and it happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; where the men went I don't know: pursue after them quickly; for you will overtake them.
"The house of a harlot whose name was Rahab ..." Adam Clarke and others have insisted that "harlot" here actually means "innkeeper," and that there is no reason to question the character of this woman.[6]  It is true that many harlots ran inns, casting some doubt upon what, exactly, may be meant here, but we believe that Matthew's mention of only four women in the ancestry of Jesus - the four being: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba - is powerful evidence that Rahab was a common harlot.  There is no other consideration that would entitle her to a place in this list.  Also, the particular words used with reference to Rahab, both in the O.T. ([~zownah]) and in the N.T. ([@porne]) "definitely class her as a common harlot, not as a [~qedeshah] (temple or cult-priestess)."[7]  Then, there is the almost invariable custom of the times in that part of the world, that, "Inns, in the ordinary sense, were never kept by women."[8]