Joshua 2

Joshua 2:1

Caesarius of Arles: Moreover, Joshua sends two spies to the city of Jericho, and they are received by a harlot. Joshua sent two spies because the true Joshua was going to give two commands of love. In truth, what else do the men whom the true Joshua sends announce to us except that we should love God and our neighbor? — SERMON 115.2

Cassiodorus: Rahab was a harlot who secretly admitted the spies of Joshua when they visited Jericho and let them out by another exit so that they should not be captured. Her name means “pride.” She was converted by God’s generosity and deserved to obtain mercy. She is a type of the church, which takes in souls endangered by the vice of pride, and lets them out into life by another route, the way of humility and patience. — EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 86.4

Clement of Rome: On account of her faith and hospitality, Rahab the harlot was saved. For when spies were sent by Joshua, the son of Nun, to Jericho, the king of the country ascertained that they had come to spy out their land, and sent men to seize them, in order that, when taken, they might be put to death. But the hospitable Rahab receiving them, concealed them on the roof of her house under some stalks of flax. And when the men sent by the king arrived and said, “There came men unto you who are to spy out our land; bring them forth, for so the king commands,” she answered them, “The two men whom you seek came unto me, but quickly departed again and are gone,” thus not discovering the spies to them. Then she said to the men, “I know assuredly that the Lord your God has given you this city, for the fear and dread of you have fallen on its inhabitants. When therefore you shall have taken it, keep ye me and the house of my father in safety.” And they said to her, “It shall be as you have spoken to us. As soon, therefore, as you know that we are at hand, you shall gather all your family under your roof, and they shall be preserved, but all that are found outside of your dwelling shall perish.” Moreover, they gave her a sign to this effect, that she should hang forth from her house a scarlet thread. And thus they made it manifest that redemption should flow through the blood of the Lord to all them that believe and hope in God. You see, beloved, that there was not only faith, but prophecy, in this woman. — Clement’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12

Clement of Rome: For her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved. For when the spies were sent forth into Jericho by Joshua the son of Nun, the king of the land perceived that they were coming to spy out his country, and [he] sent forth men to seize them, that being seized they might be put to death. So the hospitable Rahab received them and hid them in the upper chamber under the flax stalks. And when the messengers of the king came near and said, “The spies of our land entered into your house; bring them forth, for the king so orders,” then she answered, “The men truly, whom you seek, came to me, but they departed immediately and are journeying on the way”; and she pointed out to them the opposite road. And she said to the men, “Without a doubt I perceive that the Lord your God will deliver this city to you; for the fear and the dread of you is fallen upon its inhabitants. When therefore it shall come to pass that you take it, save me and the house of my father.” And they said to her, “It shall be even so as you have spoken to us. Therefore, when you perceive that we are coming, you shall gather all your folk beneath your roof, and they shall be saved; for as many as shall be found outside of the house shall perish.” And moreover they gave her a sign, that she should hang out from her house a scarlet thread, thereby showing beforehand that through the blood of the Lord there shall be redemption for all them that believe and hope on God. You see, dearly beloved, not only faith, but prophecy, is found in the woman. — 1 CLEMENT 12

Gregory of Elvira: “And Joshua the son of Nun,” it says, “sent two spies from Shittim, saying to them ‘Go up and survey the land and Jericho.’ When they arrived in Jericho, the two young men entered the house of a prostitute by the name of Rahab and stayed there as guests.” Pay attention to the structure of this mystery, most beloved brothers, and ask yourselves why men as great as these, for whom the Lord had performed such marvels and miracles, entered the house of a woman of ill repute, as if they were unable to lodge elsewhere. They did this not by chance, I believe, but intentionally by prophetic design. For I find this prostitute in many places, not only as a hostess of saints but also as their bride. The most holy prophet Hosea, for instance, was commanded by the Lord to accept a harlot as his wife: “For the Lord said to me, ‘Take for your wife a prostitute and generate children of prostitution.’ " Even our Lord and Savior himself, when he had sat down by the well in Samaria, conversed with an immoral woman to whom no one had previously spoken there. After he said to her, “You have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband,” she believed that he was the Messiah, that is, she confessed him to be the Christ. Then there was the harlot who washed the Savior’s feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair and anointed them while kissing them. Let us see, therefore, what our hostess represents. This Rahab, although she is called a prostitute, nevertheless is a sign of the virgin church, considered as a foreshadow of the coming realities at the end of the age, where she alone is preserved to life among all who are perishing. For even when it was said to the prophet Hosea, “Take for your wife a prostitute,” surely then the image of the church as coming from the Gentiles was being prefigured, given that the people were to be gathered from the harlotry of the nations and from prostitution with idols, for, it says, “they prostituted themselves to strange gods.” Indeed, she is called “the church” because the Greek word ecclesia means “gathering of the people.” And just as the apostle says, “An unfaithful wife is sanctified through her faithful husband,” so also is the church, coming from the infidelity of the Gentiles and prostitution with idols, sanctified through the body of Christ, of which we are members, as we learn from the same apostolic author. Because the church, as I have often said, gathered from the multitude of Gentiles, was then called a prostitute, therefore the church is found in the figure of Rahab, the hostess of saints. — ORIGEN’S TRACTATES ON THE BOOKS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 12

Jerome: We have been following so far the historical interpretation, and you perceive how from the history itself we are ascending upward gradually to a mystical understanding. Jesus [Joshua], the leader, who had led the people out of Egypt; Jesus [Joshua], whose name means Savior, after the death and burial of Moses in the land of Moab in the land of Arabia—that is, after the law was dead—Jesus desires to lead his people into the gospel and sends out two men on secret mission to Jericho. Two messengers he sends: one to the circumcised; the other to the Gentiles, Peter and Paul. Jericho seeks to kill them; the harlot takes them in, meaning, of course, the church gathered together from the Gentiles. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 18 (Psalms 86)

Jerome: Rahab; what is the force of her name? We have been following the historical sense; let us now reflect upon the anagogic significance of the name. Rahab thus admits of two interpretations: the name may imply either a “broad space” or, better, “pride.” Consider, therefore, its impact. She who formerly walked the broad, spacious road to death, she whose pride was driving her to destruction, was later converted unto humility. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 18 (Psalms 86)

Origen of Alexandria: Meanwhile spies are sent by Jesus into Jericho and are received by “the harlot” Rahab. These spies, who are sent “before the face” of Jesus, can also be thought to be the angels of God, as it is written: “behold, I send my angel before your face, who shall prepare your ways.” Which through others indeed was fulfilled invisibly, but through John visibly; concerning whom this very thing was written. Finally, concerning the baptism of John it is said by the Lord that the scribes and Pharisees did not believe him, but the “harlots” and the “publicans” believed and were baptized. So therefore in this too it is fulfilled, that the “harlot” received the spies of Jesus, through whom she is reported to have been snatched from the destruction of the whole hostile nation. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.3

Origen of Alexandria: But let us see at last who this “harlot” is. She is called “Rahab,” and “Rahab” is interpreted “breadth.” What, then, is breadth, if not this Church of Christ, which has been gathered out of sinners as out of harlotry? And she says: “the place is too narrow for me, make me a place where I may dwell. But who has nourished these for me?”, and again, she to whom it is said: “widen your stakes, and stretch out your tents.” This, therefore, is the breadth which received the spies of Jesus. I know that once, disputing in a certain church concerning the two harlots, of whom it is written in the third book of Kingdoms, who had come to the judgment of Solomon, of whom one had a “living” infant and the other a “dead” one, I discussed the matter rather carefully and said that that “harlot” was this one, to whom Solomon — not that one, but this one who came “to make peace between the things that are in heaven and the things that are on earth” — ordered the “living” infant to be restored, but that other one, who had the “dead” infant, was either the synagogue of that former people or of those who have declined into heresy. There is also another “harlot” whom in Hosea the prophet is commanded to “take,” without doubt as a figure of this one, which has been gathered “out of the nations.” Such, therefore, is this “harlot” also said to be, who received the spies of Jesus; but she places them, once received, in the upper regions and establishes them in the lofty and exalted mysteries of the faith. For no one who is sent by Jesus is found lying down below and on the ground, but he remains in the upper regions; and not only does he himself remain in the upper and exalted regions, but that “harlot” too, who received them, is made from a harlot now a prophetess; for she says: “I know that the Lord your God has delivered this land to you.” You see how she who was once a “harlot” and impious and unclean is now already filled with the Holy Spirit, and concerning things past indeed confesses, concerning things present believes, and prophesies and foretells concerning things to come. So therefore “Rahab,” which is interpreted “breadth,” is widened and advances, until “into all the earth her sound goes out.” But Japheth likewise is interpreted “enlargement,” who indeed himself also bore the pattern of this people “which is saved out of the nations,” and Canaan the boy is subjected to him as a servant by his father, and to his brother Shem, who bears the pattern of those who are saved out of the circumcision. In which the kindness and providence of God is to be admired, who, wishing to furnish a remedy to the sinner Canaan and to confer salvation upon him, made him a servant to his brothers, just as Esau too was made to serve his brother Jacob — not indeed that he should perish, but that he should acquire salvation by obeying his betters. For it is granted, as the greatest of gifts, to the evil and to sinners, who know not how to govern themselves, that they should not be entrusted to themselves, but should become servants of the saints and be subject to their betters, so that they may be governed not by their own evil sense, but by the good sense of those others. You see how great is the kindness of the Lord, which he hides and conceals from the ears of the common crowd, and which he covers with rather harsh words, lest perhaps the evil and ungrateful servant become a despiser, when he has understood the exceeding goodness of his Lord. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.4

Origen of Alexandria: Yet our “Jesus sends” spies to the “king of Jericho,” and they are received into lodging by a “harlot.” But that harlot, who received the spies sent by Jesus, received them for this reason, that she might no longer be a “harlot.” But also the soul of each one of us was a harlot, so long as it lived in the desires and lusts of the flesh. But it received the spies of Jesus, “the angels whom he sent before his face, that they might prepare his way.” Yet if each soul received them out of faith, it places them not in lowly places nor in lower ones, but in the higher and lofty ones, because we have received Jesus the Lord not as lowly and earthly, but as one proceeding from the Father and coming from the heavens. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 1.4

Joshua 2:3

John Chrysostom: “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies, but she directed their departure by another road.” And pay attention to how much wisdom she blended with her prudence. When those sent by the king came and requested the spies, they ask her, “Did men enter in here and come near you?” She answers them, “Yes, they entered in.” First she builds the truth, and then she applies the lie on top. For no lie like this becomes believable unless it first reveals the truth. For this reason all who tell lies probably to be believed, first speak of truths and reveal confessions and later add the lies and things which are questionable. “Spies entered in here and came near you?” “Yes,” she says. If she had said “no” from the beginning, she would have challenged the messengers to investigate. However, “they entered in,” she says, “and they came out and escaped by such and such a road. Pursue them and you will capture them.” O this good lie! O this good fraud, which does not betray the divine but safeguards the sacred! When the mouths of saints preach the repentance that made Rahab worthy of such salvation, for example, Joshua the son of Nun, who shouts in the desert, “Let Rahab the prostitute live”; and Paul, who says, “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,” will we not receive salvation even more so when we offer to God our repentance? — HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 7.5.17

Joshua 2:4

Augustine of Hippo: Therefore, no lie is just. Accordingly, when examples of lying are proposed to us from the sacred Scriptures, either they are not lies but are thought so for not being understood, or, if they are lies, they are not to be imitated because they cannot be just.As for its being written that God dealt well with the Hebrew midwives and with Rahab the harlot of Jericho, he did not deal well with them because they lied but because they were merciful to the men of God. And so, it was not their deception that was rewarded, but their benevolence; the benignity of their intention, not the iniquity of their invention. — Against Lying 15.31-32

John Cassian: This was the case with Rahab. Scripture not only recalls nothing virtuous about her but even speaks of her immorality. Yet for her lie alone, whereby she chose to conceal the spies rather than betray them, she deserved to share an eternal blessing with the people of God. If she had chosen to speak the truth or to be concerned for the safety of her people, there is no doubt that she and her whole household would not have escaped the approaching destruction and that she would not have deserved to be included among those responsible for the Lord’s birth, to be numbered on the roll of the patriarchs, and, through her offspring, to beget the Savior of all. — CONFERENCE 17.17.1-2

Joshua 2:6

Jerome: “I will be mindful of Rahab,” of Rahab, that harlot who lodged Jesus’ [Joshua’s] secret agents, who lived in Jericho where Jesus [Joshua] had come and had dispatched the two spies. Jericho, that collapsed in seven days, is a type of this world, and as such is determined to kill the secret agents. Because, therefore, Jericho is bent upon killing the spies, Rahab, the harlot, alone received them, lodged them not on the ground floor but in the upper story of the roof—or, in other words, in the sublimity of her faith. She hid them under her stalks of flax.… She believes in Jesus, and those whom Jericho is determined to destroy she protects in safety on her own roof. She harbors them on the roof—in the loftiness of her faith—and hides them under the stems of flax. Even though she is a harlot, she covers them with flax. Flax with much labor and care becomes of dazzling whiteness. You yourselves know that flax grows from the soil and that when it has come forth from the ground, it is black; it has no beauty; it has no use. First, it is pulled up from the ground, broken, then twisted, afterwards washed. Next, it is pounded; finally, combed, and after so much care and hard work, it finally becomes white. Here, then, is the meaning: this harlot took the messengers in and covered them with her flax so that these agents might turn her flax into dazzling whiteness. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 18 (Psalms 86)

Origen of Alexandria: But not even the “stalk of flax,” in which the spies lay hidden, do I receive without sacred meaning. For flax is the priestly garment, by which is signified either that to those who were to be invited the priestly dignity was conferred, as the Apostle Peter too says: “But you are a holy nation, a royal priesthood,” or certainly that in the sacred mystery of the law, where it is noted concerning the priests, the hidden calling of this people, which is “from the nations,” lay concealed. Straightway, therefore, the “harlot” undergoes enmities against the “king of Jericho.” Why not, since “the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh”? And again he says: “This world hates you, because it hated me before you.” There is, therefore, a certain king who is the enemy of this harlot, who is “the prince of this world,” who pursues and desires to seize the spies of Jesus, but cannot prevail, because they make their journey over the mountains; they do not walk through the lowly places nor delight in the valleys, but pursue the hilly summits and the high places of the mountains; for this our harlot says: “I lifted up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come?” The “prince of this world” cannot ascend thither, nor can he by the lofty way come to Jesus; nay rather, even if tempting him he set him on high places, he says to him: “Cast yourself down,” because he always loves the lowly and the fleeting things, in these he reigns, in these he sets his seat, in which also he may descend even to hell. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 1.5

Joshua 2:9

Theodoret of Cyrus: For he selected this one nation to teach the knowledge of God to all the others. Just as he had selected one man—at one time Moses, at another Joshua, at another Samuel, at another some other of the prophets—to look after the welfare of this race, one man who benefited his fellows by practicing true wisdom, so through the one race, Israel, he called all the races of the earth that shared the same nature to share the same religion. Rahab, the harlot, testifies that this is so. Though she belonged to a different race and was a harlot, she relied solely on their reputation, accepted their religion, abandoned her own beliefs and entrusted herself to strangers. “We have heard,” she said, “what things the Lord your God has done to the Egyptians, and fear of you fell on us.” Accordingly, she made a pact with the spies and sealed it with an oath. — ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 10.49

Joshua 2:11

Cyril of Jerusalem: Pass now, pray, to the others who were saved by repentance. Perhaps even among the women someone will say, “I have committed fornication and adultery. I have defiled my body with every excess. Can there be salvation for me?” Fix your eyes, woman, upon Rahab, and look for salvation for yourself too. For if she who openly and publicly practiced fornication was saved through repentance, will not she whose fornication preceded the gift of grace be saved by repentance and fasting? For observe how she was saved. She said only this: “Since the Lord, your God, is God in heaven above and on earth below.” “Your God,” she said, for she did not dare call him her God, because of her wantonness. If you want scriptural testimony of her salvation, you have it recorded in the Psalms: “I will think of Rahab and Babylon among those who know me.” The salvation procured by repentance is open to men and women alike. — Catechetical Lecture 2:9

John Chrysostom: Do you see how with faith she takes on her lips the word of the Lawgiver? “And I realize that your God is up in heaven and down on the earth, and that apart from him there is no God.” Rahab is a prefigurement of the church, which was at one time mixed up in the prostitution of the demons and which now accepts the spies of Christ, not the ones sent by Joshua the son of Nun, but the apostles who were sent by Jesus the true Savior. “I learned,” she says, “that your God is up in heaven and down on the earth, and that apart from him there is no God.” The Jews received these things and did not safeguard them; the church heard these things and preserved them. Therefore, Rahab, the prefigurement of the church, is worthy of all praise. — HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 7.5.16

Joshua 2:16

Jerome: She counsels them and says, “Wait here for three days.” Not one day does she specify, nor two days, but definitely three days. Notice what she says: “Wait three days.” She does not designate three nights but three days, for hers was an enlightened heart. Then she says, and after three days—but what does she say? “Do not go through the open plains,” she warns, “but go up the mountain way.” The faith of the church is not laid in the valleys but is established on the mountains. Later, indeed, Jericho is overthrown, but this harlot alone is preserved untouched; hence, the Lord says, “I will be mindful of Rahab”; that is, on the day of judgment, I will be mindful of her who welcomes my messengers. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 18 (Psalms 86)

Origen of Alexandria: But let us see what this wise “harlot” did with the spies. She gives them counsel mystical and heavenly, having nothing earthly. “Go by the mountains,” she says, do not walk through the valleys, flee the low and the cast-down things; the things that are lofty and sublime, preach. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.5

Joshua 2:18

Cyprian: For the faith of the sacred Scripture sets forth that the Church is not without, nor can be separated nor divided against itself, but maintains the unity of an inseparable and undivided house; since it is written of the sacrament of the passover, and of the lamb, which Lamb designated Christ: “In one house shall it be eaten: ye shall not carry forth the flesh abroad out of the house.” Which also we see expressed concerning Rahab, who herself also bore a type of the Church, who received the command which said, “Thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household unto thee into thine house; and whosoever shall go out of the doors of thine house into the street, his blood shall be upon him.” In which mystery is declared, that they who will live, and escape from the destruction of the world, must be gathered together into one house alone, that is, into the Church; but whosoever of those thus collected together shall go out abroad, that is, if any one, although he may have obtained grace in the Church, shall depart and go out of the Church, that his blood shall be upon him; that is, that he himself must charge it upon himself that he perishes; which the Apostle Paul explains, teaching and enjoining that a heretic must be avoided, as perverse, and a sinner, and as condemned of himself. For that man will be guilty of his own ruin, who, not being cast out by the bishop, but of his own accord deserting from the Church is by heretical presumption condemned of himself. — Epistle LXXV.4

Origen of Alexandria: This command too is given to her who was once a “harlot”: “All,” she says, “who shall be found in your house shall be saved. But those who go out of the house — we are free from this oath of yours.” If anyone, therefore, wishes to be saved, let him come into this house of her who was once a “harlot.” Even if someone from that people wishes to be saved, let him come to this house, that he may be able to obtain salvation. Let him come to this house, in which the blood of Christ is the sign of redemption. For among those who said, “his blood be upon us and upon our children,” the blood of Christ is unto condemnation. For Jesus “was set for the fall and for the rising again of many,” and therefore, to those who contradict his “sign,” “his blood” is made unto punishment, but to those who believe, unto salvation. Let no one, therefore, persuade himself, let no one deceive himself: outside this house, that is, outside the Church, no one is saved; if anyone goes outside, he becomes guilty of his own death. This is the sign of the blood, because here too is the purification which is established through the blood. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.5

Joshua 2:21

Ambrose of Milan: A harlot saw this; and she who in the destruction of the city lost all hope of any means of safety, because her faith had conquered, bound a scarlet thread in her window, and thus uplifted a sign of her faith and the banner of the Lord’s passion; so that the semblance of the mystic blood, which should redeem the world, might be in memory. So, from outside the city, the name of Joshua was a sign of victory to those who fought. From within, the semblance of the Lord’s passion was a sign of salvation to those in danger. — Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.10.127

Jerome: So, too, with a mystic reference to the shedding of blood, it was a scarlet cord which the harlot Rahab (a type of the church) hung in her window that she might be saved at the destruction of Jericho. — LETTER 52.3

Origen of Alexandria: And she herself places a “scarlet sign” in her house, through which she was to be saved from the destruction of the city. There was no other sign that she should receive except the scarlet one, which bore the form of blood. For she knew that there was salvation for no one except in the blood of Christ. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.5

Origen of Alexandria: But that this sign hangs “in the window,” this I judge to be indicated: that the window is that which illuminates the house, and through which we take in not the whole light, but only as much as suffices for our eyes and sight. Since therefore the incarnation of the Savior too did not bring in to us the pure and whole sight of the Deity, but, as though through a window, made us through his incarnation behold the light of the Deity, for that reason it seems to me that the sign of salvation was given through the window; by which sign all may obtain salvation who shall be found in the house of her who was once a “harlot,” cleansed in water and in the Holy Spirit and in the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “to whom is glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen!” — HOMILIES ON Joshua 3.5