Encyclopedie , Absolute Astronomy.com, , Rahab, (Heb. rachav; i.e., "broad," "large") is a figure in the (The Jewish scriptures which consist of three divisions--the Torah and the Prophets and the Writings) Tanakh. When the (The ancient Canaanitic language of the Hebrews that has been revived as the official language of Israel) Hebrews were encamped at Shittim, in the "Arabah" or (An Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea) Jordan valley opposite (A village in Jordan near the north end of the Dead Sea; in the Old Testament it was the first place taken by the Israelites under Joshua as the entered the Promised Land) Jericho, ready to cross the river, (A book in the Old Testament describing how Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan (the Promised Land) after the death of Moses) Joshua, as a final preparation, sent out two spies to "spy the land." After five days they returned, having swum across the river, which at this season, the month Abib, overflowed its banks from the melting of the snow on Lebanon. The spies reported how it had fared with them (Josh. 2:1-7). They had been exposed to danger in Jericho, and had been saved by the fidelity of Rahab the (A woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money) harlot, to whose house they had gone for protection. When the city of Jericho fell (6:17-25), Rahab and her whole family were preserved according to the promise of the spies, and were incorporated among the Jewish people. She afterwards became the wife of Salmon, a prince of the (Click link for more info and facts about tribe of Judah) tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:21; 1 Chr. 2:11; ). "Rahab's being asked to bring out the spies to the soldiers (Josh. 2:3) sent for them, is in strict keeping with Eastern manners, which would not permit any man to enter a woman's house without her permission. The fact of her covering the spies with bundles of flax which lay on her house-roof (2:6) is an 'undesigned coincidence' which strictly corroborates the narrative. It was the time of the barley harvest, and flax and barley are ripe at the same time in the Jordan valley, so that
the bundles of flax stalks might have been expected to be drying just then" (Geikie's Hours, etc., ii., 390). Rahab identified her house with a red light which has ever since been a signal for (Offering sexual intercourse for pay) prostitution. Her story is perhaps also the inspiration for the (An inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive) euphemism "the world's oldest profession" for prostiution.
Encyclopedie , Jewish Encyclopedia, , Rahab; A woman of Jericho who sheltered the spies sent by Joshua to search out the land. Having arrived at Jericho, the two spies remained at Rahab's house, situated in the wall of the city and having a window on the outside (Josh. ii. 1, 15). Rahab was ordered by the king, who had been informed of the arrival of the spies, to deliver them to him; she, however, hid them on the roof and declared that they had come and gone without her knowing who they were (ii. 3-6). In her conversation with the spies upon the roof, Rahab proved to have been well informed of the progress of the Israelites since they had crossed the Red Sea. She told them that she was certain of their final conquest of the land, and asked them to reward her by sparing herself and her whole family---her father, mother, brothers, and sisters, all of whom lived in the interior of the city (ii. 8-14). After she had let the spies down through the window of her house, they enjoined her to take her whole family into her house, which she should distinguish by placing a scarlet string or rope in the window through which they had made their escape (ii. 15-21). At the conquest of Jericho by the Israelites, Joshua ordered the two spies to rescue Rahab and her family, whose descendants thenceforward dwelt in Israel (vi. 22-23, 25).E. G