And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
All Commentaries on Joshua 6:17 Go To Joshua 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Pay attention to me; how strange was the preaching of God’s love toward humanity! He who says in the law, “You shall not commit adultery” and “You shall not commit prostitution,” changes the commandment by clemency and proclaims through the blessed Joshua, “Let Rahab the prostitute live.” Joshua the son of Nun, who says, “Let the prostitute live,” prefigured the Lord Jesus, who says, “The prostitutes and tax collectors go into the kingdom of the heavens before you.” If she must live, how can she be a prostitute? If she is a prostitute, why should she live? “I speak about her previous condition,” he says, “so you may marvel at her subsequent change.” He asks, “What did Rahab, to whom he granted salvation, do?” She accepted the spies peacefully? Even an innkeeper does this. However, she reaped the fruits of salvation not only by speech but beforehand by faith and by her disposition before God.
And so you may learn the abundance of her faith, listen to the very Scripture that describes in full and bears witness to her achievements. She was in a brothel, like a pearl mixed up in mire, like gold thrown in mud, the rose of piety hidden in thorns, a pious soul enclosed in a place of impiety. Pay attention so you may understand well. She accepted the spies and the One whom Israel denied in the desert; Rahab preached this One in the brothel.
