Deuteronomy 32 - 34 & Joshua 1-4

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

32:19 - "The Lord saw it, and was jealous; he spurned his sons and daughters."

33:9 - "[Levi] said of his father and mother, 'I regard them not.'"

Deuteronomy 34: No mention of any women.

1:14 - All the wives, children, and livestock of Israel shall remain beyond the Jordan in the land Moses gave them

2:1-21 - Joshua sent two men into Jericho as spies. The entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told some Israelites had come into the land The king of Jericho sent out orders for Rahab to bring out the men who had come to her, for they were there only to search the land. Rahab told the guards that the men had in fact been there, although she had not known who they were at the time, but had left trough the gates when they were being closed at night. She said she did not know where they had gone to, but the guards should pursue them quickly. So the guards went after the men, and after they had gone the gates were shut.

Before they had gone to sleep, Rahab went to the roof where she had hidden the two men among stalks of flax. Rahab said, "I know that the Lord has given you the land and that dread of you has fallen on us, and all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you come out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amrites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og,whom your utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it our hearts melted and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below." Rahab makes a deal with the men to spare her life and the life of her family since she has saved theirs. The men agree to this and tell her to take a red cord and tie it on the window through which she'd let them down from and to take her whole family and keep them in the house. If anyone should not be in the house the men would not be responsible for their deaths, but if anyone is harmed while in the house then they shall be to blame. If Rahab tells anyone about their business then the men shall not do as they have said. Rahab tells them she will not and the men depart and Rahab ties a crimson cord onto the window.

Joshua 3 - No mention of any women.

Joshua 4 - No mention of any women.

My Comments

Okay, Rahab is badass. Not only is she active in her story but she saves the two spies who came to her. She gets them to hide, she distracts the guard, and she saves her entire family from the invasion that is soon to come. I really got nothing bad to say about it. I do wish we could have a female character who wasn't either a prostitute or just a baby making machine. But it is the Bible and culturally that's pretty much all women could be. You were either a virgin, a baby maker, a prostitute, or a widow. So, you know, I don't take all that much issue with her being a prostitute. Maybe that makes her even cooler, since prostitutes were not considered all that human during the time, so that on top of her being a woman and she manages to get the two pies to listen to her plan and to trick the guards into following a false lead?

Yeah, so far Rahab is up there as one of my fave women characters. Right up there with Eve and Zipporah. I like it when the women get a chance to do something and not just sit there and let things happen to them. They should get to take charge just as often as the men do, yet this isn't always the case. But this is definitely a nice reprieve after those god awful Deuteronomy chapters. Thank you, Rahab.

Tomorrow: Joshua 5-11