Rahab

Rahab (; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible:1-24, a Canaanite who resided within Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city before their attack.

In the New Testament, she is lauded both as an example of a saint who lived by faith, and as someone "considered righteous" for her good works. According to biblical research, the author intended that she did not contribute to the fall of Jericho, but instead saved herself and her family from death at the hands of the Israelites.

The King James Version renders the name as ''Rachab'' after the Koine Greek spelling, which differs from the spelling for Rahab in the Epistle of James and the Epistle to the Hebrews. Most modern Bible translations render it as ''Rahab'', ignoring the distinction.

Rahab's profession

The Hebrew ''isshā zonā'', used to describe Rahab in , literally means "a prostitute woman". While the Talmud holds to that interpretation, some sources in Rabbinic literature insist she was an innkeeper based on Targum Jonathan and other texts (). Rahab's name is presumably the shortened form of a sentence name ''rāḥāb-N'', "the god ''N'' has opened/widened (the womb?)". The Hebrew ''zonā'' may refer to secular or sacred prostitution; the latter was widely believed to have been an element of Canaanite religion, although recent scholarship has disputed this.Boling, Robert G. (1981). ''Joshua'', Vol. 6. Anchor Bible Series. pp 144-145. However, there was a separate word, ''qǝḏēšā'', that allegedly designated ritual prostitutes.

Josephus mentions that Rahab kept an inn but is silent as to whether merely renting out rooms was her only source of income. It was not uncommon for both an inn and a brothel to operate within the same building; thus entering Rahab's quarters was not necessarily a deviation from Joshua's orders. Indeed, as Robert Boling notes, such an establishment might have represented an ideal location for spies to gather intelligence. Several scholars have noted that the narrator in Joshua 2 may have intended to remind the readers of the "immemorial symbiosis between military service and bawdy house".

In the New Testament, the Epistle of James and the Epistle to the Hebrews follow the tradition set by the translators of the Septuagint in using the Greek word ''pórnē'', which is usually translated to English as "harlot, prostitute", to describe Rahab.

William L. Lyons observed that biblical interpreters have viewed Rahab as a model of hospitality, mercy, faith, patience, and repentance in her interaction with Joshua's spies. The harlot of Jericho became a paragon of virtue.

In the Hebrew Bible

According to the book of Joshua, when the Hebrews were encamped at Shittim in the Arabah or Jordan Valley opposite Jericho, ready to cross the river, Joshua, as a final preparation, sent out two spies to investigate the military strength of Jericho. The spies stayed in Rahab's house, which was built into the city wall. The soldiers sent to capture the spies asked Rahab to bring out the spies. Instead, she hid them under bundles of flax on the roof. It was the time of the barley harvest, and flax and barley are ripe at the same time in the Jordan valley, so that "the bundles of flax stalks might have been expected to be drying just then".

Rahab told the spies:

After escaping, the spies promised to spare Rahab and her family after taking the city, even if there should be a massacre, if she would mark her house by hanging a red cord out the window. Some have claimed that the symbol of the red cord is related to the practice of the red-light district.

When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab and her whole family were preserved according to the promise of the spies and were incorporated among the Jewish people. According to some rabbinic authorities, Rahab was treated as a beautiful captive woman in order to bring her into a marital union with Israel. (In siege warfare of antiquity, a city that fell after a prolonged siege was commonly subjected to a massacre and sack, while others taken captive.)

Tikva Frymer-Kensky regards Rahab as "smart, proactive, tricky and unafraid to disobey and deceive her king". She also credits Rahab with being "one of Israel’s early saviors" due to "her allegiance to God and Israel". As the first non-Israelite person, and in particular the first Canaanite woman, to ally with Israel, Rahab's convictions led her to protect the men sent by Joshua despite her background.

Michael Coogan says the book of Joshua, more than any other book of the Bible, contains short etiological narratives that explain the origins of religious rituals, topographical features, genealogical relationships, and other aspects of ancient Israelite life, and that the legend of Rahab is such an example. The story of Rahab would therefore provide an answer as to how a Canaanite group became part of Israel in spite of the Deuteronomistic injunction to kill all Canaanites and not to intermarry with them.

Some scholars see the parallels between Joshua 2 and Genesis 19, which narrates the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Jericho was presumed to be equally as wicked, with Rahab challenging Jericho's "oppressive establishment" by siding with Jericho's destroyers (i.e. the Israelites). Coincidentally, these cities were believed to lie among a major fault line extending 1,100 kilometers from the Red Sea to Turkey.

In rabbinic literature

In the midrash, Rahab is named as one of the four most beautiful women the world has ever known, along with Sarah, Abigail, and Esther. In the Babylonian Talmud, Rahab was so beautiful that the very mention of her name could cause arousal (''Megillah'' 15a). Rahab is said to have converted at the age of 50, after practising prostitution for 40 years, and repented according to three sins, saying:

A similar tradition has Rahab declaring, "Pardon me by merit of the rope, the window, and the flaxen he stalks of flax under which she concealed the spies"

Because of this, rabbis interpret Biblical verses that talk about the citizens of Jericho "melting in fear", such as and , as describing their inability to maintain erections upon hearing Israelite military victories. Rahab knew this because "there was no minister or prince that did not pay a visit to Rahab the harlot".

The rabbis viewed Rahab as a worthy convert to Judaism, and attested that following her conversion, Rahab married Joshua, and their descendants included the prophets Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Seraiah, Mahseiah, Baruch, Ezekiel and the prophetess Hulda, although there is no report in the book of Joshua of the leader marrying anyone, or having any family life. Rahab often is mentioned alongside Jethro (Yitro) and Na'aman as "positive examples" of the converts who joined Israel, and another midrash has Rahab acting as an advocate for all nations of the world.

Some believe that the genealogies described in and served to dispel accusations that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were descendants of Rahab. At the time, the Israelites discriminated against these prophets for this alleged heritage.

In the New Testament

In the New Testament, Rahab (Greek ''Ῥαάβ'') of the Book of Joshua is mentioned as an example of a person of faith and of good works. Rahab is referred to as "the harlot" in each of these passages.

A different spelling of the name, ''Rachab'' (as transliterated in the King James translation of the Greek ''Ῥαχάβ'') is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew as one of the ancestors of Jesus ( Matthew 1:5). She married Salmon of the Tribe of Judah and was the mother of Boaz. Most other English Bibles transcribe her name as ''Rahab''.

Some have conjectured that Jesus invoked the name of “Rahab” (רחב) by writing it in the sand when he protected the adulteress from stoning (John 8:6). Through this act he would have reminded the hypocritical Pharisees of the righteous prostitute in their own ancestry.

In fiction

* Rahab is depicted as a virtuous soul (in The Third Circle of Heaven) in Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' (Paradiso 9.112 ff.)
*Rahab is a figure in the mythos of William Blake. She is pictured as a harlot, akin to the whore of Babylon, and figures alongside Blake's character of Tirzah, as representing materialism, false religion, and fallen sexuality. Rahab's embrace of Urizen, who loosely represents fallen reason, is seen as the consolidation of error necessary to bring about the Final Judgment.
* The claim of Hugh Broughton, a controversial historian, that Rahab was already "a harlot at ten years of age" is used by Humbert Humbert to explain or perhaps justify his attraction to young girls in Nabokov's ''Lolita''.
Fictional accounts of Rahab's life
* Afshar, Tessa. ''Pearl in the Sand'' (2010),
* Burton, Anne. ''Rahab's Story'' (2005), ; Book 2 in Burton's "Women of the Bible" series.
* Havel, Carlene and Faucheux, Sharon. ''The Scarlet Cord'' (2014),
* MacFarlane, Hannah. ''The Scarlet Cord'' (2009),
* Morris, Gilbert. ''Daughter of Deliverance''. ; Book 6 of "Lions of Judah" Series.
* Rivers, Francine. ''Unashamed: Rahab'' (2000), ; Book 2 in Rivers' " A Lineage of Grace" series.
* Slaughter, Frank G. ''The Scarlet Cord: A Novel of the Woman of Jericho'' (1956),
* Smith, Jill Eileen. ''The Crimson Cord: Rahab's Story (2015).'' ; Book 1 in Smith's "Daughters of the Promised Land" series.
* Wolf, Joan. ''This Scarlet Cord: The Love Story of Rahab'' (2012),
* Jennings, Jenifer. "Crimson Cord" (2017),
* Craig, Naomi. "Rahab's Courage" (2021),
Television portrayals
*Rahab is portrayed by Myrna Fahey in the 1967 TV series ''The Time Tunnel'' in episode 20 entitled "The Walls of Jericho".
*Rahab is portrayed by Stephanie Leonidas in the 2013 TV miniseries '' The Bible''

See also

* Hooker with a heart of gold
* Rahab (term)
* Genetic studies of Jews

References

*

{{Portalbar, Judaism, Christianity

Converts to Judaism from paganism
Female prostitutes
Fall of Jericho
Women in the Hebrew Bible
Biblical women in ancient warfare
Book of Joshua people
Christian female saints from the Old Testament
Christian saints from the Old Testament
People in the catholic epistles
People from Jericho
Tribe of Judah