‘ And she brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.'
Compare 2 Samuel 17:19. The word for ‘hid' is different from Joshua 2:4. It may be that in Joshua 2:4 she had just quickly hidden them out of sight, but now found a more secure hiding place under the stalks of flax spread out on the flat roof to dry out. Alternately we must remember that the account was written to be read out aloud, and such an introductory comment as that made earlier, made to prepare the hearer, followed later by a more detailed explanation, was an ancient technique, and occurs often in Scripture.
The roof was a regular drying place for produce from the fields. Flax was cultivated in Palestine and Egypt (see Proverbs 31:13; Isaiah 19:9) and was one of the gifts of lovers to prostitutes (Hosea 2:5; Hosea 2:9). It grew to a height of a metre and produced beautiful blue flowers. Its shiny seeds produced linseed oil. The woody fibre of the bark provided the flax fibre woven into linen.