This is the second in an occasional series of posts applying literary theory to Bible texts. In this post, I examine a passage from the Book of Joshua through a feminist lens. As with my previous post in this series, this is an invitation to think, but it is not an invitation to a debate, because there’s no point in debating an article of faith; by definition, faith is believing that which cannot be proven, so it is impossible to win or lose a debate about something you have accepted or rejected on faith.
One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Rahab, the Jericho woman who hides a couple of Israeli spies in exchange for a promise of protection for her family.
You can read the story here if you’re not familiar with it or just want to jog your memory. (I linked the KJV, but Bible Gateway has a dropdown menu at the top that lets you pick other translations if you prefer.)
Some pastors hold up Rahab as an example of how God uses people in spite of their flaws, pointing to her career choices as evidence of her unworthiness and suggesting that she helped the spies in a bid to please a deity she knew only by reputation.
While that reading of the story offers a convenient redemption arc, I find it a bit reductive, and I’m not sure it’s entirely supported by canon. Nothing in the text states that Rahab feels any regret about her chosen career or has any intention of abandoning it after the war, nor do the spies suggest that she should.
Give the narrative a close read through a feminist lens, and Rahab becomes a much more complex character with a richer, more nuanced story: She owns a successful business in a controversial and probably competitive industry. She is a smart, politically savvy woman who keeps her ear to the ground and gathers enough information to ascertain the likely outcome of an impending war. When the opportunity presents itself, she negotiates a successful contract with a pair of enemy spies to provide both intel and material assistance in exchange for assurances that her family will be spared when the excrement contacts the cooling unit.
This is not a remorseful sinner groveling in shame. This is a formidable woman who thinks fast on her feet and bargains with enemy spies to protect her family.
I like this Rahab: gutsy, unapologetic, and purely transactional. Her willingness to stick her neck out on behalf of her relatives is all the more remarkable when you consider the likelihood that her profession was probably a point of contention in the family — and yet, it’s that very profession that prepared her for the situation. Nobody is going to be better than the local madam at providing discreet lodging for a couple of guys, lying with a straight face when someone comes looking for them, and sneaking them out the back window.
I don’t for one instant think that God used Rahab in spite of her profession. I think he used her because of her profession, which gave her a very particular set of skills that were precisely what the moment required.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 