Bible Strands
Joshua 6:25
And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s action immediately after the Israelites burn Jericho and consecrate its silver, gold, and bronze articles to the LORD’s treasury.
The words — רָחָב (Rahab) identifies the woman, and הַזּוֹנָה (ha-zonah) translates literally as "the prostitute."
The thread — The text notes she dwelt among Israelites, which corresponds to Hebrews 11:31’s citation of her faith in receiving the scouts, while Judges 1:24 later describes spies encountering a man from a city who shows them the way in.
Why it lands — The passage requires acknowledging that covenant inclusion followed Joshua’s explicit command to spare the household and Rahab’s prior concealment of the scouts, not ethnic lineage.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 11:31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.
- Joshua 2:6 (But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.)
- Judges 1:24 and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”
- Matthew 1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,
- James 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?
- Acts 2:21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Joshua 4:9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
- Joshua 11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle.