The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to search out all the land.
"And it was told the king of Jericho   ..." At that time, and until about the 9th century, kings, even of extensive areas were called after the name of their capital.  In Jonah, for example, the king of Assyria is referred to as "the king of Nineveh."  Such designations are a mark of very great antiquity, and such signs compel us to look at the age of Moses and Joshua as the period when all of these first O.T. books were written. Palestine at the time of the conquest by Israel had about thirty-two such kinglets over that many little kingdoms.