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RAHAB

(Heb. rāḥāḇ; Gk. Racháb)

1. A prostitute (Heb. zōnâ) whose house adjoined Jericho’s outer wall (Josh. 2:15). According to Josh. 2:1-24 the king of Jericho discovered that Joshua’s spies (sent to spy out Jericho) were at Rahab’s house. When ordered to turn them over, Rahab insisted the two men were gone (though secretly they were hiding on her roof with the stalks of flax). In return for her help, the spies agreed to spare Rahab’s family in the coming battle. They told her to tie a crimson cord on the window through which the spies would soon leave; all of her family was to remain in the house during the battle (Josh. 2:18), and she was to tell no one of their visit (v. 14). Rahab lowered the spies through the window, and they returned to Joshua’s camp (Josh. 2:22-24). Later, at the battle of Jericho (Josh. 6) Joshua spared Rahab and her family and she “lived in Israel ever since” (v. 25). Rahab is not mentioned in the OT outside Josh. 2 and 6.

In Heb. 11:31 she appears in a list of heroes of the faith. According to Jas. 2:25 Rahab was “justified by works” because she “welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road.” In both references she is identified as “Rahab the prostitute.”

Bibliography. P. A. Bird, “The Harlot as Heroine,” Semeia 46 (1989): 119-39; M. L. Newmann, “Rahab and the Conquest,” in Understanding the Word, ed. J. T. Butler, E. W. Conrad, and B. C. Ollenburger. JSOTSup 37 (Shefffield, 1985), 167-81.

2. The mother of Salmon and wife of Boaz (Matt. 1:5). She is the second of four women mentioned in Jesus’ lineage according to Matthew’s genealogy.

3. The primeval dragon of chaos (Heb. rāhaḇ) defeated by Yahweh during creation (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps. 89:10[MT 11]; Isa. 51:9). Yahweh’s battle with and victory over this mythological chaos beast represents one of four distinct creation traditions in the OT.

Bibliography. J. Day, God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea. University of Cambridge Oriental Publications 35 (Cambridge, 1985).

4. A poetic name for Egypt (Ps. 87:4; Isa. 30:7).

Linda S. Schearing

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

RAHAB

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)