Biblical Views: The Archaeology of Rahab

With its many layers and compositional phases, the Bible is often compared to a Near Eastern tell composed of strata accumulated over successive historical periods. However, there is yet another way the Bible can be compared to a tell; namely the layers of interpretation that one Biblical narrative can generate over time. Having attracted its share of interpreters, the story of Rahab the prostitute¹ (Joshua 2; 6) exemplifies this process and shows why an awareness of this type of Biblical stratigraphy enhances an appreciation of the Biblical text as a living document.