Meaning of the Name Rahab
Rahab is commonly connected with a Hebrew word-field involving breadth or spaciousness. The precise etymological explanation should still be handled cautiously, since lexicons weigh the related forms differently. For that reason the name is often glossed along the lines of "broad" or "spacious."
Origin
The name Rahab is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Rahab in the Bible?
Rahab is the woman in the book of Joshua who lives in Jericho and hides the Israelite spies. Because of her faith and courage she is spared from destruction, and the New Testament remembers her as an example of faith expressed in action.
The story of Rahab in the Bible
Rahab is a woman living in Jericho at the opening of the book of Joshua. The two spies Joshua sends to scout the city lodge at her house; when the king demands them, she hides them under stalks of flax on her roof and sends the pursuers off in another direction. Her speech to the spies is the heart of her story: she tells how the people heard of the sea dried up at the exodus, how hearts in the city have melted, and she openly confesses that Israel's God is God in heaven above and on earth below. In return for her kindness she asks that her family be spared; the spies swear an oath and tell her to tie a scarlet cord in her window. When Jericho falls, the promise is kept: Rahab and her father's household are spared, and she lives on among Israel. The New Testament remembers her: Matthew's genealogy lists her as the mother of Boaz among Jesus's ancestors, and elsewhere her faith and hospitality are held up as examples.
Is Rahab mentioned in the Quran?
The name Rahab does not appear in the Quran; her story is told in the book of Joshua in the Bible, and she is named in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels.
Verses where Rahab appears
- Joshua 2:1 —
Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.
- Joshua 6:25 —
But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
- Matthew 1:5 —
Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.