Is the verb in Joshua 2:1 meant to indicate that the spies were clients of Rahab’s harlotry?

Is the verb in Joshua 2:1 meant to indicate that the spies were clients of Rahab’s harlotry?

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Joshua 2:1 recounts the journey of the Israelite spies in Jericho:

וַיֵּ֨לְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית־אִשָּׁ֥ה זוֹנָה וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ־שָמָּה

And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. (ESV)

The use of “to lodge” to translate שכב is interesting.* The word normally means “to lie”, and, like in English, it is capable of (but by no means required to) carry sexual connotations. Also similar to English, it normally does so using the preposition “with”, which is not present here. In verse 4, Rahab’s admission that “the men came to me” (באו אלי) also admits a sexual interpretation (cf. 2 Sam 12:24, Gen 38, etc).

Given the context of foreign men sneaking into a city and staying overnight a house owned(?) by a prostitute, this seems like the most obvious understanding, but I’ve never heard this suggested before.

I did find this interesting paper (unfortunately not publicly available in full text) that takes the view that sexual connotations were indeed intended, but I’m curious if anyone can point to evidence about how שכב ought to be understood here.


*There is alternative very common Hebrew word – לין lin – used for people “lodging” overnight during a journey; see Josh 3:1, 4:3, 6:11, 8:9, etc. I took a brief look through ESV uses of “to lodge” with people as the subject as was unable to find any other instance where it translates anything other than lin. Corrections welcome.

2 Comments

  • Reply October 23, 2025

    Troy Day

    WELL NOW John Mushenhouse Neil Steven Lawrence why is it that we just know Philip Williams Glynn Brown MAY know THIS one ???

  • Reply October 24, 2025

    Philip Williams

    They were spies! Likely, they had planned to pay Rahab for lodgings. But Rahab immediately recognized their danger and hid them.

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