תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן אַרְבַּע נָשִׁים יְפֵיפִיּוֹת הָיוּ בָּעוֹלָם שָׂרָה (וַאֲבִיגַיִל רָחָב) וְאֶסְתֵּר וּלְמַאן דְּאָמַר אֶסְתֵּר יְרַקְרוֹקֶת הָיְתָה מַפֵּיק אֶסְתֵּר וּמְעַיֵּיל וַשְׁתִּי תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן רָחָב בִּשְׁמָהּ זִינְּתָה יָעֵל בְּקוֹלָהּ אֲבִיגַיִל בִּזְכִירָתָהּ מִיכַל בַּת שָׁאוּל בִּרְאִיָּיתָהּ אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק כׇּל הָאוֹמֵר רָחָב רָחָב מִיָּד נִיקְרֵי אָמַר לֵיהּ רַב נַחְמָן אֲנָא אָמֵינָא רָחָב רָחָב וְלָא אִיכְפַּת לִי אֲמַר לֵיהּ כִּי קָאָמֵינָא בְּיוֹדְעָהּ וּבְמַכִּירָהּ
To complete the discussion about the prophetesses, the Gemara cites a baraita in which the Sages taught: There were four women of extraordinary beauty in the world: Sarah, and Abigail, Rahab, and Esther. And according to the one who said that Esther was greenish in color, lacking natural beauty, only that a cord of divine grace was strung around her, remove Esther from the list and insert Vashti in her place, for she was indeed beautiful. The Sages taught in a baraita: Rahab aroused impure thoughts by her name, i.e., the mere mention of her name would inspire lust for her; Yael, by her voice; Abigail, by remembering her; Michal, the daughter of Saul, by her appearance. Similarly, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who says Rahab, Rahab, immediately experiences a seminal emission due to the arousal of desire caused by Rahab’s great beauty. Rav Naḥman said to him: I say: Rahab, Rahab, and it does not affect me. Rabbi Yitzchak said to Rav Naḥman: When I said this, I was specifically referring to one who knows her personally and recognizes her beauty. Only for one who has met Rahab in person is the mere mention of her name capable of arousing lust.
אֵיתִיבֵיהּ רַב עֵינָא סָבָא לְרַב נַחְמָן שְׁמוֹנָה נְבִיאִים וְהֵם כֹּהֲנִים יָצְאוּ מֵרָחָב הַזּוֹנָה וְאֵלּוּ הֵן נֵרִיָּה בָּרוּךְ וּשְׂרָיָה מַחְסֵיָה יִרְמְיָה חִלְקִיָּה חֲנַמְאֵל וְשַׁלּוּם רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר אַף חוּלְדָּה הַנְּבִיאָה מִבְּנֵי בָנֶיהָ שֶׁל רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה הָיְתָה כְּתִיב הָכָא בֶּן תִּקְוָה וּכְתִיב הָתָם אֶת תִּקְוַת חוּט הַשָּׁנִי
Rav Eina the Elder raised an objection from a baraita to Rav Naḥman’s teaching. The baraita indicates that Huldah was in fact a descendant of Rahab, and seemingly not of Joshua: Eight prophets, who were also priests, descended from Rahab the prostitute, and they are: Neriah; his son Baruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah; Jeremiah; his father, Hilkiah; Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel; and Hanamel’s father, Shallum. Rabbi Yehuda said: So too, Huldah the prophetess was a descendant of Rahab the prostitute, as it is written here with regard to Huldah: “The son of Tikvah,” and it is written elsewhere in reference to Rahab’s escape from the destruction of Jericho: “This cord of [tikvat] scarlet thread” (Joshua 2:18).
(א) ועתה השבעו לי באלקים (יהושע ב, יב). כתיב ולא היית כזונה לקלס וגו' אמר רבי שמעון את מוצא כל מה שכתב בישראל לגנאי כתב ברחב לשבח. ברחב כתיב השבעו לי באלקים ובישראל כתיב אכן לשקר נשבעו. ברחב כתיב והחייתם את אבי ואת אמי ובישראל כתיב אב אם הקלו בך. ברחב כתיב והיא העלתם הגגה ובישראל כתיב ואת המשתחוים על הגגות, ברחב כתיב ותטמנם בפשתי העץ ובישראל כתיב אומרים לעץ אבי אתה. ברחב כתיב ההרה לכו ובישראל כתיב על ראשי ההרים יזבחו. ברחב כתיב ונתתם לי אות אמת ובישראל כתיב ואמת לא ידברו, הוי כל מה שכתב בישראל לגנאי כתב ברחב לשבח:
אמרו בת י' שנים היתה כשיצאו ישראל ממצרים וזנתה [כל] מ' שנה שהיו ישראל במדבר אחר נ' שנה נתגיירה אמרה יהא מחול לי בשכר חבל חלון ופשתים:
The Gemara adds that the Sages said with regard to Rahab: She was ten years old when the Jewish people left Egypt, and she engaged in prostitution all forty years that the Jewish people were in the wilderness. After that, when she was fifty years old, she converted when the two spies visited her. She said: May all of my sins of prostitution be forgiven me as a reward for having endangered myself with the rope, window, and flax, by means of which I saved Joshua’s two spies. Rahab first concealed the spies in stalks of flax, and later assisted them in exiting her home by lowering them from the window with a rope (see Joshua 2:6 and 2:15).
(א) וְלֹא קָמָה עוֹד רוּחַ בְּאִישׁ אֲפִילּוּ לִּשְׁכַּב עִם אִשָּׁה, אָמְרוּ: אֵין לְךָ כָּל שַׂר וְנָגִיד שֶׁלֹּא בָּא אֶל רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה, וּבַת עֶשֶׂר שָׁנִים הָיְתָה כְּשֶׁיָּצְאוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרַיִם, וְזִנְּתָה כָּל אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה (זבחים קטז ב).
(1) And there was no longer any spirit. [The men had no spirit (desire)] even to lie with a woman. It was said by the Sages: There was no prince or ruler who had not had [sexual] relationships with Rochav, the harlot. She was ten years old when the Bnei Yisroel went out of Egypt, and she engaged in harlotry for forty years.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ עֵינָא סָבָא וְאָמְרִי לַהּ פַּתְיָא אוּכָּמָא מִינִּי וּמִינָּךְ תִּסְתַּיֵּים שְׁמַעְתָּא דְּאִיגַּיַּירָא וְנַסְבַהּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וּמִי הֲווֹ לֵיהּ זַרְעָא לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ וְהָכְתִיב נוֹן בְּנוֹ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בְּנוֹ בְּנֵי לָא הֲווֹ לֵיהּ בְּנָתָא הֲווֹ לֵיהּ
Rav Naḥman responded to Eina the Elder and said to him: Eina the Elder, and some say that he said to him: Blackened pot, i.e., my colleague in Torah, who has toiled and blackened his face in Torah study, from me and from you the matter may be concluded, i.e., the explanation lies in a combination of our two statements. For Rahab converted and married Joshua, and therefore Huldah descended from both Joshua and Rahab. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But did Joshua have any descendants? But isn’t it written in the genealogical list of the tribe of Ephraim: “Nun his son, Joshua his son” (I Chronicles 7:27)? The listing does not continue any further, implying that Joshua had no sons. The Gemara answers: Indeed, he did not have sons, but he did have daughters.