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Biblical figure · kjv

Who Was Rahab in the Bible?

A prostitute in a condemned city hung a red cord from her window and staked everything on a God she had only heard about from a distance. Rahab is in the genealogy of Jesus.

Who was Rahab?

Rahab stands at one of the pivotal moments in the history of Israel — the conquest of Jericho — as an unlikely figure of faith, mercy, and radical inclusion. Her story is told in Joshua 2 and 6, and its reverberations carry through the rest of Scripture in ways that make her one of the most theologically significant women in the Bible. Jericho was the first city the Israelites encountered after crossing the Jordan River into Canaan. It was fortified, formidable, and condemned. Joshua sent two spies to reconnoiter the city. They came to the house of a woman named Rahab, described in the Hebrew text (and throughout the New Testament references) as a prostitute — zanah in Hebrew, porne in Greek. The text does not soften this description. Some ancient interpreters, uncomfortable with the designation, have proposed she was an innkeeper rather than a prostitute, but the biblical evidence does not support this softening. She was what the text says she was. When the king of Jericho received word that Israelite spies had entered the city and were at Rahab's house, he sent officers demanding she produce them. Rahab had already hidden the spies under stalks of flax on her rooftop. She told the officers the men had left at dark before the city gate closed, sending them in pursuit of a trail that did not exist. Then she went up to the roof and made her declaration — one of the most striking confessions of faith in the Old Testament. "I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Joshua 2:9-11). This is not the declaration of a woman acting purely from self-interest. She had drawn a theological conclusion from what she had heard: the God of Israel is the actual God of all creation. That conclusion preceded her protection of the spies and her negotiation for her family's safety. It is a confession of faith made in a city that was about to be destroyed, on the basis of testimony about miracles she had not personally witnessed. The spies made a covenant with her: she was to gather her family into her house and hang a scarlet — or crimson — cord from the window through which she let them escape by a rope. The cord would mark her house. When Israel attacked, her family would be spared. She let them down by the rope, and "she bound the scarlet line in the window" (Joshua 2:21). The conquest of Jericho followed: the seven-day march, the trumpets, the walls falling. Joshua 6:17 specifies that "Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent." The house stood while the city fell. Rahab and her family were brought out and settled "without the camp of Israel" (Joshua 6:23) — outside the boundary of the holy community, at first. Joshua 6:25 records the outcome: "And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." She dwelleth in Israel. Not on the margins. In Israel. The foreigner, the prostitute, the citizen of a condemned city — she was incorporated into the covenant community. Matthew 1:5 names her in the genealogy of Jesus: "And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab." Rahab married Salmon and bore Boaz. Boaz married Ruth. Ruth bore Obed. Obed bore Jesse. Jesse bore David. David's line led to Jesus. Rahab is the great-great-grandmother of King David and a named ancestor of Jesus Christ — one of only four women in Matthew's genealogy, all of them Gentiles or women with irregular sexual histories, a pattern that many scholars read as deliberate: Matthew showing from the first verse that the Messiah came through the unexpected, the unlikely, and the ostracized. Hebrews 11:31 commends her faith: "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." James 2:25 cites her as an example that faith without works is dead: "Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?" Both Paul's counterpart (Hebrews) and James cite Rahab — each for a different aspect of her action, together capturing the unity of belief and action that her story embodies.

Timeline

  1. ~1406 BCLives in Jericho as a prostitute; Jericho is the first city in Canaan on Israel's path (Joshua 2:1)
  2. Before the conquestTwo Israelite spies enter Jericho and come to Rahab's house; she hides them under flax on her roof (Joshua 2:1-6)
  3. Same nightSends soldiers on false pursuit; goes to the roof and confesses faith in Israel's God — "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Joshua 2:9-11)
  4. Before spies leaveNegotiates safety for her family; spies instruct her to hang a scarlet cord from her window (Joshua 2:12-18)
  5. ~1406 BCJericho's walls fall; Rahab's house stands; she and her family are brought out safely (Joshua 6:20-23)
  6. After conquestSettled in Israel — "she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day" (Joshua 6:25)
  7. After settlementMarries Salmon; bears Boaz — beginning the line that leads to David and to Jesus (Matthew 1:5)
  8. NT legacyNamed in genealogy of Jesus; cited in Hebrews 11:31 for faith; cited in James 2:25 for works

Key Facts

Was Rahab actually a prostitute?

Yes. The Hebrew word zanah, used in Joshua 2:1 and 6:17, and the Greek porne, used in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25, both mean prostitute. Early interpreters uncomfortable with this designation proposed she was an innkeeper (since innkeepers in the ancient world were sometimes associated with the same buildings), but both terms are unambiguous in their primary meaning. The New Testament retains the descriptor without softening it — which is itself significant. Rahab's faith and inclusion are presented not despite her profession but in the full context of who and what she was.

What does the scarlet cord symbolize?

The scarlet — or crimson — cord hung from Rahab's window was a practical identification marker: when Israel attacked, her house would be recognizable and spared. Its symbolic resonances have attracted commentary across centuries. Its color connects it to blood — the Passover blood on the doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 12:22-23) is the most immediate parallel, where a mark distinguished those to be spared from those facing judgment. Early Christian interpreters extended the parallel to the blood of Christ, seeing the scarlet cord as a type of redemption. Whether the typological reading is part of the text's intention or a later overlay is debated; the Passover parallel is at minimum suggestive.

Is Rahab in the genealogy of Jesus?

Yes. Matthew 1:5 names her: "And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab." This makes Rahab the wife of Salmon, the mother of Boaz, the great-great-grandmother of King David, and a named ancestor in the line that leads to Jesus. She is one of four women named in Matthew's genealogy (the others are Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba), all of whom have irregular sexual histories or Gentile backgrounds. The pattern appears deliberate: Matthew signals from his opening verses that the Messiah's line ran through the unexpected, the outsider, and the redeemed.

Was Rahab's lie to the soldiers sinful?

This is an ancient ethical question. Rahab told the king's officers that the spies had left, when in fact she had hidden them on her roof. She deceived the authorities to protect people whose lives were at risk. Christian ethicists have debated this for centuries. Some argue that lying is always wrong regardless of circumstances, and that Rahab was commended for her faith and hospitality, not for the lie. Others argue that under conditions of protecting innocent life from unjust killing, deception is morally justified — citing similar cases throughout Scripture (Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1:17-20, also commended). No consensus has been reached; both positions are held by serious thinkers.

How did Rahab know about Israel's God?

She tells the spies explicitly: news of the Exodus from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the defeat of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og had reached Jericho and caused its inhabitants to be terrified (Joshua 2:9-11). These events had happened decades earlier, but their reputation had spread throughout Canaan. What distinguished Rahab from her neighbors was what she did with the information. Others heard the same reports and "our hearts did melt." Rahab drew a specific theological conclusion — "the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" — and acted on it.

Scripture

Joshua 2:11

“And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”

Joshua 2:18

“Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.”

Joshua 6:25

“And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.”

Matthew 1:5

“And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse.”

Hebrews 11:31

“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

James 2:25

“Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?”

More Questions

Why is Rahab in Hebrews 11 alongside Abraham and Moses?

Hebrews 11 is not a list of morally perfect people — it is a list of people whose lives were defined by faith, understood as trust in God's promises about things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1). Rahab qualifies because she acted on her belief that Israel's God was the true God, at personal risk, in a city that was about to be destroyed. She did not have the Torah, did not have a covenant, was not part of Israel, and had a profession that placed her outside the religious community of her own people. Her faith was raw, untaught, and acted upon — exactly the kind of faith the chapter commends.

What does Rahab's inclusion in Jesus's genealogy mean theologically?

Matthew's genealogy was a deliberate literary construction, and every name in it carries weight. Rahab was a Gentile, a prostitute, and a citizen of a condemned city. Her inclusion signals that Jesus's ancestry ran through the kind of people religious gatekeepers would have excluded — that grace was operative in the Messiah's line long before the Messiah arrived. Paul's later articulation that there is "neither Jew nor Greek" (Galatians 3:28) in Christ has its anticipation in a genealogy that includes a Canaanite prostitute in the direct line from Abraham to Jesus.

Does Rahab's story appear in Jewish tradition outside the Bible?

Yes. Rahab is a significant figure in rabbinic literature, which treats her faith as genuine and her conversion as complete. The Talmud (tractate Megillah 14b) lists her among the prophetesses of Israel and states that she was an ancestor of eight biblical prophets and priests. The same tradition holds that she married Joshua after converting — an identification not in the biblical text. These traditions reflect a consistent Jewish reading of her as fully incorporated into the covenant community, not merely tolerated on its edge, which aligns with the biblical statement that "she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day" (Joshua 6:25).

How does Rahab's faith compare to Abraham's in Hebrews 11?

Both are cited in Hebrews 11 as examples of faith — Abraham in the very first faith-examples (verses 8-19), Rahab near the end of the individual portraits (verse 31). What makes the comparison striking is the contrast in starting position. Abraham received direct divine calling and promises. Rahab had only secondhand news about miracles she had not seen. Abraham had covenant heritage; Rahab had none. Abraham was the founder of the faith community; Rahab was a member of a condemned people outside it. If anything, Rahab's faith is arguably more striking in its bare simplicity — she heard, she concluded, she acted. James 2:25 uses her as the counterexample to show that Abraham-like faith is not the exclusive property of the covenant born.