The Scandalous Women In Jesus Genealogy - Rahab Series

Matthew 1:1-17; Joshua 2:1, 3; 6:17-25; Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25

We are still looking into the genealogy of Jesus as mentioned in Matthew chapter 1. Our emphasis in this study is Rahab.

The genealogy of Jesus given in Matthew is in the Bible to let us know that He had a background a lot like yours and mine. He called himself “the friend of sinners,” and he said he didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10)

For 40 long, rigorous years, Moses—under God’s direction—led the Israelites as they wandered through the wilderness. God had delivered them from Egypt, helped them cross the Red Sea on dry ground and supernaturally defeated the enemies who tried to thwart their path to Canaan.

Now Israel was about to enter the land God promised to the nation. God had transferred the mantle of Israel’s leadership to Joshua, an able, faithful and courageous leader. Before Israel entered Canaan, Joshua sent a reconnaissance party of two men to spy out the land just west of the Jordan River, paying special attention to the formidable city of Jericho. The spies having entered Jericho went into the house of Rahab the "harlot." Rahab is identified as a harlot (prostitute) multiple times. Joshua 2:1, 6:17, 25, James 2:25, Hebrews 11:31. It may seem strange that the spies found refuge in the house of a prostitute—what were they, people of God, doing there? The answer may be quite simple. The house of a harlot was probably a good place to avoid detection—a couple of travelers entering such a house would probably not arouse much suspicion. The spies, seeking anonymity, figured a house of prostitution would be a good place to hide. Also, Rahab’s house was situated on the city wall (Joshua 2:15), providing an escape route.

The first part of Rahab—“Ra,” was the name of an Egyptian god. As an Amorite, Rahab belonged to an idolatrous people, and had a name meaning “insolence,” “fierceness,” or “broad,” “spaciousness.”

Evidently Rahab had her own house and lived apart from her parents and family. Perhaps she was treated as a moral leper because of her profession. We are told that prostitution was not regarded with the same horror then, as now, but the Bible with one voice speaks of harlotry with moral revulsion and social ostracism.

Rahab’s house was built against the town wall Thus, the people of Jericho knew all about the men who entered and left such a disreputable house. While her name came to be sanctified and ennobled, both Paul and James affix the label to her name, Rahab the harlot. She still carried the evil, distinguishing name, thus declaring the peculiar grace of the transforming power of God. How Rahab came to forsake her evil career we are not told. Also the Bible does not specifically state when Rahab turned from her former occupation and sinful lifestyle to follow God; however, we do know from the text in Matthew that she married Salmon and had a son named, "Boaz."

Both Jewish and Christian writers have tried to prove that Rahab was a different woman from the one whom the Bible always speaks of as a “harlot.” . But scriptural usage of the Hebrew word "zanah" (Leviticus 21:7-14; Deuteronomy 23:18; Judges 11:1; 1 Kings 3:16) and the authority of the apostles (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), establish the credibility for use of the word “harlot.”

To them it was abhorrent that such a disreputable person should be included in our Lord’s genealogy and also mentioned by the writer of Hebrews, as a woman of faith, and so her story has been distorted in order to further a scheme of salvation based upon human goodness. Although man’s sense of refinement may be shocked, the fact remains that Rahab, Tamar and Bathsheba were sinful women who were cleansed by God, and had their share in the royal line from which Jesus sprang. Rahab was an outcast of society for her scarlet sin, but God wove this woman into the lineage of Jesus Christ using a scarlet thread.

What do we know about Rahab, who played such a pivotal role in the fall of Jericho? Halley’s Bible Handbook suggests she may have been a temple prostitute, which in Canaanite eyes was an acceptable line of work (2000, p. 190). Rahab and her family lived within the outer city wall. Her house was apparently part of the wall. It is possible that the house doubled as an inn since the spies were sought there. Besides her infamous profession, it appears that Rahab engaged in less-questionable labor as well. Either growing or buying flax, she dried it on her rooftop and made linen from it.