The Book of Joshua tells the story of a lightning military campaign during which the powerful kings of Canaan were defeated in battle and the Israelite tribes came to take possession of their land. It is a stirring war saga, with heroism, cunning, and bitter vengeance narrated with some of the most vivid storytelling in the Bible. Ironically, embedded in this narrative is the story of one of the most interesting heroines of the Old Testament, the woman known as Rahab the Harlot. She is one of the earliest examples of an intelligence operative, and her exploits illustrate the importance ordinary individuals can have in military operations.

Joshua’s reconnaissance team uses the first safe house in the Bible, which is operated by Rahab, a gentile Canaanite woman who lives in Jericho. There are many spy stories in the Bible where men are portrayed as heroes, showing courage and skill as spies – Numbers 13-14 (Moses dispatching spies), Joshua 7.2-5 (Joshua sending spies to Ai), or Judges 1:22-26 (Josephites sending spies to Bethel); Judges 18:2-11 (Danites send a spy mission to Laish, their new territory); and even 2 Sam 17:17-22 (David sending two spies Jonathan and Ahimaaz to Absalom’s camp). When encountering difficulties in their mission, these men show their resourcefulness, managing to extricate themselves from any danger. Rahab’s story, however, gives a totally different perspective on the standard account of spying.

The story begins with Joshua’s need for intelligence gathered by reconnaissance. Before any military campaign can commence, a wise general will collect intelligence on their targeted enemy: geographical intelligence about the lay of the land, intelligence about the enemy’s numbers, strength, and capabilities, their location and strongholds, and their intentions. And so, when the Hebrews were encamped at Shittim in the Arabah or Jordan Valley opposite Jericho and ready to cross the river, Joshua, as a final preparation, sent out two spies to reconnoitre the city of Jericho. Joshua wanted to know their strength and the attitude of their people toward the Israelites. Unlike the story of Moses surveying the Promised Land, Joshua only tells his men to view the land; he gives them no detailed briefing. Another difference is that, whereas Moses’s spies were important leaders, these spies were chosen from among the common people.

Applying themselves to the mission, the two men infiltrate Jericho and find lodging in the establishment of a woman named Rahab. The establishment may have been an inn or a bordello, and, indeed, in Hebrew Rahab is called ishah zonah, a prostitute woman. Similarly, in the New Testament, the Epistle of James (2:25) and the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:31) use the Greek word πόρνη (pórnē), which is usually translated as ‘harlot’ or ‘prostitute’ to describe Rahab. Since the Book of Joshua is a Jewish document and she is the heroine of the story, the Jewish sources in the Talmud have always been favourable to her and try to downplay this aspect of her life. Some sources in Rabbinic literature portray her as simply ‘an innkeeper’. The argument comes down to examining the original Hebrew text. In later Hebrew usage, the word zonah means harlot, but some authorities have suggested that it is derived from the verb zan, which means to feed or to provide with victuals, and thus the connection with innkeeping.

Josephus followed this Jewish tradition because he had difficulties accepting the fact that, instead of completing their mission, the spies headed straight for the local bordello. Given the number of sexually suggestive double entendres in the Hebrew account, however, there should be no doubt about what the spies did at the inn. Nor are the spies being slipshod or shirking their duties. It was not uncommon for both an inn and a brothel to operate within the same building; thus, entering Rahab’s quarters was not necessarily a deviation from Joshua’s orders. Indeed, such an establishment might have represented an ideal location for spies to gather intelligence. Many people passed through it, the owner heard lots of gossip, and, after a few drinks, everyone was willing to talk. They could easily have blended in as just two common travellers. Or perhaps the narrator in Joshua 2 just wanted to remind the readers of the immemorial symbiosis between military service and bawdy houses.

Attempts at distancing Rahab from harlotry undermine the literary intentions of the biblical writer, since her profession provides an important part of the plot development. Rahab’s house may have served multiple purposes, and, in any event, she was in an excellent position to render intelligence to the Israelite spies. Joshua’s undercover men could gain valuable information about the countryside from travellers who, for whatever purpose, visited Rahab’s domicile. Rahab tells Joshua’s spies that her people had heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites, who had been utterly destroyed, and she tells them: ‘When we heard this, our courage failed us; your coming has left no spirit in any of us’ (Joshua 2.11, NEB trans.). This strengthens Joshua’s conviction that the proper psychological moment for the attack on Jericho has come.

Rahab is a strong and independent woman. The fact that she had her own house and did not live in the house of her father, husband, or brother suggests that she has her own source of income and relies on no one. She can shelter others in times of danger; Joshua 2.18 has her gathering her family to her own house when the Israelites attack. She also deals with the king of Jericho’s representatives, who are searching out the Israelite spies; there is no male intermediary (2.3). Finally, she enters into an agreement with the spies on her own (2:14).

Rahab puts herself in danger by accommodating the spies and agreeing to work with them. We know the king of Jericho has his own spies reconnoitering the city because we are told he knew about the Israelite spies. Immediately, he sends men directly to Rahab’s house in the hope of capturing the infiltrators. Before Rahab’s house could be searched, however, she cleverly hides the spies on the roof under the thatch, and, after dark, lowers them down the city walls by means of a rope. The grateful spies tell her that if she did not betray them, when the Israelites took Jericho, she and all with her in the house would be spared. All she had to do was hang a scarlet thread in the same window from which she had lowered the Israelite spies (Joshua 2.18-20).

Rahab gave the Israelite spies a cover story to protect them. She tells the king’s men that the Israelites had been there but had then left the city by the main gate before sundown. Here the double meanings continue. When she answers ‘Yes, the men came to me’, the implication is that the men had come to lie with her, but now they had finished their business and were gone. Had they simply come to find lodgings, they would still be there. Her explanation was accepted as if her word was customarily trusted. The home was not searched, and the spies were not discovered. As far as agents go, Rahab was both successful and lucky. When Joshua captured Jericho, he spared Rahab’s life and that of her family as promised by the spies.

For a history written from a patriarchal perspective and filled with stereotyping of women portrayed as men’s possessions, how interesting that one of the Bible’s great heroes is a woman. This is not unique. There are other ‘Woman who rescues men’ stories in the Bible, for example, 1 Sam 19:9-17, where Michal helps her husband David escape from her father, King Saul; or 2 Sam 17:17-22, where Jonathan and Ahimaaz are saved thanks to the wisdom of the woman from Bahurim. Judges 4.17-21 tells the story of Sisera, who expects Yael to act according to the dictates of the pattern and rescues him from the advancing Israelites. There is also Judges 16:1-3, which tells the story of Samson’s visit to the harlot of Gaza.

Scholars of literary genres point out that the story type of ‘the woman who rescues the man’ is fundamentally a woman’s story type, whereas the ‘spy story’ is entirely masculine. The sexual element, an essential part of such stories, is toned down somewhat here because of the religious nature of the retelling.

Rahab plays a key role in the conquest of Jericho, and there is a theological reason for this choice. A foreign woman is one of only two persons named in the story – the other being Joshua. Rahab the foreigner recognises that Israel’s God was the God who gave the land to Israel. Because she knew this, she dared to hide the Israelite spies and to lie to the messengers of her own king. Why would such a lowly woman be chosen to represent Israel? As a prostitute she was on the margins of society, and her house, according to Joshua 2.15, was located right on the city wall. She lived not only in the social margins, but also on the very physical edge of the city. Israel, too, is portrayed as a people of the lowest rank and as the ultimate ‘outsider’. The Israelites were a unique people in the ancient world, forging a new religious movement centred around worship of only one God. This was a new type of god, not a nature god, not an idol or an image, but an ethical God. It is thus not unusual that, in the stories of the Hebrew Bible, we frequently see heroes and heroines who are lowly and outsiders. Israel was the ultimate ‘other’, both in reality and in its self-perception. In its literature, therefore, heroic qualities are attributed to women and outsiders like Rahab.

Rahab’s role also shows that intelligence work was open to both genders. She becomes the first of many female agents to work for the Israelites. This tale shows a woman caught in the virile game of war, with its masculine adventures in espionage, and yet she succeeds. One woman seizes opportunity from the jaws of crisis, and, by a shrewd and assertive use of the unusual freedom inherent to her profession, she saves both herself and her family.

Rahab’s tale is a rather sketchy one from the point of view of intelligence history; it leaves too much detail out of the story. How did the spies get into Jericho? Why did no one detect the foreigners as soon as they appeared? How did the king come to know of their presence? Because the ancient storyteller focused on dramatic effects and theology, much of the actual intelligence work is, unfortunately, left out. Josephus adds details not contained in the story. He claims that the spies went undetected and surveyed the entire city unmolested. They observed where the ramparts were strong and where they offered a less-secure protection to the inhabitants. They also examined the gates that would facilitate entrance for the army (Antiquities of the Jews 5.1.2). How he knows this is anyone’s guess.

The Rahab story probably originated with an oral folktale and was included in the story to help forward the author’s purpose in formulating the story and his message. It was certainly not included to show Joshua’s cunning or military skill; the only information the spies delivered was the intelligence that the inhabitants of the land stood in terror before Israel. The statement: ‘The Lord has put the whole country in our hands . . .’ (Joshua 2:24 NEB trans.) is used continuously in the accounts of Israel’s wars. The holy war cannot begin without the assurance that the Lord gives his people victory. The spy story was placed in the Book of Joshua to show that the conquest did not begin until the will of the Lord had been determined. Once again, God is the ultimate intelligence source. Indeed, the Book of Joshua is framed by two spy stories, and the author seems to have intended that they be read together. Both sets of spies were given identical orders. In Joshua 2:1 they were told to reconnoitre the country. Later in Joshua 7:2 men are sent from Jericho to Ai with the command to explore the lay of the land. The conquest of Canaan is based on intelligence, but it is not just territorial; it is also theological. You must side with Yahweh to win. Despite its emphasis on Yahweh’s will and miracles, nevertheless, the Israelites still need to choose the proper techniques for achieving victory, and one of the most important of these is intelligence collection.

Rahab’s story has been used by religious groups to illustrate diverse moral points. In the New Testament (Hebrews 11:31), she is lauded both as an example of a saint who lived by faith and as someone ‘considered righteous’ for her works (James 2:25). Biblical interpreters have viewed Rahab as a model of hospitality, mercy, faith, patience, and repentance in her interaction with Joshua’s spies. Thus, the harlot of Jericho became a paragon of virtue. Rahab is remembered as hiding the spies of Israel at a critical time in Israelite history. She is recorded as being accepted into Israel along with her family ‘unto this day’. She saved her lineage (beit ab) through entering a covenant with the spies and showed a great deal of cleverness in the process. Despite her place in society, she was a woman remembered for good in Israel and a credit to her profession.