Canaanite woman who hid the Israelite spies
c. 1400 BC · Old Testament
The Canaanite prostitute of Jericho who hid the Israelite spies, confessed faith in their God, and was spared when the city fell — joining the line of Christ through her marriage to Salmon.
Rahab was a prostitute living in Jericho when Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land. Joshua sent two spies to scout the city, and they came to Rahab's house — built into the city wall (Joshua 2:15). When the king of Jericho heard the spies were there and sent men to capture them, Rahab hid them under flax stalks on her roof and lied to protect them (Joshua 2:1-7). After sending the king's men away on a false trail, Rahab spoke to the spies: 'I know that the LORD hath given you the land... For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath' (Joshua 2:9, 11). Her confession of faith was remarkable — a Canaanite woman believing in Israel's God before Israel even arrived. She asked for mercy for her family. The spies agreed: tie a scarlet cord in the window, gather your family inside, and you will be spared. Rahab did. When Jericho fell, Rahab and her household alone were rescued — the rest of the city was destroyed (Joshua 6:22-25). Rahab joined Israel. She married Salmon (probably one of the spies, Matthew 1:5) and bore Boaz, who married Ruth, who bore Obed, who bore Jesse, who bore David — Christ's line. Rahab is in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) — one of only four women named (with Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba), all outsiders or scandalous, all showing God's grace beyond Israel and beyond convention. The New Testament celebrates Rahab's faith. 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?' Rahab's transformation — from Canaanite prostitute to ancestress of Christ — is one of the great pictures of God's grace.
Under flax on her roof
"He is God in heaven above"
Saved by the scarlet cord
Only her family saved
Enters the line of David and Christ
Hall of faith
Rahab's significance: (1) She is one of only four women named in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). (2) Her confession of faith in Israel's God shows God's grace extends beyond Israel even before the gospel age. (3) She is celebrated in both Hebrews 11 (faith) and James 2 (works) — her faith was the kind that acts. (4) Her transformation from prostitute to ancestress of Christ is one of Scripture's clearest pictures of grace. (5) She is a forerunner of the inclusion of the Gentiles in God's people.
“I know that the LORD hath given you the land... For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”— Joshua 2:9, 11
“Shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token.”— Joshua 2:12
Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute living in Jericho who hid the Israelite spies sent by Joshua (Joshua 2). She confessed faith in Israel's God and was spared when Jericho fell (Joshua 6:22-25). She joined Israel, married Salmon, and bore Boaz — entering the line of David and Christ (Matthew 1:5). Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 commend her faith.
Matthew 1:5 names her as the mother of Boaz, husband of Ruth, great-grandmother of David. She is one of only four women named in the genealogy (with Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba), and the only Gentile prostitute. Her inclusion testifies to God's grace reaching beyond Israel and beyond convention — and prefigures the inclusion of the Gentiles in God's people.
Christians have debated this. Some argue she sinned but was forgiven; others that protecting innocent life justified the deception (as Corrie ten Boom argued about hiding Jews from Nazis). The Bible commends her faith without explicitly addressing the lie. Most Christian ethicists today see this as a difficult case where deception in extremis may be morally permissible to protect innocent life.
Joshua 2:18 — Rahab was told to tie a scarlet cord in her window so the Israelites would know to spare her household when they conquered Jericho. Christians have long read this as a picture of salvation through blood — the scarlet cord prefigures the lamb's blood on Israelite doorposts at Passover (Exodus 12), and ultimately Christ's blood that marks his people for deliverance.