Rahab
Rahab (
The King James Version renders the name as Rachab, after its literal spelling in Greek, which differs from the spelling for Rahab in James and Hebrews. Most modern versions render it as Rahab ignoring the distinction.[7]
Rahab's profession
The Hebrew אשה זונה (ishah zonah), used to describe Rahab in Joshua 2:1, literally means "a prostitute woman".
In the Christian
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. Thus the harlot of Jericho became a paragon of virtue.[15]
In the Hebrew Bible
According to the book of Joshua,[16] 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.[17] 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".[18]
Rahab told the spies:
9 She said to the men, “I know that GOD 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. 10 For we have heard how GOD 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. 11 When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one had any more spirit left because of you; for the ETERNAL your God is the only God in heaven above and on earth below. 12 Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by GOD that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. Provide me with a reliable sign 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.”
— Joshua 2:9–13[19]
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.[20]
When the city of Jericho fell,[21] Rahab and her whole family were preserved according to the promise of the spies and were incorporated among the Jewish people. (In siege warfare of antiquity, a city that fell after a prolonged siege was commonly subjected to a massacre and sack.)
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".[22] 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.[22]
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).[26] Coincidentally, these cities were believed to lie among a major fault line extending 1,100 kilometers from the Red Sea to Turkey.[27]
In rabbinic literature
In the
Master of the Universe! I have sinned with three things [with my eye, my thigh, and my stomach]. By the merit of three things pardon me: the rope, the window, and the wall [pardon me for engaging in harlotry because I endangered myself when I lowered the rope for the spies from the window in the wall]." (Babylonian Talmud, Zevahim 116a–b).
A similar tradition has Rahab declaring, "Pardon me by merit of the rope, the window, and the flaxen [the stalks of flax under which she concealed the spies]."
Because of this, rabbis interpret Biblical verses that talk about the citzens of Jericho "melting in fear", such as Joshua 2:9–11 and Joshua 5:1, 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".[28]
The rabbis viewed Rahab as a worthy convert to Judaism, and attested that Rahab married Joshua following her conversion; their descendants included the prophets
Some believe that the genealogies described in Jeremiah 1:1 and Ezekiel 1:3 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.[34]
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[3] and of good works.[4] 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
transcribe her name as Rahab.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.[35]
Fictional accounts of Rahab's life
- Afshar, Tessa. Pearl in the Sand (2010), ISBN 978-0-8024-5881-0
- Burton, Anne. Rahab's Story (2005), ISBN 0-451-21628-8; Book 2 in Burton's "Women of the Bible" series.
- Havel, Carlene and Faucheux, Sharon. The Scarlet Cord (2014), ISBN 1940099692
- MacFarlane, Hannah. The Scarlet Cord (2009), ISBN 1844273709
- Morris, Gilbert. Daughter of Deliverance. ISBN 0-7642-2921-4; Book 6 of "Lions of Judah" Series.
- Rivers, Francine. Unashamed: Rahab (2000), ISBN 978-0842335966; Book 2 in Rivers' "A Lineage of Grace" series.
- Slaughter, Frank G. The Scarlet Cord: A Novel of the Woman of Jericho (1956), ISBN 0671774980
- Smith, Jill Eileen. The Crimson Cord: Rahab's Story (2015). ISBN 978 0 8007 2034 6; Book 1 in Smith's "Daughters of the Promised Land" series.
- Wolf, Joan. This Scarlet Cord: The Love Story of Rahab (2012), ISBN 1595548777
- Jennings, Jenifer. "Crimson Cord" (2017),ISBN 1954105061
- 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 The Bible
See also
References
- ^ Represented as "rā´hăb" at "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide". Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Accessed 25 February 2012.
- ^ Joshua 2:1–24
- ^ a b Hebrews 11:31
- ^ a b James 2:25
- JSOT, 31, 1, 2006, 43-61
- ^ Zakovitch, Y. Humor and Theology or the Successful Failure of Israelite Intelligence: A literary-Folkloric Approach to Joshua 2, Text and Tradition, S. Niditch (3d.), Atlanta, Georgia, 1990 75-98
- ^ "Rahab meaning". Abarim Publications.
- ^ a b c d e Boling, Robert G. (1981). Joshua, Vol. 6. Anchor Bible Series. pp 144-145.
- ^ "pwndqyt". cal.huc.edu. Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon.
hostess JLAtg, LJLA. TgJ Jos2:1 : וְעָלוּ לְבֵית אִיתְתָא פֻנדְקֵיתָא וֻשמַה רָחָב. TgJ 1K3:16 : תַרתֵין נְשִין פֻנדְקָאָן/פֻנדְקָוָן/פונדקין/ לִמדָן קֳדָם מַלכָא. TgTosPr Judges.11:1 : וכד הות איתתא דרחימא גברא דלא הוה משבטהא נפקא מבית אינשה בלא אחסנתא והוו אינשי קרן יתה פונדקיתא when there was a woman who loved a man who was not of her tribe, she would leave her family without property rights; and people would call her "hostess" [MT זוֹנָה].
- ^ Noth, Martin, "Israelitischer Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung", Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament III,10, 193.
- ^ Josephus. The Antiquities of the Jews. 5.1.2. Hosted at Wikisource.
- ^ James 2:25, 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament.
- ^ Hebrews 11:31, 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament.
- ^ Joshua 2, Greek Septuagint (LXX).
- ^ Lyons, William L. (July 2008). "Rahab through the Ages: A Study of Christian Interpretation of Rahab". Society of Biblical Literature Forum.
- ^ Joshua 2:1–7
- ^ Joshua 2:3
- ^ Geikie, John Cunningham (1881). Hours with the Bible, volume 2. London: S.W. Partridge & Co. p. 390.
- ^ "Joshua 2:9-13". www.sefaria.org.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-3746-2.
- ^ "Joshua 6:17-25". www.sefaria.org.
- ^ OCLC 49823086.
- ^ Deut 20:16–18
- ^ Deut 7:1–4
- ^ Coogan, Michael (2009). A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. Oxford University Press. pp. 162–164.
- – via De Gruyter.
- ISBN 978-0195090949.
- ^ Robertson, Amy Cooper (27 June 2019). "Rahab the Faithful Harlot". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024.
- ^ Talmud, b. Megillah 14b
- ^ "Joshua ben Nun". Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Rahab". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Accessed 25 January 2021.
- JSTOR 42614492
- JSTOR 40062458
- ^ Kadari, Tamar (2024). "Rahab: Midrash and Aggadah". Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024.
- ^ Nabakov, Vladimir. Lolita (Penguin Modern Classics). p. 12.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Rahab". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.