to disbelieve (wilfully and perversely) · verb — aorist active participle, dative plural masculine
received
δεξαμένηdexamenē
G1209
to receive (in various applications · verb — aorist middle deponent participle, nominative singular feminine
spies
κατασκόπουςkataskopous
G2685
a reconnoiterer · noun — accusative plural masculine
with
μετ᾽met᾽
G3326
properly · preposition
peace
εἰρήνης.¶eirēnēs
G1515
peace (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Joshua 6:22-25 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all tha…
Matthew 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Joshua 2:1-24 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into…
Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, sayin…
Hebrews 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appoint…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 11:4-31
The apostle, having given us a more general account of the grace of faith, now proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in the Old Testament times, and these may be divided into two classes: - 1. Those whose names are mentioned, and the particular exercise and actings of whose faith are specified. 2. Those whose names are barely mentioned, and an account given in general of the exploits of their faith, which it is left to the reader to accommodate, and apply to the particular persons from what he gathers up in the sacred story. We have here those whose names are not only mentioned, but the particular trials and actings of their faith are subjoined.
I. The leading instance an…
Rahab showed her "faith" in her confession, Jos 2:9, Jos 2:11, "I know that Jehovah hath given you the land; Jehovah your God, is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
the harlot--Her former life adds to the marvel of her repentance, faith, and preservation (Mat 21:31-32).
believed not--Greek, "were disobedient," namely, to the will of God manifested by the miracles wrought in behalf of Israel (Jos 2:8-11).
received--in her house (Jos 2:1, Jos 2:4, Jos 2:6).
with peace--peaceably; so that they had nothing to fear in her house. Thus Paul, quoting the same examples (Heb 11:17, Heb 11:31) for the power of faith, as James (Jam 2:21, Jam 2:25; see on Jam 2:21; Jam 2:25) does for jus…
The harlot Rahab perished not - See this account Jos 2:1, Jos 2:9, Jos 2:11, and Jos 6:23, where it is rendered exceedingly probable that the word זונה zonah in Hebrew, and πορνη in Greek, which we translate harlot, should be rendered innkeeper or tavernkeeper, as there is no proper evidence that the person in question was such a woman as our translation represents her. As to her having been a harlot before and converted afterwards, it is a figment of an idle fancy. She was afterwards married to Salmon, a Jewish prince; see Mat 1:5. And it is extremely incredible that, had she been what we represent her, he would have sought for such an alliance.
Received the spies with peace - Μετ' ειρηνης·…
The Church Fathers
Indeed, through the rumors about the miracles which had happened in Egypt and the desert, she believed that they would have possessed the land of Canaan, as God had said to Abraham. The apostle also added some words about the "explorers," who "were received by her in peace," because he wanted to show that they came out of her house in purity and honesty. In fact, they had not entered that place for the sake of fornication.
For the sign of the scarlet thread, which the spies, sent to Jericho by Joshua, son of Nave (Nun), gave to Rahab the harlot, telling her to bind it to the window through which she let them down to escape from their enemies, also manifested the symbol of the blood of Christ, by which those who were at one time harlots and unrighteous persons out of all nations are saved, receiving remission of sins, and continuing no longer in sin.
"By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, having received the spies with peace." It would then be disgraceful, if you should appear more faithless even than a harlot. Yet she merely heard what the men related, and forthwith believed. Whereupon the end also followed; for when all perished, she alone was preserved. She did not say to herself, I shall be with my many friends. She did not say, Can I possibly be wiser than these judicious men who do not believe, and shall I believe? She said no such thing, but believed what had taken place, which it was likely that they would suffer.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Harlot — (1.) Heb. zonah (Gen. 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of Asherah or…
Rahab, Or Rachab — (wide), a celebrated woman of Jericho who received the spies sent by Joshua to spy out the land, hid them in her house from the pursuit of her countrymen, was saved with all her family when the…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Hebrews 11:31 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
By faith the harlot Rahab,.... The Targum on Joshua 2:1 calls her , "a woman, that kept a victualling house": this paraphrase is taken notice of by Jarchi and Kimchi on the place, who interpret it, "a seller of food": and even the Hebrew word is so explained by a considerable Jewish writer (p); and this may rather seem to be the sense of the word, and to be her proper business, from the spies going to her house, as being an house of entertainment; and from Salmon's marrying her, which might be thought strange that a prince of Israel would, had she been a person of ill fame; to which may be added, the encomiums of her for her faith and works, both by our apostle, and by James: but yet, the c…
Hebrews 11:28-31
28. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
28. Fide fecit pascha et aspersionem sanguinis, ut qui perdebat primogenita non tangeret eos.
29. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
29. Fide transierunt mare rubrum quasi per terram siccam; quod quum tentassent Egyptii adsorpti sunt.
30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
30. Fide conciderunt moenia Jericho, circumdata per septem dies.
31. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had receiv…
Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2; 6:25) showed faith in the power of the God of Israel by protecting the spies who came to her home (cp. Jas 2:25). As a result, she and her family were not destroyed but joined the community of Israel. In fact, Rahab was an ancestor of Jesus (Matt 1:5).
