The Harlot of Jericho and the Two Spies, James Tissot c. 1896-1902, thejewishmuseum.org
Rahab the Faithful Harlot
Rahab is a Canaanite prostitute who becomes faithful to the God of Israel, hiding two Israelite spies when the king of Jericho sends men to capture them. The rabbis imagine her as a superhumanly seductive woman who knows the secrets of all the men in Jericho, as well as the ultimate example of repentance. The biblical story, however, suggests a more complex character, who worked within the power structures around her.
Published: June 27, 2019
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Last Updated: October 28, 2026
Josephus’ Greek here does not follow the LXX translation, pornēs (πόρνης), “prostitute.” This Greek term is the source for the English word pornography.
In fact, Josephus uses this very term to translate זונה in Lev 21:7, turning the prohibition for a priest to marry a harlot into a prohibition for him to marry an innkeeper (Ant. 3:276).
Accessed at alhatorah.org ad loc.
The early church father Origen repurposed this understanding as a foreshadowing of the church. See William Lyons, “Rahab in Rehab: Christian Interpretation of the Madame from Jericho,” in Women in the Biblical World: A Survey of Old and New Testament Perspectives, ed., Elizabeth A. McCabe (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2009), 31–42. For comparative Christian and Jewish streams of interpretation, see Amy H.C. Robertson, “Rahab and Her Interpreters,” in The Women’s Bible Commentary, ed., Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Rindge, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 109-112.
See, e.g., Yair Zakovitch’s comments in the Olam HaTanakh commentary on Joshua (ad loc.).
Compare Rahab’s statement in Josh 2:11 with the Exod 15:14–16.
The midrash continues with a description of her repentance.
This, we’d imagine, is how she comes to know the story of the parting of the sea and the salvation of the Israelites – this is how she has come to know and believe in the God of Israel, how she “heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you.” Josephus (Ant. 5:12), however, relates that she comes to know about the God of Israel through “signs from God,” perhaps implying that Rahab is herself a prophet.
Hebrew follows MS BM 400 [Harley 5508]
The last two words only appear in some of the manuscripts. See also the same anecdote in b. Taanit 5b.
Hebrew from MS Munich 95.
The rabbis even claim that she was a better convert even than Jethro and Naaman, because of her statement in Joshua that “YHWH your is the only God in heaven above and on earth below” (כִּי יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת; Joshua 2:11b). See Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:26. For more on Rahab as a repentant convert, including a comparison with Jethro and a treatment of the midrashim discussed above, see David J. Zucker and Moshe Reiss, “Judaim’s First Converts: A Pagan and a Prostitute,” TheTorah.com (2017).
Ruth Rabbah 2:1 lists 10 prophets and priests, and also adds Huldah as an 11th with this reasoning.
Sifrei Numbers 78:
והרי דברים ק”ו ומה מי שהיתה מעם שנ’ בו לא תחיה כל נשמה (דברים כ טז) על שקירבה עצמה כך קירבה המקום ישראל שעושים את התורה עאכ”ו
Is this matter not an a fortiori? If she, who came from a people of whom it is written “You shall not spare any soul” (Deut 20:16)) because she drew near, was thus drawn near by the Lord, then Israelites, who keep the Torah, how much the more so!
Claudia V. Camp, “Woman Wisdom: Bible,” Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia (2019). Carol A. Newsom, “Woman and the Discourse of Patriarchal Wisdom: Proverbs 1-9,” in Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel, ed., Peggy L. Day (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1989), 142–160.
