It ’s one of the best - known tales in the Hebrew Bible ( known to Christians as the Old Testament ) — when Joshua and his Israelite army wall the smashing walled metropolis of Jericho , sounded their mighty ram’s - horn trumpets and " the wall came tumbling down . "
And central to this action - compact tale is a fascinating character reference name Rahab . Not only is Rahab a adult female — uncommon enough in the Bible — but she ’s also a foreigner and a prostitute , not just the resumé for a scriptural paladin .
Yet this Canaanite " woman of ill - reputation " demonstrated so much faith in the God of Israel that she and her family were the only citizen of Jericho part with by Joshua ’s army when the city was raze to the primer coat . And despite her infamous professing , Rahab is one of only four women describe in the New Testament as ascendent of Jesus .
A Twist on the ‘Temptress’ Trope
get ’s set the picture . In the Old Testament , when Moses died , the Lord take Joshua as the fresh leader of the Israelites , who were commanded to take possession of the promised land of Canaan . Before marching across the Jordan River , Joshua send two spies ahead to check out the position in Jericho , the largest Canaanite metropolis .
The Book of Joshua in the Old Testamentsaysthat the Israelite spy lodged in the home of Rahab , who in the original Hebrew textual matter is identify as azonahor prostitute . There issome speculationthat she might have been an innkeeper or else because the consonant are the same for both occupations : " znh . " However , " zonah " is the same Hebrew word used by Israelite vaticinator like Hosiah and Ezekial to admonish the mass for " prostituting " themselves to other gods .
Rahab recognized the foreign spies immediately , but instead of twist them over to the government agency , she hide them on her roof underneath sheaves of flax . When the baron of Jericho asked Rahab about the spies , she told him they had already left , but that the Martin Luther King ’s men could catch them outside the metropolis if they hurried .
Rahab not only saved the lives of the Israelite undercover agent , but she professed her faith in their God , which give out against everything that the Old Testament typically discourage about the danger of foreign women .
" strange women are the ones who sexually tempt you and entice you to give up your own god , " saysHanna Tervanotko , a organized religion professor at McMaster University . " Rahab is quite remarkable . "
The Book of Joshua says that Rahab " exist in the wall " of the urban center and she lowered the spies down from her windowpane with a forget me drug . In reappearance , the spy kept their hope , and told Joshua to spare Rahab and her family from the terrible destruction of Jericho , in which every sustenance inhabitant — " both valet de chambre and women , young and erstwhile , cows , sheep , and domestic ass " — were put to the sword . Rahab and her family were spared and she went on to live in Israel " to this day . "
Rahab in the New Testament
Rahab was such a well - found and beloved number in Judaism that the author of the New Testament repeatedly invoked her name as a model of Christian faith . In Hebrews , a letter to a community of Jewish Christians , the generator ( Paul or one of his help ) include astirring treatise on organized religion , described as " the confidence of things hoped for , the conviction of things not seen . "
To drive home his point , the generator of Hebrews create a " Faith Hall of Fame , " a list of Old Testament prophets and notable figure of speech also known as " Heroes of the Faith . " And include among the the likes of of Noah , Abraham , Sarah , and Moses was none other than Rahab . " By faith , " itsaysin Hebrews , " Rahab the bawd did not perish with those who were unruly , because she had given a friendly welcome to the spy . "
Rahab is also raise in the Book of James as a model of organized religion pair with action . " What in effect is it , my brothers , if someone says he has faith but does not have works?“says James 2:14 . " Can that religion save him ? " James cites just two good example of such faithful action at law : Abraham ’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac and Rahab . " [ W]as not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messenger and direct them out by another way ? "
But perhaps the most spectacular citation of Rahab in the New Testament is her cellular inclusion in thegenealogy of Jesusrecorded in the first chapter of Matthew . Rahab is one of only four women named in the family tree , the others being Tamar ( wife of Judah ) , Ruth ( who hook up with Rahab ’s son Boaz ) , and Mary , the mother of Jesus . King David ’s mother Bathsheba is n’t mentioned by name but referred to as " the wife of Uriah . "
" The fact that Rahab is mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew makes her an exemplary pattern despite her not - so - admonitory professing , " say Tervanotko .
Could Rahab Have Been a Real Person?
fit in to biblical student , historians and archeologists who have canvas the ruins at Jericho ( also bed as Tell E - Sultan ) , there is very petty chance that the events described in the book of Joshua actually hap .
For starters , Jericho was far from a cracking and sinewy city when the Israelites entered the Jordan River Valley . Jericho get to its peak as a fence in settlement between8,000 B.C.E. and 6,000 B.C.E. , and the first archeological grounds of Israelites in the realm was n’t until around 1,200 B.C.E. , many thousands of year afterward . By that pointedness , the famed wall of Jericho had long since been reduced to a monumental pile of rubble .
" There was no settlement at Jericho at the time when the mass we call the Israelites made their presence known , " sound out Robert Ruby , a journalist and author of " Jericho : Dreams , Ruins , Phantoms . " " It was deserted , and all they would have seen was a very high hill about 70 ft gamy . "
Ruby ’s possibility is that the authors of the Old Testament stumbled upon these massive ruin and conclude that it must have once been a great city . While decades of innovative archaeological archeological site have failed to uncover evidence of a military subjection of Jericho , it probably looked that way to ancient travelers .
" If they create that write up — of the marvelous wipeout of Jericho — it would really inspire masses to believe in the vastness of their ancestors and in the power of the God who led them , " says Ruby . " That story of a conquest is much more about religion than events that occurred at the prison term . "
Where does that leave Rahab ?
" There is nothing in Rahab ’s news report that would turn up that it ’s historically accurate , " says Tervanotko , " but it present some interesting views that this community had about foreigners . Here ’s this pagan prostitute who became a fighter . Since then , figure like Rahab have become quite a strong trope in books and picture show , the mortal at the margins of society who is in reality the morally superior theatrical role . Does n’t that make it a really unspoiled chronicle ? "
