Rahab
/ˈreɪhæb/noun
A biblical proper name, most famously belonging to the woman of Jericho who sheltered Israelite spies.
Did you know?In Isaiah and the Psalms, Rahab is not the woman of Jericho but a poetic name for a chaos sea monster, sometimes associated with Egypt.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*rḥb
“To be broad, wide, or spacious”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
רָחָב (Rāḥāv)
“Broad, spacious; also used as a personal name”
Ancient Hebrew Bible
Hebrew
רָחָב
“Rahab, the woman of Jericho who hid Israelite spies”
Ancient Hebrew Poetry
Hebrew
רַהַב (Rahav)
“A poetic sea monster or symbol of chaotic power, also linked with Egypt”
Septuagint
Greek
Ῥαάβ (Rhaáb)
“Greek rendering of the biblical personal name”
Modern English
English
Rahab
“The biblical woman of Jericho; also the poetic monster-name from Hebrew scripture”