Girls · Hebrew · Old Testament · uncommon · Conquest
Rahab
/RAY-hab/
רָחָב
"Broad; spacious; wide"
Joshua 2:1
RoleCanaanite woman in Jericho; protector of spies; ancestor of Jesus
Etymology
From 'rachav' (רָחַב), meaning wide, broad, or spacious. The word carries connotations of openness and welcome — ironic and fitting for a woman who opened her home to Israel's spies.
Who they were
Rahab was a Canaanite woman — a prostitute — living in Jericho when Joshua sent two spies to scout the city. She hid them on her roof under stalks of flax, lied to the king's men about their whereabouts, and lowered the spies down the city wall by a scarlet rope. Her reason: 'I know that the Lord has given you this land. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.' She asked for protection for her family, and the spies agreed: when Jericho fell, Rahab's household would be spared — marked by the scarlet cord in her window. When the walls collapsed, Rahab and her family survived. She married Salmon, bore Boaz, and appears in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus — a Canaanite prostitute in the bloodline of the Messiah. Hebrews 11 lists her among the heroes of faith. James cites her as proof that faith without works is dead. Her story insists that no one is disqualified from God's story.
Family
- Spouse
- Salmon (according to Matthew 1:5)
Character qualities
- Courage to harbour enemies of her own city
- Faith based on what she'd heard about God
- Resourcefulness under pressure
- Ancestor of the Messiah despite her background
Key verse
Hebrews 11:31
Where they appear
Themes
Variants & related forms
Rachab
Read their story
Rahab's story begins in Joshua.
The full passage is at Joshua 2:1. Any modern translation will do — the NLT and NIV are the most readable; the ESV and NKJV stay close to the wording the church has used for centuries.
Find a Bible to read it in →