Rahab lived in a house built into the wall of Jericho. Scripture calls her a prostitute and does not soften it. When two Israelite spies came to her door, the king's men were close behind. She had to decide in a moment whose side she was on.
She hid the men under stalks of flax on her roof and sent the soldiers off on a false trail. Then she told the spies why. She had heard what the LORD did at the Red Sea, and she believed he was the true God. She asked for one thing: that her family would live.
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for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Name means
Wide or broad
Home
Jericho, in a house on the city wall
Role
Innkeeper and prostitute who hid Israel's spies
Read in
; ; ;
Rahab's story
Letting the spies down by the window
Beginning
Hides the spies
With soldiers at her door, she hides two strangers on her roof and sends the king's men away.
High point
Confesses the LORD
She tells the spies that Jericho is melting in fear and that their God rules heaven and earth. She asks for kindness for her family.
High point
The scarlet cord
She lets the men down through her window and ties a scarlet cord there as the sign they agreed on.
High point
Brought out alive
When the walls fall, the spies bring out Rahab and all her family. She lives in Israel from then on.
Ending
In the line of the king
Matthew names her as the mother of Boaz, which places her in the line of David and of Jesus.
Starts as a Canaanite prostitute in a doomed city. Ends as a woman of faith grafted into Israel and the line of the Messiah.
Where Rahab lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
Scripture places Rahab only in Jericho, then among Israel.
How Rahab is wired
The Loyalist
Enneagram 6, Enthusiast wing
To secure safety for herself and the people she loves by finding the side that will truly hold.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 9 Under stress, toward 3
Why we think so
1
Reads the threat early. She knows Jericho's fear and the reason for it before the spies say a word. ()
2
Seeks a sure guarantee. She asks the spies to swear by the LORD and give her a sure sign. ()
3
Loyal to her household. Her request covers father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them. ()
The 7 wing shows in her resourcefulness and nerve. She improvises a cover story and an escape route on the spot. ()
The Peacemaker. After the fall of Jericho she settles among God's people and lives in Israel. Scripture gives no detail of her inner life there. ()
The Achiever. Little recorded.
The case for 8
She takes control of a dangerous scene, outmaneuvers the king's men, and sets the terms of the deal with the spies. Her boldness could point to an 8 more than a 6.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Joshua and Judges.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Bold and resourceful
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Rahab
Quick thinking under pressure. Courage to act on what she believed. Fierce loyalty to her family. Clear, plain confession of faith.
Where Rahab struggles
Scripture records her lie to the king's men without praising it (). She had lived inside a broken way of life, and her faith came first as a desperate bargain.
What Rahab wanted most
To be safe, and to have her whole family safe with her ().
What Rahab feared most
Dying with her city under the judgment she knew was coming ().
An outsider under judgment is saved by faith and brought into the family of the promised King.
Rahab's household lived because they stayed behind a sign the LORD's people had promised to honor, which pictures the Passover blood and points to the safety we have in Christ. Her place in Matthew's genealogy shows that grace reaches the unlikely. “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” ()
Questions to sit with
1
What did Rahab know about God, and how little did she need to know before she acted on it?
2
Where do you feel like an outsider to God's people, and what does her story say to that?
Study Rahab with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
