Joshua 2:10 is Rahab’s explanation to two Israelite spies of why she has been willing to help them. She has heard how the LORD parted the Red Sea for the Israelites when they left Egypt, and how they defeated the Amorite kings Sihon and Og east of the Jordan. Her words show that the reputation of Israel’s God had already reached Jericho and shaped the fear and faith of its people.
The speaker is Rahab, a woman living in Jericho, a city-state that Israel was about to attack. She is speaking to the two men Joshua sent to scout the land, who are hiding on her roof. She is not an Israelite, yet she is the one who recognizes what the LORD has done and says so out loud.
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
Joshua 2:10 (WEB)
What Joshua 2:10 Means
The phrase “we have heard” tells you that Rahab is reporting rumor and testimony, not something she witnessed herself. The stories about Egypt’s defeat and Israel’s victories had traveled through the region, and Jericho’s people were talking about them. When she says “the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea,” she is naming the God of Israel as the one who acted, and she calls the event by a name that shows its scale: a path through a sea.
The second half of the verse moves to the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, whom Israel “utterly destroyed.” Rahab’s point is that the same God who opened the sea has now given his people victory over powerful kings east of the Jordan. The verse does not promise that Israel will be victorious in every battle, nor does it say Rahab understands all of Israel’s theology. It states what she has observed and what it has led her to believe.
The Context of Joshua 2:10
The book of Joshua is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself, with later editorial additions, and it tells how Israel entered and took possession of the land of Canaan after the wilderness wandering. Its first audience was the Israelite community, who needed to see that God had kept his word to bring them into the land. Chapter 2 interrupts the military narrative with a story about a Canaanite woman who chooses to side with Israel’s God.
Verses 7 to 13 show Rahab hiding the spies, then bargaining with them. Just before verse 10 she says that the fear of Israel has fallen on the people of the land and that their hearts are melting. Verse 11 explains that this fear comes from recognizing that “the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.” Read in that setting, verse 10 is the evidence that supports her confession, and it explains why she asks the spies to spare her family in verses 12 and 13.
Key Phrases in Joshua 2:10
Exodus 14:21
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
(WEB)
This verse describes the parting of the sea that Rahab mentions. Reading it alongside Joshua 2:10 shows you the original event she heard about, and helps you see how the story of God’s deliverance was remembered across generations.
Joshua 2:11
As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
(WEB)
The verse that follows directly confirms how Rahab’s testimony about God’s acts led to a confession of who he is. It shows the response that the reports of God’s power were meant to produce.
A Short Prayer From Joshua 2:10
Lord, you have done great things that people have heard about and remembered for generations. Help me to trust your faithfulness the way Rahab did, even when I have only heard of your works and have not seen them with my own eyes. Give me courage to act on what I know of you, and wisdom to protect and care for the people you have placed around me. Make your reputation known through my life, so that others might come to know you as the God of heaven and earth. Amen.
