Rahab is an outstanding Old Testament Biblical figure mainly known for her courage and great faith displayed when she hid the Israelite spies. In this post, we will explore 10 fascinating facts about Rahab in the Bible.
Well, She was a Canaanite woman who lived in the city of Jericho. Rahab’s story is recorded in the book of Joshua, primarily in chapters 2 and 6. This places her at the center of the conquest of Canaan, with the falling of the walls of Jericho. That is, she hid the men Joshua sent to spy on the land of Canaan. The Biblical account tells us that she was a prostitute. Perhaps Rahab’s home was in the was in the red-light district of Jericho, which must have been along the city wall of Jericho.
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As we are about to see, the account of Rahab lays bare the scandalous nature of grace. Someone would have expected that Rahab’s occupation would have disqualified her from any significant contribution to the Biblical story, far from it.
We see her transformative journey from a seemingly God-forsaken prostitute in the Old Testament to one of the most significant Biblical women in the New Testament featured in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Rahab of Jericho married Salmon, and according to the Bible record, they had at least one child, Boaz. She also had other relatives (including her father and mother) who lived with her in the city of Jericho.
Rahab was a true historical person. Her story is fascinating and shows remarkable faith.
With that brief introduction, let’s now get to the fascinating facts about Rahab in the Bible.
Fact about Rahab in the Bible
1. She was a prostitute
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there (Joshua 2:1)
Right from the onset, the Biblical text tells us that Rahab was a prostitute. She lived up to the ways of Canaan. Sins and all sorts of perversions were rampant in the land of Canaan. That notwithstanding, the Canaanite culture apparently frowned at harlotry, just as in the Jewish tradition. Rahab’s life must have been characterized by shame and isolation.
It’s interesting that out of everything, God chooses to identify her with her profession. There is a lesson in that. The story of Rahab teaches us that God can use anyone to carry out His purposes.
Feeling too filthy due to some sinful tendencies? Don’t write yourself off. God’s plan is not necessarily dependent on your good works. You are not too dirty to be used by God. Let the story of the harlot Rahab encourage you. God can rewrite your story into something beautiful.
2. She hid two Israelite spies
The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. (Joshua 2:2-4)
After crossing the Jordan River and reaching the Jordan Valley, the city of Jericho was on the path of the advancing Israelites. The children of Israel had to conquer Jericho to advance.
To that end, Joshua sent spies to check out the land. The people of Jericho are living on the edge, so the presence of the spies was quickly noticed, and the King of Jericho went after them. The men Joshua sent found refuge in the house of a harlot named Rahab.
At great risk to herself and her family, she hides them from the king’s men and helps them on their way. This action saved her and her entire family from the impending destruction of the city of Jericho. All she needed to do was hang a scarlet cord from her window. When the people of Israel were swooping in for conquest, they wouldn’t harm them when they saw the scarlet rope.
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,… (Matthew 1:5)
…the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,… (Luke 3:31-32)
Rahab is the great-grandmother of King David and features in the lineage of Jesus. She married Salmon, and they had a son named Boaz. Boaz married Ruth and had Jesse, who was the father of King David. The family tree grows to Jesus Christ, who was a descendant of David.
The odds were stuck against the prostitute Rahab spiritually. Not only was she a woman in a male-dominated society, but she was also a Gentile. Add the prostitute tag, and it was a hopeless case.
As such, her inclusion in Jesus’ genealogy was a great manifestation of grace and a window into what Jesus’ ministry was all about—saving the lost and drawing them back to the true God.
4. She is numbered among the heroes of faith
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient (Hebrews 11:31).
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? (James 2:25)
Rahab’s faith was evident when she welcomed, hid, and assisted the two spies who had gone to scope the land of Jericho, which God was about to give them. This earned her a place among the heroes of faith listed in the Book of Hebrews.
Popularly referred to as the hall of faith, Hebrews 11 lists various individuals who showed true faith in serving God’s people and doing great exploits in His name. The book of James also talks about Rahab’s faith in action, which is credited to her as righteousness.
5. She was assimilated into Israel
Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house.But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day. (Joshua 6:24-25)
Essentially, when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, and the city leveled, Rahab lost her hometown. What was the best way to deal with it? The Israelites assimilated Rahab and her family and lived with them in the camp of Israel.
Israel’s God, Yahweh, became her God, even as she adopted Jewish tradition. So much so that she married a native Jew named Salmon and had a child called Boaz. Through this relationship, they became ancestors of Jesus through both Joseph and Mary.
6. She lived up to her name
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. (Joshua 2:1)
The Hebrew word for Rahab is Rachab/ Rahav, which has two broad meanings: wide/ specious or pride/ arrogance. We don’t see any trace of pride in Rahab’s Biblical account.
Instead, we see the largeness of her heart in the great things she did to extend hospitality to the Israelite spies and help them on their way. She opened her heart wide to these strangers and welcomed them into her space. This love that is ready to put one’s life in great danger for the sake of another is a product of great faith. Rahab lived up to her name.
Biblical scholars have pointed out that there is a similarity between Rahab and the church (particularly Gentile believers).
First, Rahab was transformed by the God of Israel, just like believers have been. When we first met Rahab, she was lost in sin. She was entrenched in the sinful ways of the Canaanite culture. She took it a notch higher by indulging in prostitution, a vice frowned upon today, just like in Bible times. Believers are not different; it’s just that we commit different sins. See how Paul describes believers.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:1-8).
We were all that, but God… God changed our story. He transformed us just as He did Rahab, and now we are counted among his people. All this is by grace through faith (Rahab acted in faith just as believers appropriate the finished work of the cross in faith), not any good works. In this, Rahab is a type of the church.
8. She pictures salvation
The spies instructed Rahab to hang the scarlet line from her window to seal her oath with the people of Israel and, by extension, the God of the Israelites.
Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” (Joshua 2:17-20).
The red cord was her lifeline, a distinguishing factor. Any other building without it was leveled. In the upcoming battle, anyone not in the house with the scarlet line would be annihilated.
In the same way, salvation is a distinguishing mark. The Bible emphasizes the exclusivity of Christianity and how it sets apart the believer from everyone else. Jesus’s covenant with humanity is that whoever believes and places their faith in Him will not perish.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18)
9. She saved her family
And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Joshua 6:25)
Rahab’s faith did not just save her own life. Her entire family was saved alongside her. Rahab’s house became a safe refuge for everyone in her household who heeded her warning and came on the day Israel started to conquer the promised land by subduing this crucial city.
This teaches us that your life is beyond you. Your faith and actions can affect your family, including what is done in secret. Take your actions seriously. Endeavor to live right so that you have a positive effect from your actions. Moreover, look out for your family. Don’t be conceited. If you get an opportunity to bless them, use it fully.
10. She teaches to love takes prominence over the law
Rahab lied when the king’s messengers inquired about the two strangers who came to her house.
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut (Joshua 2:4-7).
She lies and appears to be rewarded for it. Does that mean the Bible and Christian tradition that taught that lying is wrong in all circumstances?
Not at all.
Lying remains wrong. Even the ninth commandment warns against bearing false witness. However, we need to understand that love (i.e. doing good to others) takes prominence over keeping the law. If you must choose between keeping the law and doing good to a fellow man, God’s wisdom dictates that you do good to your fellow man.
That’s what Jesus taught when he castigated the teachers of the law’s skewed view of the Sabbath law (Mark 2:23-28). It can also apply to Shiphrah and Puah, the two Hebrew midwives who lied to Pharaoh (Exodus 1:15-21). It’s also the same principle David applied when he led his men in eating consecrated temple bread (1 Samuel 21:1-6).
Kendrick Ong'anya is a freelance Christian writer based in Nairobi, Kenya. As a believer in Christ, he is passionate about writing Christian content to deepen believers' faith, even while drawing those who are yet to believe into the fold. He is open to collaborating with individuals and organisations to curate blog posts, articles, devotionals, prayer guides, verse/ chapter commentary, and e-books, among other Christian content. You can follow Kendrick on Facebook.
