Rahab of Canaan—and Israel

ABSTRACT The account of the sending out of the spies and of Rahab's intervention probably derives from a different tradition (an earlier one, though in its present form one of unlikely historicity) from that of the miraculous collapse of Jericho's walls. As the story stands in the Book of Joshua and in the Deuteronomistic History, the picture is of a Joshua who uses spies so as to show his fidelity to Mosaic precedent. Rahab is a resourceful and trusting woman (the male Hebrew spies begrudge her the visible token of safe passage that she reasonably asks for) who is converted to belief in the sovereignty of YHWH. To such a person the harsh law of חרם does not apply. After a temporary exclusion from the Hebrew camp (cf Miriam, Num 12, the "leper", Lev 13, Num 5, and the ritually unclean person, Deut 23) she wins for herself and for her enduring clan a place in the heart of Israel. YHWH is a God who uses unlikely human beings for his purposes and is happy to include gentiles within his people.