.”
Lord Nahshon had been taken to the military commander’s headquarters and the commander had interviewed Nahshon himself. Akiz was a grizzled veteran who had been a supporter of Makamaron, but with the death of the old king his allegiance had switched wholeheartedly to Tamur. He wanted to keep his job and it didn’t hurt that his son, Farut, was Tamur’s closest friend.
Lord Nahshon steadfastly maintained that his name was Debir and that he was a merchant from Gaza. He knew nothing of Israelite spies. He had only escorted the shepherds out of the Sign of the Olive because they were offensive to the customers. The two men must have followed him to his inn and tried to hide there.
The only thing he said that made the commander think he might be telling the truth was his naming Lord Arazu as a reference.
Lord Arazu was sent for and Nahshon was left to sit and worry in the small, windowless, airless room where he had been confined.
While Nahshon was waiting, the guards who had searched Rahab’s house arrived to speak to the commander. Once Akiz heard what they had to say, all thoughts of Nahshon vanished from his head. The commander immediately ordered squads of chariots to set off in pursuit of the escaped spies. They were directed to drive as fast as they could to the only viable ford on the Jordan, where Akiz knew the Israelites had to be heading.
The charioteers didn’t even wait to make sure their horses had been properly groomed. The chariots were brought round, the horses were harnessed, and the chariot squadron of Jericho’s army was galloping down the main street of the city in record time. The gate opened wide for them and they swept out onto the plain, heading east toward the river and the Israelite spies they were certain they would be able to overtake.