Although Jericho was a fortress, the less-fortunate people lived outside of the walls of Jericho. Rahab was known to be a prostitute, and many men visited the tavern. One evening, two strangers came into her establishment. She was a smart woman and realized that these men were spies.
She knew there would probably be an attack on Jericho and would have to take action to survive. She told the spies how the citizens of Jericho had been fearful of the Israelites ever since the Egyptians were defeated during the Red Sea saga. She agreed to help the spies escape, if she and her family were spared in the upcoming battle.
Rahab hid the two men on the flat roof of her house, under large bundles of flax. When the soldiers arrived to look for the spies, Rahab told them that they were not there. The soldiers searched the tavern, but Rahab had hidden the spies well. The spies agreed to protect her and her family but explained that she must hang a scarlet rope out of the window so the Israelites would know which home to spare.
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Risk something on Him. Meet the author Alli Patterson. Popular This Week view all. Latest Weekly Message. Watch now. Popular in Self view all. The two words are connected grammatically. If you can find me a place where scarlet alludes to blood, other than your own imagination i. The reason why they tied a scarlet string, was most likely for the logical reason that scarlet stands out as a marker.
They used to mark the maaser beheimah with red, as it is recorded in the Talmud, specifically because it stands out. Maaser beheimah, is the tithing of the tenth animal. I can think of many other similar cases. She binds the scarlet line to the window. This is not a hole in the wall, but window on top of the wall used to secure the line. They escape through the scarlet line which comes from above, wherein sin is represented by the harlot and the color of the line which reaches to earth as grace from heaven to earth as an act of mercy.
Also, it is more likely that they did escape through the wall and that her house was in the crack of a wall. Firstly, the language here is bizzare.
Even poetically. How do you translate that? Kir is obviously more like the wall of a room, i. Where as homah is more like the wall of a fortification or a city or the whole thing, but bigger. Probably intentionally, too. Especially since poor people tended to live on the outskirts of the city and those kinds of areas. This reflects the thought of Jewish translators in the BC era since Joshua would have been among the first of the books so translated as it is part of the Hexateuch.
Theologically and prophetically, the fact that a sinner and an enemy of Israel was entrusted with a part in the plan of God is an indication of the role of the gentiles in the history of salvation.
The red cloth by which the spies were lowered to safety is a symbol of the saving blood of Christ, which dripped down from the cross for the sons of promise. Translation of is also important. Mercy is shown to the sinner in the destruction and she is saved — indicating future salvation and pardon from sin for the gentiles.
The word can be read either way. The Talmud also states in different places, or at least infers, that she was very beautiful and had been a prostitute since the age of The word itself, Zonah, by itself, means basically a prostitute.
Which means to run to and fro, wander, run away from, run after,to run about as a prostitute, faithless, or to be unchaste. So, obviously, Zonah meaning prostitute is a simple reading of the word.
Zonah, however, can also mean one who provides provisions. Mazon, zoon, etc — all connotative of sustenance, support, nourish, etc. There is a close connection between the words. Again, there is a tanaaic aramaic translation of the book of Joshua, Targum Yonatan, which supports this.
Biblical scholars and anyone who reads Hebrew, only know the definition of Hebrew words because their definitions and how to read them were passed down as an oral tradition. So, having an Aramaic translation from some years ago holds a lot more authority than the Jehovah Witness understanding.
Daniel, you seem ignorant of the fact that Biblical Hebrew used only consonants. The choice of vowels can alter the meaning, so the article asks an important question. I think this story is a great illustration how anyone can be used of God.
There are so many in the bible who are full of weakness and sin according to the O. They experienced the grace of God and so can I.
Jeff… Amen to that! Cobb, high fives! Daniel, praise God for discernment right! She went from bad to good. Em Hebraico, esta palavra significa prostituta. Fato que velou ajudar os espias. A prostitute of Jericho who became a worshiper of Jehovah. In the spring of B. Jos The duration of their stay there is not stated, but Jericho was not so big that it would take a long time to spy it out.
That Rahab really was a harlot, or prostitute, in the common sense of the word has been denied in some circles, especially among Jewish traditionalists, but this does not seem to have support in fact. Besides, among the Canaanites harlotry was not a business of ill repute. Terrible exegesis. Possibly … we do not know.
I would give this article zero credence. Rahab is used poetically in Psalms to mean Egypt. The spies sent to Jericho were culturally Egyptian. Where else would Egyptians go in Jericho. The better question is how far it can go to present truth and to clarify untruth which man continues to foster.
The bible seems to concentrate on the roles women were designed by God to perform—as wives and mothers—and the most obvious corruption of that design—harlotry. Some may discount this interpretation, but the fact that you had such a question points to the reality of my answer—God made women to be wives and mothers.
So He knew what it was like to be married, in a sense. But if we get to decide which rules we like, that makes us the rule-makers, or in other words, puts us in the place of God. Even Jesus, who claimed to be equal with God, recognized the authority of His Father over himself, only doing what His Father wanted Him to do. This, too, is a liberating lifestyle—to acknowledge God as our supreme authority and to accept the death of His Son as payment for our sins.
Why is it that every woman in the Bible had to be a wife or mother or harlot? Also, what I always had problems with understanding is that Jesus was suppose to have the human experiences in life. How can He understand the human experience if he never married or knew a woman? Besides, the Bible has been translated from several languages and written by humans hundreds or thousands of years after the events.
It is not always easy to find the exact translations for certain words or phrases. Also, there is a human factor of adding and deleting and changing words, phrases and stories.
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