Who Was Rahab The Harlot In The Bible? A Character Study

Who was Rahab the Harlot? Why is she even mentioned in the Bible and actually listed in the genealogies of Jesus Christ?

Who was Rahab?

Rahab was a harlot or prostitute who helped to shelter Joshua’s men when they came to spy out the land of Jericho. She openly defied the orders of Jericho’s king and actually misdirected the king’s men who were trying to find the spies who had infiltrated the city-state of Jericho. She helped Joshua’s men to escape by climbing down the wall from a rope extended out of one of the windows of her home. Fortunately, her home was on one of the walls of the cities outer defensive wall so the men could easily escape.

The First Encounter with Rahab

The biblical story about Rahab begins with Joshua 2:1 which says “And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.” Since we know that God is sovereign over all that happens, He apparently guided the spies to Rahab’s house. If it had been anyone else’s home, they would likely not have been loyal to the spies and might have turned them into the king of Jericho and thus, costing the spies their lives. As it was, “the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land” (Joshua 2:3). Apparently, someone had reported seeing the spies and that they had entered Rahab’s house but Rahab wisely misdirected the king’s forces to search for them outside of the city and hid the spies, preserving their lives.

Rahab’s Motivation

The word had been spreading about the nation of Israel and how city-states had been falling, one after the other because of the divine power of the God of Israel. Even the residents had heard of the amazing, supernatural way that God had been with Israel in defeating her enemies. Rahab was therefore motivated by a godly fear and belief that God would surely conquer Jericho too so she asked the men to help her and her family escape. Rahab’s signal of where her home was would be a crimson cord so that the Israelite forces would spare her and her entire family (Joshua 2:18). When the Israelites finally took Jericho, only Rahab and her father’s family were sparred as the Scriptures record “Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Joshua 6:25).

Rahab’s Inclusion into Israel

Once Israel had defeated Jericho “the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel” (Joshua 6:23). There is some Jewish legend that she married Joshua and became a righteous woman of God and was an ancestor of Jeremiah the prophet. This could well be true because Rahab is listed in the genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:5-6 “and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.” Since Rahab’s name is not of Jewish origin, this is likely the very same Rahab that is spoken of in the Book of Joshua in the conquest of Jericho that Matthew records in chapter one. This shouldn’t surprise us either because Jesus’ lineage contains both Jewish and non-Jewish peoples.

Rahab, Woman of God

Rahab is included as one of the heroines of the faith as we read in Hebrews 11:30-31 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” James refers to her when he was writing about the associated works that accompany genuine faith in God where he wrote “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way” (James 2:25)?

Conclusion

Rahab teaches us all that salvation is not about race but about grace and God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and He shows no partiality with men or women (Rom 2:11). With God, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) for to God “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile” (Rom 3:22) or between a Joshua or a Rahab.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.