Miss Patty taught you Rahab hung a red rope. She left out the Hebrew word for hope, the Passover typology, and why Rahab ends up in the genealogy of Yeshua.
I always explained to my kids in Sunday School that Rahab had lots of boyfriends who bought her pretty things and helped her buy groceries. When my 18 year old granddaughter won the “Social Butterfly” superlative at her high school last week she reminded me that Rahab would have won it too. We laughed and laughed. 🥰
Thank you again She”s So Scripture for a wonderful word. May I comment on two words? You said that Rahab’s testimony mentioned Adonai. You and I both know that’s not the name she used. But I deeply respect you/your faith and will not use that word here, but she used Israel’s deeply personal name for God — and I think that’s a profound link in her story.
Another word you did not use was Rahab’s profession and I think you avoided it on purpose. Thank you! We get so wrapped up into that naughty profession (even the “scarlet light district”) that we fail to see the hope of the connecting cord!
Yes, we substitute Adonai for the Name out of respect. In less formal ways (outside scripture and prayer) we use Hashem (literally The Name). And yes, you noted correctly… I avoided it on purpose.
The story of the Gibeonites is very interesting in this context too. The impression we’re given is that the treaty with them was made negligently and without any regard to the Lord’s commands, yet they became incorporated in the covenant and entitled as of right to covenant protection. It’s as if this was part of the plan all along. The command to exterminate the Canaanite tribes is certainly very disturbing, not mitigated much by the obvious failure to put the command into practice in a systematic way. I don’t think the rationale was simply to clear the land for the new occupiers. It’s more to do with the Lord carrying out a long delayed judgment on the Amorites etc because their practices (the child sacrifice, the sex shrines and so on) were uniquely evil. That doesn’t make the wholesale massacres totally unproblematic of course. There are anomalies too. David had Gittite warriors, from Gath, and then of course there’s Uriah the Hittite, a descendant of one of the condemned tribes, but obviously in the story he shines through as a far better man than his master. We might mention too Jael, wife of Hever the Kenite. Even the conquest narrative is quite layered.
Am I the only one who grew up in a church that didn't skip over anything? I never considered any of this "uncomfortable". I was taught the entire story dozens of times between grade school and high school.
It's just a theme for the series. In many of the posts I share little known facts about a story or share some of the linguistic nuances. So the series is meant to be somewhat humorous.
There’s another layer of beautiful imagery in the name Rahab רחב meaning wide/broad/spacious, separate from her profession. The walls of a nomads’ tent, which was their house ב, would be raised up, creating space and allowing wind רוח to enter. Rahab opened up and responded to the spirit of Adonai while she still lived within the walls of her society and culture. Because of her hope, Adonai broke down her walls and made space in his family for hers.
Not to be contrarian but I can’t help but read this story as justification for impending genocide. Rehab saved few lives and in turn her family was saved, but in the context of human annihilation - men, women, children. The numbers don’t add up to “salvation.” Furthermore, the archeological record doesn’t support a Hebrew war on this scale. In Sechem, for example, there is a foot deep layer of burned rubble that marks the attack of the Assyrians. In contrast, at the time the Hebrews entered Canaan there no corresponding layer of destruction — which is a good thing morally! This story reads like later editors creating a story that valorizes Hebrew strength and beliefs, imagining them “destroying” Canaan, and then creating a Canaanite character who supports the genocide of her people. The role of Rahab’s importance in Jesus’ genealogy has fascinated me for a long time, but I don’t think she is included for these reasons.
I hear what you’re saying, and you’re not wrong to feel that tension. Those conquest passages are some of the hardest places in the text, and people have been wrestling with them for a VERY long time.
But when you look at Rahab from a Jewish reading, her story isn’t really functioning as an endorsement of violence. It’s about recognition. She sees who God is, she acknowledges His authority, and she aligns herself with Him from completely outside Israel. And her presence in the story actually interrupts the idea of total annihilation, because it shows that mercy and incorporation were always on the table.
A teaspoon of mercy and incorporation in a Red Sea flood of annihilation?
This is also the traditional reading of Ruth, which is quite beautiful, but also aligned with patriarchal and nationalistic values. I can help but read Ruth in a similar vein -- that she serves as a idealized model of renunciation of Canaanite values. Where is God in that story? It's not in her choosing to renounce her family, her homeland, and her religion; it's in her love for Naomi. Honestly, I read (and taught) the story of Ruth quite differently when my mother-in-law was dying. She was a beautiful human being whom I loved deeply, and so the love in the story resonated very strongly for me at that time. But both of these stories are about one culture dominating another with the explicit aim of annihilating that culture and killing those people. I read them in this way from my first reading, but my understanding and consideration has been expanding recently because I'm studying Native American theology. For obvious reasons they identify with the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 12:1-4 with its injunction to essentially kill every breathing person is especially brutal? awful? horrifying? (I can't come up with an adequate adjective) for Indigenous people, especially Indigenous Christians. For me a Native American reading also shifts the consideration from abstract to personal and immediate. There are political and social ramifications right now coming out of this theology and scripture. In case you are interested, "Frybread in Canaan" by the Rev. Dr. Mary Crist is a good opening place.
I always explained to my kids in Sunday School that Rahab had lots of boyfriends who bought her pretty things and helped her buy groceries. When my 18 year old granddaughter won the “Social Butterfly” superlative at her high school last week she reminded me that Rahab would have won it too. We laughed and laughed. 🥰
LOL!!! That’s so funny!
Love this! 💕
Thank you!!
Rahab is not a consolation prize story. She’s a theological statement. Love this. Keep writing girl! The world needs you.
Thank you!! I so appreciate you!
Thank you again She”s So Scripture for a wonderful word. May I comment on two words? You said that Rahab’s testimony mentioned Adonai. You and I both know that’s not the name she used. But I deeply respect you/your faith and will not use that word here, but she used Israel’s deeply personal name for God — and I think that’s a profound link in her story.
Another word you did not use was Rahab’s profession and I think you avoided it on purpose. Thank you! We get so wrapped up into that naughty profession (even the “scarlet light district”) that we fail to see the hope of the connecting cord!
Much respect and many thanks!!
Don
Yes, we substitute Adonai for the Name out of respect. In less formal ways (outside scripture and prayer) we use Hashem (literally The Name). And yes, you noted correctly… I avoided it on purpose.
Just an aside about Jericoh..
Archaeologists discovered that the walls fell outwards
An external attack would mean the walls would fall inwards..
Thus proving God's power in the way the walls fell.
Yes!!! I have heard that before… amazing!!
Particularly enjoyed this question: "What does this ask of you in terms of where you’re positioning yourself spiritually?"
The story of the Gibeonites is very interesting in this context too. The impression we’re given is that the treaty with them was made negligently and without any regard to the Lord’s commands, yet they became incorporated in the covenant and entitled as of right to covenant protection. It’s as if this was part of the plan all along. The command to exterminate the Canaanite tribes is certainly very disturbing, not mitigated much by the obvious failure to put the command into practice in a systematic way. I don’t think the rationale was simply to clear the land for the new occupiers. It’s more to do with the Lord carrying out a long delayed judgment on the Amorites etc because their practices (the child sacrifice, the sex shrines and so on) were uniquely evil. That doesn’t make the wholesale massacres totally unproblematic of course. There are anomalies too. David had Gittite warriors, from Gath, and then of course there’s Uriah the Hittite, a descendant of one of the condemned tribes, but obviously in the story he shines through as a far better man than his master. We might mention too Jael, wife of Hever the Kenite. Even the conquest narrative is quite layered.
Love. Love. Love this! Thank you!
🥰
What an eye opener! I love that connection you've made with Passover. A Canaanite prostitute mirroring the salvation of Israel!
Thank you so much!
Am I the only one who grew up in a church that didn't skip over anything? I never considered any of this "uncomfortable". I was taught the entire story dozens of times between grade school and high school.
It's just a theme for the series. In many of the posts I share little known facts about a story or share some of the linguistic nuances. So the series is meant to be somewhat humorous.
There’s another layer of beautiful imagery in the name Rahab רחב meaning wide/broad/spacious, separate from her profession. The walls of a nomads’ tent, which was their house ב, would be raised up, creating space and allowing wind רוח to enter. Rahab opened up and responded to the spirit of Adonai while she still lived within the walls of her society and culture. Because of her hope, Adonai broke down her walls and made space in his family for hers.
Not to be contrarian but I can’t help but read this story as justification for impending genocide. Rehab saved few lives and in turn her family was saved, but in the context of human annihilation - men, women, children. The numbers don’t add up to “salvation.” Furthermore, the archeological record doesn’t support a Hebrew war on this scale. In Sechem, for example, there is a foot deep layer of burned rubble that marks the attack of the Assyrians. In contrast, at the time the Hebrews entered Canaan there no corresponding layer of destruction — which is a good thing morally! This story reads like later editors creating a story that valorizes Hebrew strength and beliefs, imagining them “destroying” Canaan, and then creating a Canaanite character who supports the genocide of her people. The role of Rahab’s importance in Jesus’ genealogy has fascinated me for a long time, but I don’t think she is included for these reasons.
I hear what you’re saying, and you’re not wrong to feel that tension. Those conquest passages are some of the hardest places in the text, and people have been wrestling with them for a VERY long time.
But when you look at Rahab from a Jewish reading, her story isn’t really functioning as an endorsement of violence. It’s about recognition. She sees who God is, she acknowledges His authority, and she aligns herself with Him from completely outside Israel. And her presence in the story actually interrupts the idea of total annihilation, because it shows that mercy and incorporation were always on the table.
A teaspoon of mercy and incorporation in a Red Sea flood of annihilation?
This is also the traditional reading of Ruth, which is quite beautiful, but also aligned with patriarchal and nationalistic values. I can help but read Ruth in a similar vein -- that she serves as a idealized model of renunciation of Canaanite values. Where is God in that story? It's not in her choosing to renounce her family, her homeland, and her religion; it's in her love for Naomi. Honestly, I read (and taught) the story of Ruth quite differently when my mother-in-law was dying. She was a beautiful human being whom I loved deeply, and so the love in the story resonated very strongly for me at that time. But both of these stories are about one culture dominating another with the explicit aim of annihilating that culture and killing those people. I read them in this way from my first reading, but my understanding and consideration has been expanding recently because I'm studying Native American theology. For obvious reasons they identify with the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 12:1-4 with its injunction to essentially kill every breathing person is especially brutal? awful? horrifying? (I can't come up with an adequate adjective) for Indigenous people, especially Indigenous Christians. For me a Native American reading also shifts the consideration from abstract to personal and immediate. There are political and social ramifications right now coming out of this theology and scripture. In case you are interested, "Frybread in Canaan" by the Rev. Dr. Mary Crist is a good opening place.