Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ruthy & Baruch" <alster AT comandcom.com>]

Lewis wrote:

> Rahab is identified as a zonah, which, at least in all the other
occurrences
> of the word that I can recall, means whore.  Yet, if I recall correctly,
at
> least some of the traditional Jewish commentaries (I'll have to check
which
> ones when I get home) interpret her profession as something like
> "innkeeper", attributing the word not as stemming from l'znot but from
> la'zon, to provide sustenance.
>

See Rashi, quoting Targum Yonatan.  However, Radak points out that
"innkeeper" (Aram. pundeqita) is common in Yonatan as a word for "whore"
(BH zonah).   Radak, Ibn Caspi and Abravanel all try to explain why this is
so ...

But a closer look at Rashi himself (on v. 11) will show that he brings a
Midrash (Bavli Zevachim 116b) which portrays Rahab as a whore. I would
check MSS to see if "mokheret minei mazon" on v. 1 is a gloss, Rashi
originally saying only: "tirgem Yonatan pundeqita."  But even if it's not a
gloss, v. 11 shows that Rashi was not comfortable with the "innkeeper"
idea.


 
> If my recollection is correct, what can we make of that suggestion? 
What,
> other than a concern for the reputation of the two spies whom Rahab hid,
> might have motivated the suggestion?

I would assume that this was indeed their motivation, but I also think it
to be common practice among traditional Jewish commentators to 'play
around' with words from 'weak' roots.  By the way, see Malbim's suggestion
how to defend the spies' reputation without taking Rahab's profession away
from her :-)

Kol Tuv,
Baruch Alster
Kochav Ya`akov, Israel