Rahab

Rahab was a Canaanite woman — described in Joshua 2 as a prostitute — who lived in Jericho and sheltered the two Israelite spies sent by Joshua before the conquest. Having heard of the LORD's mighty acts for Israel at the Red Sea and in the Transjordan, she declared her faith: the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath (Joshua 2:11). She protected the spies and negotiated a covenant of protection for herself and her household, marked by a scarlet cord tied in her window. When Jericho fell, Rahab and her family were spared (Joshua 6:25).

The New Testament holds Rahab as a model of faith and works: Hebrews 11:31 includes her in the roll of faith heroes — by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient — and James 2:25 cites her as proof that faith without works is dead. Matthew 1:5 places her in the messianic genealogy as the mother of Boaz. The scarlet cord she hung in her window has been interpreted in Christian tradition as a type of the blood of Christ.