Literally, “caused them to go up,” that is, to the flat roof, so common in the Near East. According to Jewish law, the roof was to be provided with a parapet (Deut. 22:8). Even the roof of a public building was flat (Judges 16:27). A roof might be used as a promenade (2 Sam. 11:2) or for prayer (Acts 10:9). Rahab used it, as did many others, for drying stalks of flax, from which she would make linen cloth, and so it is used today. Flax and barley are both early crops (Ex. 9:31), and this was the first month (Joshua 4:19).