Rahab

Rahab was a prostitute and a woman of faith. She remains mysterious even hundreds of years after her brief role in Israel's history. She believed in Israel's God and helped two Israelite scouts who visited her house. Because of this, her life was spared when Israel captured Jericho.

Rahab's house was on the city wall, so Joshua's scouts went there when they entered Jericho. Rahab might have been both an innkeeper and a prostitute. Other documents from the Old Testament era mention women who were both innkeepers and prostitutes. If Rahab's house was an inn, it would have been a sensible place to go. Joshua's scouts could hope to avoid unwanted attention there.

Rahab's agreement with the scouts was a strong statement of faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel (Joshua 2:8–21). As a Canaanite woman, Rahab likely followed the fertility cult of Baal, the god of storms and rain, and his partner Asherah, the earth goddess. However, after hearing about Israel's progress toward her land, Rahab realized that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is "God in the heavens above and on the earth below" (Joshua 2:11).

After Joshua conquered Jericho, Rahab married Salmon from the tribe of Judah. She had a son named Boaz (Ruth 4:21; Matthew 1:5). Rahab became Ruth's mother-in-law, another foreign woman who joined Israel. Rahab was also King David's great-great-grandmother. She is listed with Moses, David, Samson, and Samuel as an example of faith shown through good deeds (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). Rahab is one of five women, including Mary, mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, the human family tree of God's Son (Matthew 1:5). Rahab shows the wide reach of God's grace.

Passages for Further Study

Joshua 2:1–21; 6:17, 22–25; Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25