Rahab רָחָב
A Canaanite woman who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho
Biography
Rahab was a Canaanite woman who lived in Jericho at the time of the Israelites' conquest of the Promised Land (Jos.2.1). She is described as a prostitute who provided lodging for the two Israelite spies sent by Joshua to survey the city. When the king of Jericho ordered Rahab to hand over the spies, she hid them on her roof and misdirected the king's men (Jos.2.3-7). Rahab acknowledged the God of Israel and asked for protection for herself and her family when the city would be taken (Jos.2.8-13). The spies agreed to spare her if she would tie a scarlet cord in her window (Jos.2.14-21). During the conquest of Jericho, Rahab and her family were saved as promised (Jos.6.17, 23, 25). Rahab's faith and actions are commended in the New Testament (Heb.11.31; Jam 2.25). She is also mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus, indicating that she married Salmon and became an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ (Mat.1.5).
Family
In Scripture
4 biblical books ; 4 with study contentJoshua 5 verses
- Joshua 2:1
"Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there."
Study Joshua → - Joshua 2:3
"Jericho’s king sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.”"
Study Joshua → - Joshua 6:17
"The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent."
Study Joshua → - Joshua 6:23
"The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all of her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel."
Study Joshua → - Joshua 6:25
"But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."
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Hebrews 1 verse
- Hebrews 11:31
"By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace."
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James 1 verse
- James 2:25
"In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers and sent them out another way?"
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Matthew 1 verse
- Matthew 1:5
"Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse."
Study Matthew →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | רָחָב | H7343 |
| Greek | Greek | Ῥαάβ | G4460 |
| Spelled | Greek | Ῥαχάβ | G4477 |
Rahab
r, according to some, an "innkeeper" in Jericho; the Septuagint porne, "harlot"). The two spies sent by Joshua from Shittim came into her house and lodged there (Jos 2:1). She refused to betray them to the king of Jericho, and when he demanded them, she hid them on the roof of her house with stalks of flax that she had laid in order to dry. She pretended that they had escaped before the shutting of the gate, and threw their pursuers off their track. She then told the spies of the fear that the coming of the Israelites had caused in the minds of the Canaanites--"Our hearts did melt .... for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath"--and asked that the men promise to spare her father, mother, brothers and sisters, and all that they had. They promised her to spare them provided they would remain in her house and provided she would keep their business secret. Thereupon she let them down by a cord through the window, her house being built upon the town wall, and gave them directions to make good their escape (Jos 2:1-24). True to their promise, the Israelites under Joshua spared Rahab and her family (Jos 6:16 the King James Version); "And," says the author of Josh, "she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day." Her story appealed strongly to the imagination of the people of later times. Heb 11:31 speaks of her as having been saved by faith; James, on the other hand, in demonstrating that a man is justified by works and not by faith only, curiously chooses the same example (Jas 2:25). Jewish tradition has been kindly disposed toward Rahab; one hypothesis goes so far as to make her the wife of Joshua himself (Jew Encyclopedia, under the word). Naturally then the other translation of zonah, deriving it from zun, "to feed," instead of zanah, "to be a harlot," has been preferred by some of the commentators.
(2) (@Rhachab): Josephus, Ant, V, 1, 2, 7, so spells the name of (1) Septuagint and New Testament contra). The wife of Salmon and mother of Booz (Boaz) according to the genealogy in Mt 1:5. Query, whether there was a tradition identifying (1) and (2); see Lightfoot, Horae Hob on Mt 1:5.
(3) (rahabh, literally, "storm," "arrogance"): A mythical sea-monster, probably referred to in several passages where the word is translated as a common noun "pride" (Job 9:13), "the proud" (Job 26:12; compare Ps 89:10). It is used in parallelism with tannin, "the dragon" (Isa 51:9). It is most familiar as an emblem of Egypt, `the boaster that sitteth still' (Isa 30:7; Ps 87:4; compare Ps 89:10). The Talmud in Babha' Bathra' speaks of rahabh as sar ha-yam, "master of the sea."
See also ASTRONOMY.
Nathan Isaacs
ra'-ham (racham, "pity," "love"): Son of Shema, and father of Jorkeam (1Ch 2:44).
ra'-hel (Jer 31:15 th