MembersThe Woman at the Window

What does this mean, and where does this idea come from? In the Middle East, for example in Iraq, but similarly in Israel, ivory carvings from the 8th century BC have been found which depict a woman at a window.

The theme appears for the first time in the Bible in the account of the taking of the Land. Joshua sends into the land of Canaan spies who are very nearly discovered in Jericho. Rahab the harlot rescues the two spies. “Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.” (Joshua 2:15) In return, Rahab is promised that she and her family would be spared. “When we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.” (verse 18)

In the story of King Saul there is likewise a woman at the window....