Editing Rahab (section)

==Rahab's profession==
[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 066.png|thumb|right|Rahab lets the spies escape in this 1860 woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]]]]

The Hebrew {{lang|hbo|אשה זונה}} ''isshā zonā'', used to describe Rahab in {{bibleverse|Joshua| 2:1}}, literally means "a [[prostitution|prostitute woman]]".<ref name="Boling_144_145"/> While the [[Talmud]] holds to that interpretation, some sources in [[Rabbinic literature]] insist she was an [[innkeeper]] based on [[Targum Jonathan]] and other texts ({{langx|tmr|פֻנדְקֵיתָא|translit=pundǝqeṯā}}<ref>{{cite web |title=pwndqyt |url=https://cal.huc.edu/oneentry.php?lemma=pwndqyt+N&cits=all |website=cal.huc.edu |publisher=Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon|quote=hostess  JLAtg, LJLA.  TgJ Jos2:1 : {{lang|tmr|וְעָלוּ לְבֵית אִיתְתָא פֻנדְקֵיתָא וֻשמַה רָחָב‏.}}  TgJ 1K3:16 : {{lang|tmr|תַרתֵין נְשִין פֻנדְקָאָן/פֻנדְקָוָן/פונדקין/ לִמדָן קֳדָם מַלכָא‏.}}  TgTosPr Judges.11:1 : {{lang|tmr|וכד הות איתתא דרחימא גברא דלא הוה משבטהא נפקא מבית אינשה בלא אחסנתא והוו אינשי קרן יתה פונדקיתא‏}}  when there was a woman who loved a man who was not of her tribe, she would leave her family without property rights; and people would call her "hostess" [MT זוֹנָה]. }}</ref>). Rahab's name is presumably the shortened form of a sentence name ''rāḥāb-N'', "the god ''N'' has opened/widened (the womb?)".<ref>Noth, Martin, "Israelitischer Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung", Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament III,10, 193.</ref> The Hebrew ''zonā'' may refer to secular or [[sacred prostitution]]; the latter was widely believed to have been an element of [[Canaanite religion]], although recent scholarship has disputed this.<ref name="Boling_144_145">Boling, Robert G. (1981). ''Joshua'', Vol. 6. Anchor Bible Series. pp 144-145.</ref> However, there was a separate word, ''qǝḏēšā'', that allegedly designated ritual prostitutes.<ref name="Boling_144_145"/>

[[Josephus]] mentions that Rahab kept an [[inn]] but is silent as to whether merely renting out rooms was her only source of [[income]].<ref>Josephus. [http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_V ''The Antiquities of the Jews'']. 5.1.2. Hosted at Wikisource.</ref> 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, as Robert Boling notes, such an establishment might have represented an ideal location for [[Spy|spies]] to gather intelligence.<ref name="Boling_144_145"/> Several scholars have noted that the narrator in Joshua 2 may have intended to remind the readers of the "immemorial symbiosis between [[military service]] and bawdy house".<ref name="Boling_144_145"/>

In the [[New Testament]], the Epistle of James and the Epistle to the Hebrews follow the tradition set by the translators of the [[Septuagint]] in using the Greek word {{lang|grc|πόρνη}} ''pórnē'', which is usually translated to English as "harlot, prostitute", to describe Rahab.<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202:25&version=WHNU James 2:25], 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament.</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011:31&version=WHNU Hebrews 11:31], 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament.</ref><ref>[http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jos&c=2&v=3&t=LXX Joshua 2], Greek Septuagint (LXX).</ref>

William L. Lyons observed that biblical interpreters have viewed Rahab as a model of hospitality, mercy, faith, patience, and repentance in her interaction with Joshua's spies. The harlot of Jericho became a paragon of virtue.<ref>Lyons, William L. (July 2008). [http://sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=786 "Rahab through the Ages: A Study of Christian Interpretation of Rahab"]. Society of Biblical Literature Forum.</ref>