Rahab's Motivation for Hiding Israelite Spies
Rahab's decision to hide the Israelite spies in Jericho, as recounted in Joshua 2, is consistently interpreted across various traditions as an act rooted in faith in the God of Israel [5, 9, 12]. This act of faith led to her and her family's preservation when Jericho was destroyed [3, 5].
The biblical narrative in Joshua 2 describes Joshua sending two spies to reconnoiter Jericho. They lodged at the house of a prostitute named Rahab [2, 4, 7]. The king of Jericho was informed of their presence and sent messengers to Rahab's house to apprehend them [1, 7]. Rahab, however, hid the spies under stalks of flax on her roof [1, 6, 7, 11]. She then told the king's messengers that the men had already departed towards the mountains [7]. After the messengers left, Rahab revealed to the spies that the inhabitants of Jericho were terrified of the Israelites because they had heard of the Lord's power, particularly how He had dried up the Red Sea and defeated the Amorite kings Sihon and Og [12]. She confessed her belief that "the Lord your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below" (Joshua 2:11).
Based on this conviction, Rahab requested that the spies swear an oath to show kindness to her family and save them when the Israelites conquered Jericho [10]. The spies agreed, instructing her to tie a scarlet cord in her window and gather her family into her house for their safety [2]. When Jericho was later taken, Joshua specifically commanded that Rahab and her entire household be saved because she had hidden the messengers [3].
The New Testament explicitly highlights Rahab's actions as an example of faith. Hebrews 11:31 states, "By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies with peace" [5, 9]. This passage emphasizes that her faith in the God of Israel protected her from destruction [5]. Similarly, James 2:25 presents Rahab as an example of how genuine faith is demonstrated through actions: "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?" [12]. This verse suggests that her actions of providing hospitality and aiding the spies were evidence of her belief [12]. John Gill, in his commentary on Joshua, notes that Rahab's request for a sign and the spies' promise to save her family underscore the solemnity of this agreement [10].
Patristic writers also recognized Rahab's faith and hospitality. Origen, for instance, noted that "on account of her faith and hospitality, Rahab the harlot was saved" [11]. He recounts the same details of her hiding the spies and her subsequent salvation [11].
Rabbinic tradition, as seen in the Babylonian Talmud, offers a more detailed narrative of Rahab's life, suggesting she was a prostitute for forty years before converting when the spies visited her. She is depicted as seeking forgiveness for her past sins in exchange for her courageous act of saving the spies [6]. This tradition emphasizes her conversion and the redemptive aspect of her actions [6].
The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary on James 2:25 clarifies that Rahab's act is not cited to prove justification by works alone, but rather to show that her belief, despite the improbability of Israel's victory, led her to risk her life for the spies. This demonstrates that her faith was active and not merely intellectual assent [9]. Adam Clarke's commentary on Joshua notes that after her salvation, Rahab and her family were initially considered "unclean" and kept outside the Israelite camp, but after abjuring heathenism and undergoing purification, they were incorporated into Israel [8]. Indeed, Rahab later married Salmon and became an ancestress of the Messiah, Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1:5 [2, 5].
Sources
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 1, section 2: the king as he was at supper, that there were some persons come from the Hebrews' camp to view the city as spies, and that they were in the inn kept by Rahab, and were very solicitous that they might not be discovered. So he sent immediately some to them, and commanded to catch them, and bring them to him, that he might examine them by torture, and learn what their business was there. As soon as Rahab understood that these messengers were coming, she hid the spies under stalks of flax, which were laid to dry on the top of her hou”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Rahab, Or Rachab — (wide), a celebrated woman of Jericho who received the spies sent by Joshua to spy out the land, hid them in her house from the pursuit of her countrymen, was saved with all her family when the Israelites sacked the city, and became the wife of Salmon and the ancestress of the Messiah. (Joshua 2:1; Matthew 1:5) (B.C. 1450.) She was a "harlot", and probably combined the trade of lodging-keeper for wayfaring men. Her reception of the spies, the artifice by which she concealed them from the king: their escape, and the saving of Rahab and her family at ”
- Joshua “But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. -- Joshua 6:25”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Rahab — Insolence; pride, a poetical name applied to Egypt in Ps. 87:4; 89:10; Isa. 51:9, as "the proud one." Rahab, (Heb. Rahab; i.e., "broad," "large"). 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 "spy the land." After five days they returned, having swum across the river, which at this season, the month Abib, overflowed its banks from the melting of the snow on Lebanon. The spies reported how it had fared with them (Josh. 2:1-7). They h”
- Hebrews (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Hebrews 11:31: 11:31 Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2; 6:25) showed faith in the power of the God of Israel by protecting the spies who came to her home (cp. Jas 2:25). As a result, she and her family were not destroyed but joined the community of Israel. In fact, Rahab was an ancestor of Jesus (Matt 1:5).”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Zevachim 116b.2: The Gemara adds that the Sages said with regard to Rahab: She was ten years old when the Jewish people left Egypt, and she engaged in prostitution all forty years that the Jewish people were in the wilderness. After that, when she was fifty years old, she converted when the two spies visited her. She said: May all of my sins of prostitution be forgiven me as a reward for having endangered myself with the rope, window, and flax, by means of which I saved Joshua’s two spies. Rahab first concealed the spies in stalks of flax, and later assisted them in exiting ”
- Joshua (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Joshua 2 (introduction): Joshua sends out two spies to examine the state of the inhabitants of the land, particularly those of Jericho, who are entertained at the house of Rahab, Jos 2:1. The king of Jericho is informed of their being in the town, and sends to Rahab, commanding her to deliver them up, Jos 2:2, Jos 2:3. She hides the spies, and tells the messengers that the men were departed and gone towards the mountain, Jos 2:4, Jos 2:5. When the officers of the king of Jericho were departed, she took the spies to the house-top, and covered them with flax, Jos 2:6, Jos 2:7. She”
- Joshua (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Joshua 6:23: Brought out Rahab, and her father, etc. - Rahab having been faithful to her vow of secrecy, the Israelites were bound by the oath of the spies, who acted as their representatives in this business, to preserve her and her family alive. And left them without the camp - They were considered as persons unclean, and consequently left without the camp; (see Lev 13:46; Num 12:14). When they had abjured heathenism, were purified, and the males had received circumcision, they were doubtless admitted into the camp, and became incorporated with Israel.”
- James (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on James 2:25: It is clear from the nature of Rahab's act, that it is not quoted to prove justification by works as such. She believed assuredly what her other countrymen disbelieved, and this in the face of every improbability that an unwarlike few would conquer well-armed numbers. In this belief she hid the spies at the risk of her life. Hence Heb 11:31 names this as an example of faith, rather than of obedience. "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not." If an instance of obedience were wanting. Paul and James would hardly have quoted a w”
- Joshua (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Joshua 2 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 2 This chapter gives an account of the spies sent by Joshua to Jericho, and of their entrance into the house of Rahab, who hid them from the king's messengers, Jos 2:1; of the relation she gave them of the fear and dread of Israel, which were fallen upon the Canaanites, Jos 2:8; and of the request she made to them, to save her and her father's house, when the city should be taken, and to have a sure sign of it given her, Jos 2:12; which the spies solemnly promised, and gave her a sign of it, with a charge not to discover the matter”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 9: Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Origen's Commentaries — CHAP. XII.--THE REWARDS OF FAITH AND HOSPITALITY. RAHAB.: On account of her faith and hospitality, Rahab the harlot was saved. For when spies were sent by Joshua, the son of Nun, to Jericho, the king of the country ascertained that they were come to spy out their land, and sent men to seize them, in order that, when taken, they might be put to death. But the hospitable Rahab receiving them, concealed them on the roof of her house under some stalks of flax. And when the men sent by the king arrived and said, "There came men unto t”
- James (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on James 2:25: 2:25 James presents Rahab the prostitute (see Josh 2:1) as his second example of how good works must accompany genuine faith. She declared her belief that the Lord God of Israel was the only God (Josh 2:9-11), and her faith was made perfect by her actions when she provided hospitality and a means of escape to the Israelite spies (Josh 2:1-6; 6:25; Heb 11:31).”