“And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: Go view
the land, and Jericho. And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose
name was Rahab, and lay there.”
Considering the first miserably botched first spy affair under the direction of Moses (Numbers
13), Abravanel questions Joshua’s thinking here: “And Joshua…sent out of Shittim two spies…”
Hadn’t Joshua learned the lesson? Abravanel sets out to clarify:
- Who was Rahab
- Why do elements in the narrative seem repetitive, if not disjointed?
Abravanel teaches that Moses himself hadn’t given up on spy missions, even after the first
disastrous one. “And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the
Children of Israel, saying…”(Numbers 13) Yet, later Moses dispatched spies again (Numbers 21):
“And Moses sent to spy out Jazer…”
Answering the first question – why did Joshua send spies – Abravanel notes precedent. Moses
conducted himself in this way. Following Moses’ custom, Joshua followed suit: “And Joshua the
son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly…” The mission had been of narrow scope: ”Go
view the land, and Jericho…”
As for the woman Rahab, who was she? Or better, what was she? The question really turns on
the word that we translated above as “harlot.” Interestingly or oddly enough, the Hebrew term
“harlot” lends itself to nuance. It may mean slattern, but it could mean a grocer.
Abravanel blends both definitions. It could be, he advances, that really Rahab worked in a food
stand. However, on the side, she made money in the “world’s oldest profession.” Assuming that
to be the case, Abravanel puts forth that Joshua’s professional gumshoes sinned with her,
acting impiously. Far better, Abravanel chides, had the two men not met her in private
quarters.
Next, how should readers make sense of the text’s superfluousness? One verse says, “And the
woman took the two men, and hid them…” Note, grammatically the Hebrew verb’s conjugation
is in the singular. A second verse says that “she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them
with the stalks of flax, which she had spread out upon the roof.”
Abravanel paints a dramatic scene. After the men went to Rahab, the local king’s intelligence
bureau came knocking. Interrogators demanded entrance, intent on questioning Rahab. Seeing
that the king’s agents were prepared to break down her door momentarily, she hastily hid her
guests, her customers. As the Hebrew grammar hints, Rahab found the two men separate
hideouts, figuring that if the agents found one, the other would be able to escape.
Next, a composed Rahab graciously opened the door for the king’s men. She explained that,
true enough, out-of-town visitors had been there looking for “action”, but they left. To the
interrogators, Rahab didn’t divulge details, as harlots practice discretion, respect privacy.
No sooner had Rahab encouraged the king’s men give chase and apprehend the strangers than
she followed up with an exit strategy for the Hebrew spies. But first, she needed to be
prepared, lest the agents return with another search warrant. Thus, “And she brought them up
to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had spread out upon the roof.”