Rahab is the woman in Jericho who hid the Israelite spies on her roof and helped them escape Joshua 2:1–6. She lived in a house built into the city wall Joshua 2:15.
Joshua secretly sends two spies from Shittim to inspect Jericho. They lodge in Rahab’s house, but the king quickly hears that Israelite men have entered the city to scout it. The king orders Rahab to hand them over. Rahab hides the men instead and tells the king’s messengers the visitors have already left near nightfall. This episode comes right after Joshua’s commissioning and the people’s preparation to cross the Jordan, as Israel moves from wilderness travel into taking the land (Joshua 1:1–18).
Joshua 2:1–7 presents a tense, fast-moving sequence: Joshua sends two spies secretly; they end up staying at Rahab’s house; Jericho’s king quickly hears about their presence; the king orders Rahab to produce them; Rahab hides them and gives a story that sends the search in the wrong direction; the pursuers head toward the Jordan crossings; and the city gate.
A common mistake is to treat this as trivia. Names, places, numbers, and sequence details often carry memory, covenant identity, or narrative movement in the biblical story.
Start with Joshua 2:1-6, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
1Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and lay there.
2It was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the land.
3The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to search out all the land.
4The woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I didn`t know whence they were:
5and it happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; where the men went I don`t know: pursue after them quickly; for you will overtake them.
6But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.