Rahab hangs the scarlet cord from her window (detail and colorized), Autotype after Frederic Shields, 1877. Wellcome Library
When Joshua sends men to spy out the land, they find lodgings in Jericho in the house of a prostitute named Rahab:
יהושׁע ב:א וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מִן הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת יְרִיחוֹ וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ שָׁמָּה.
Josh 2:1 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho.” So they set out, and they came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.[1]
Rahab is viewed by many interpreters as a lowly outcast, relegated to the margins of Jericho society. Thus, Richard D. Nelson describes her profession is “disreputable,”[2] and Thomas B. Dozeman concludes: “The portrayal of Rahab as a prostitute is meant to symbolize her marginal position in the city.”[3]
The placement of her business at, or more properly, in the city wall—described later when she helps the scouts escape—indicates for some interpreters that Rahab is a marginal figure:[4]
יהושׁע ב:טו וַתּוֹרִדֵם בַּחֶבֶל בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן כִּי בֵיתָהּ בְּקִיר הַחוֹמָה וּבַחוֹמָה הִיא יוֹשָׁבֶת.
Josh 2:15 She let them down by a rope through the window—for her dwelling was at the outer side of the city wall and she lived in the actual wall.
The biblical text contains no such value judgment. Perhaps Rahab, as an independent woman, is simply a canny proprietor who has situated her business in a place convenient to both outsiders and locals.[5] Indeed, the narrative consistently presents her in a positive light.
Rahab in Control
The king sends orders for Rahab to turn over the Israelite spies, trusting that she will comply:
יהושׁע ב:ג וַיִּשְׁלַח מֶלֶךְ יְרִיחוֹ אֶל רָחָב לֵאמֹר הוֹצִיאִי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַבָּאִים אֵלַיִךְ אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ לְבֵיתֵךְ כִּי לַחְפֹּר אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ בָּאוּ.
Josh 2:3 The king of Jericho thereupon sent orders to Rahab: “Produce the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole country.”
Instead, however, she hides them and denies that they are still under her roof:
יהושׁע ב:ד וַתִּקַּח הָאִשָּׁה אֶת שְׁנֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים וַתִּצְפְּנוֹ וַתֹּאמֶר כֵּן בָּאוּ אֵלַי הָאֲנָשִׁים וְלֹא יָדַעְתִּי מֵאַיִן הֵמָּה.
Josh 2:4 The woman, however, had taken the two men and hidden them. “It is true,” she said, “the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from.
Hinders the King’s Men
She also creates a false trail for the king’s men to follow:
יהושׁע ב:ה וַיְהִי הַשַּׁעַר לִסְגּוֹר בַּחֹשֶׁךְ וְהָאֲנָשִׁים יָצָאוּ לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אָנָה הָלְכוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים רִדְפוּ מַהֵר אַחֲרֵיהֶם כִּי תַשִּׂיגוּם.
Josh 2:5 “And at dark, when the gate was about to be closed, the men left; and I don’t know where the men went. Quick, go after them, for you can overtake them.”
Some commentators question why the king’s men would believe her. For example, Robert G. Bratcher and Barclay M. Newman argue:
The implication seems to be that the king’s men searched the house [including the roof] and so believed her story. It is difficult to believe that they would simply have accepted her explanation without seeing for themselves if she was telling the truth.[6]
A straightforward reading of the story, however, suggests that the king’s men view her as reliable. Not only do they accept at face value her disavowal of knowing where the Israelite spies are, but they also closely follow her misleading directions for catching up with the spies:
יהושׁע ב:ז וְהָאֲנָשִׁים רָדְפוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם דֶּרֶךְ הַיַּרְדֵּן עַל הַמַּעְבְּרוֹת וְהַשַּׁעַר סָגָרוּ אַחֲרֵי כַּאֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ הָרֹדְפִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם.
Josh 2:7 So the men pursued them in the direction of the Jordan down to the fords; and no sooner had the pursuers gone out than the gate was shut behind them.
Quick on Her Feet
Rahab’s quick-wittedness is also on display here. At the beginning of the scene, we learn that וַתִּקַּח הָאִשָּׁה אֶת שְׁנֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים וַתִּצְפְּנוֹ, “she had taken the two men and hidden them” (v. 4).[7] After she misleads the king’s men, we hear again that she has hidden the Israelites:
יהושׁע ב:ו וְהִיא הֶעֱלָתַם הַגָּגָה וַתִּטְמְנֵם בְּפִשְׁתֵּי הָעֵץ הָעֲרֻכוֹת לָהּ עַל הַגָּג.
Josh 2:6 Now she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax which she had lying on the roof.
Translating the verbs וַתִּקַּח and וַתִּצְפְּנוֹ (v. 4) and הֶעֱלָתַם and וַתִּטְמְנֵם (v. 6) as pluperfects—in each case, she “had taken” and “had hidden” the men—interprets both verses as referring to one action in the past when Rahab hid the two men, with the latter verse providing additional detail as to the hiding place.[8]
It is, nonetheless, worth observing that there is no morphologically distinct form in the Hebrew to indicate the pluperfect, as there is, for example, in English.[9] Thus, we could also translate both verses with the simple past (“she took” and “she hid”), permitting at least the possibility that, in the midst of dealing with the king’s men, Rahab also managed to hide the men twice: the first time hurriedly and perhaps not so well, and then later more thoughtfully and secretively.[10]
Strategic
By hiding the Israelites from the king’s men, Rahab creates for herself a position of strength relative to the Israelites, from which she secures a future for herself and her family, asking the scouts to help her as she has helped them:
יהושׁע ב:יב וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעוּ נָא לִי בַּי־הוָה כִּי עָשִׂיתִי עִמָּכֶם חָסֶד וַעֲשִׂיתֶם גַּם אַתֶּם עִם בֵּית אָבִי חֶסֶד וּנְתַתֶּם לִי אוֹת אֱמֶת. ב:יג וְהַחֲיִתֶם אֶת אָבִי וְאֶת אִמִּי וְאֶת אַחַי וְאֶת אַחוֹתַי [אַחְיוֹתַי] וְאֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם וְהִצַּלְתֶּם אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵינוּ מִמָּוֶת.
Josh 2:12 Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by YHWH that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. Provide me with a reliable sign 2:13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”
In sum, Rahab is presented as a smart and courageous independent woman.
Rahab’s Profession
Rahab’s name is related to the verbal root, ר.ח.ב, meaning “to be broad,” “spacious” or “wide.” In an English-language pun, Rahab is a “broad.” A comparable word play in biblical Hebrew suggests that Rahab (“open wide”) is not a genuine personal name, but rather is indicative of her profession as a prostitute.[11]
Alternatively, Rahab’s name echoes the רְחוֹב (rechob), “public square,” a component present also in the Sodom and Gibeah narrative scenes (Gen 19:2; Judg 19:15, 17, 20). So it is that בֵּית רְחוֹב may originally have literally meant “the house in the public square,” but may have signified a brothel.[12]
Innkeeper
Describing Rahab as a harlot, however, may be underselling her. The narrative says that she is a זוֹנָה (zonah), grammatically a feminine singular participle of the verbal root ז.נ.ה/י, “to prostitute.”[13] Both the ancient Jewish historian Josephus (37–ca. 100 C.E.) and the ancient translation known as Targum Jonathan (early to mid-1st millennium C.E.), however, render zonah (in Greek and Aramaic, respectively) as “innkeeper,” though this does not necessarily exclude her offering sexual services.
Rashi (Rabbi Solomon b. Isaac, 1040–1105), following the Targum, similarly renders zonah as innkeeper.[14]
אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה תִּירְגֵּם יְהוֹנָתָן: פּוּנְדְּקִיתָא, מוֹכֶרֶת מִינֵי מְזוֹנוֹת.
ʾIshah zonah. According to Targum Jonathan, an innkeeper who sold various kinds of foodstuff.
Radak (R. David Kimhi, ca. 1160–1235) connects the two interpretations by noting that both a harlot and an innkeeper sell themselves to any customer:
זונה. כמשמעה או מוכרת מזון כמו שתרגם יונתן פונדקיתא והוא בשקל טובה והאמת דעת יונתן זונה ממש כי כן דרכו במקומות לתרגם זונה פונדקית וכן שתים נשים זונות פונדקן ואף על פי שתרגם מקצתן נפקת ברא ודעתו לפי שהזונה כפונדקיתא שמפקרת עצמה לכל:
Zonah literal, or a seller of baked goods, like the Targum Jonathan has it, innkeeper [pundekita], and this is with a good weight. And the true opinion of Jonathan was an actual zonah, since such was the way in places, to translate zonah as innkeeper. And so “two women who were prostitutes [zonot]” (1 Kgs 3:16), [is translated in Targum Jonathan as] innkeepers [pundekan]. And even though he sometimes translates this as “prostitute,” his reasoning is that a prostitute is like an innkeeper in that she sells herself to all.
Similarly Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1508) writes:
ואחשוב אני שגם יונתן בן עוזיאל לא יכחיש פירוש המפרשים, לפי שכל אשה פונדקיתא, מפני רוב האנשים המתעסקים עמה בבית מזה אחד ומזה אחד, יתחייב שתהיה זונה, כי אחד מהם יכבשה, והיא גם היא תטה אחריו, וגם כי רוב הנשים הבאות באומנות הזה היו זונות קודם לזה.
And I think that even Jonathan ben Uzziel would not deny the interpretation of the interpretations, according to which every woman innkeeper, because so many people deal with her in the house, one man after another, she will of necessity be a prostitute, because one of them will compel her, and she too will follow after him, and also that most women who follow this craft were formerly prostitutes.
Madam
Broadly speaking, it may be appropriate to envision Rahab as someone who is more interested in selling victuals than vixens. Seemingly the most precise designation for Rahab is “madam,” defined as a woman who, as the manager or owner of a brothel, is engaged in the business of procuring sex-workers.
Within the literary context, sex work may well have been one of the only, if not the only opportunity a single woman living alone had to make a living. In this world, Rahab can be described as an independent businesswoman, even if we are uncertain exactly what the nature of her business is.
Rahab Symbolizes the Land
Rahab is the only character in the story who is named. All of the rest—the Israelite spies, the king of Jericho, and his royal messengers—are nameless, and they are male. Her name thus not only represents her profession, but also contributes to a larger theme in the narrative. Significantly, the root ר.ח.ב is found several times in the Torah to describe the land that YHWH promises to his people. So YHWH encourages Abraham to examine and consider the breadth of the promised land:
בראשׁית יג:יז קוּם הִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּאָרֶץ לְאָרְכָּהּ וּלְרָחְבָּהּ כִּי לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה.
Gen 13:17 “Up, walk about the land, through its length and its breadth, for I give it to you.”
At the burning bush he speaks of אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה וּרְחָבָה “a good and spacious land” (Exod 3:8). Later he tells Moses: וְהִרְחַבְתִּי אֶת גְּבוּלֶךָ, “I will enlarge [or make broad] your territory (Exod 34:24, cf. Deut 12:20, 19:8). In this context, Rahab’s name represents the land of Israel, and the spies entering Rahab’s house is symbolically like entering the wide-open land.
Rahab Knows YHWH
While it may seem unlikely that a Canaanite madam would symbolize the land, the biblical author reinforces the connection when Rahab openly declares her belief that YHWH has given the Canaanite lands to the Israelites:
יהושׁע ב:ט וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל הָאֲנָשִׁים יָדַעְתִּי כִּי נָתַן יְ־הוָה לָכֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִי נָפְלָה אֵימַתְכֶם עָלֵינוּ וְכִי נָמֹגוּ כָּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפְּנֵיכֶם. ב:י כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הוֹבִישׁ יְ־הוָה אֶת מֵי יַם סוּף מִפְּנֵיכֶם בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם וַאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם לִשְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן לְסִיחֹן וּלְעוֹג אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱרַמְתֶּם אוֹתָם.
Josh 2:9 She said to the men, “I know that YHWH has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. 2:10 For we have heard how YHWH dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed.[15]
Rahab’s words reflect that she knows (v. 9) Moses’ Song of the Sea:
שׁמות טו:טו ...נָמֹגוּ כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי כְנָעַן. טו:טז תִּפֹּל עֲלֵיהֶם אֵימָתָה וָפַחַד...
Exod 15:15 All the dwellers in Canaan are quaking, 15:16 dread and terror descend upon them…
It is Rahab, a Canaanite woman, whose allegiance to YHWH represents the coming destruction of Canaan and its replacement by Israel, just as the spies entering her house symbolize the Israelites’ entry into the land.
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