Joshua 2:6

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.

a. NLT: (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And she hath caused them to go up on the roof, and hideth them with the flax wood, which is arranged for her on the roof. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order there. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Rubin Edition/ Joshua: But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax that had been arranged for her. [The Artscroll Series/Rubin Edition The Prophets: Joshua/Judges Copyright 2000 by Mesorah Publication, Ltd.]

1. “But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax…”

a. [But] she [Strong: 1931 huw' hoo of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is hiyw {he}; a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular, he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:--he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

b. [had] brought them up [Strong: 5927 `alah aw-law' a primitive root; to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative (as follow):--arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, + shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, X mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, + perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.]

c. [to the] roof [of the house] [Strong: 1406 gag gawg probably by reduplication from 1342; a roof; by analogy, the top of an altar:--roof (of the house), (house) top (of the house).]

d. [and] hid [them] [Strong: 2934 taman taw-man' a primitive root; to hide (by covering over):--hide, lay privily, in secret.]

e. [with the] stalks [Strong: 6086 `ets ates from 6095; a tree (from its firmness); hence, wood (plural sticks):--+ carpenter, gallows, helve, + pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.]

f. [of] flax [Strong: 6593 pishteh pish-teh' from the same as 6580 as in the sense of comminuting; linen (i.e. the thread, as carded):--flax, linen.]

1). Gordon Lindsay cites the stalks of flax on her roof as evidence that she had ceased living a life of ill repute and had begun running a reputable inn and had begun spinning and weaving cloth to supplement her income. Others though teach that she was just an entrepreneur of a secular prostitution, hotel and dye business, three businesses under one roof.  Regardless of the speculation of whether she had ceased being a harlot or not previous to this time, after the deliverance from Jericho she did cease being a harlot and began worshipping the one true God. This will be shown later in the study.

2). From this information we can rightfully say she had hid the Israelite spies before she had talked to the king's men. This is exactly what Josepheus says in his Antiquities of the Jews, Book V, Chapter I, Paragraph 2. “As soon as Rahab understood that these messengers were coming, she hid the spies under stalks of flax, which were laid dried on the top of her house;”

3). Alfred Edersheim, in his book, Bible History, Old Testament, says the same thing, Chapter 5, p.300. “So soon as the gates were shut, and escape seemed impossible, the king sent to make captives of what he rightly judged to be Israelitish spies. But Rahab had anticipated him. Arriving at the same conclusion as the king, and expecting what would happen, she had “hid them” perhaps hastily “with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof,” after the common Eastern fashion of drying flax on the flat roofs of houses.   

2. “...which she had laid in order upon the roof.”

a. [which she had laid in] order [Strong: 6186 `arak aw-rak' a primitive root; to set in a row, i.e. arrange, put in order (in a very wide variety of applications):--put (set) (the battle, self) in array, compare, direct, equal, esteem, estimate, expert (in war), furnish, handle, join (battle), ordain, (lay, put, reckon up, set) (in) order, prepare, tax, value.]

b. upon [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

c. [the] roof [Strong: [Strong: 1406 gag gawg probably by reduplication from 1342; a roof; by analogy, the top of an altar:--roof (of the house), (house) top (of the house).]