Rahab
the one with the scarlet cord
Who was Rahab?
- She lived in Jericho, in a house built into the city wall. The Bible calls her “Rahab the harlot.” Joshua 2:1, 15
- She hid Joshua’s two spies. She told them that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below. Joshua 2:4-6, 11
- She and her family were saved when Jericho fell. She is an ancestor of Jesus: she was the mother of Boaz. Joshua 6:25; Matthew 1:5
What the Bible says
Joshua 2:1, 15
1And Josue the son of Nun sent from Setim two men, to spy secretly: and said to them: Go, and view the land and the city of Jericho. They went and entered into the house of a woman that was a harlot named Rahab, and lodged with her. 15Then she let them down with a cord out of a window: for her house joined close to the wall.
Joshua 2:4-6, 11
4And the woman taking the men, hid them, and said: I confess they came to me, but I knew not whence they were: 5And at the time of shutting the gate in the dark, they also went out together. I know not whither they are gone: pursue after them quickly, and you will overtake them. 6But she made the men go up to the top of her house, and covered them with the stalks of flax, which was there. 11And hearing these things we were affrighted, and our heart fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us at your coming in: for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath.
Joshua 6:25; Matthew 1:5
But Josue saved Rahab the harlot and her father’s house, and all she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel until this present day: because she hid the messengers whom he had sent to spy out Jericho. At that time, Josue made an imprecation, saying:
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
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