“I’m not a traitor. I just want to live.”

I wrote those words about two years ago.

Around this time each year, in synagogue, we read from Joshua chapter 2, the story of Rahab the harlot.

It inspired a short-short story, “The Confidant of Jericho," which concluded with the line above.

The story of Rahab always hits me between the eyes.

We say she was afraid of the Israelites, awed by God’s terrible power. Therefore, she believed in the God of the Israelites, and she hid the Israelite spies from the king of Jericho, and God accounted it to her as righteousness.

But I think there’s more to it than that. And I think this view of Rahab sells her short. Yes, I’m sure she was afraid of the Israelites. But was that enough to make her turn traitor?

From the moment they appeared at my door, I knew the two men weren’t from around here. The first of them introduced himself as Salmon, told me they were seeking my services, said that Avi had sent them. I looked him in the eye for a few seconds. Good-looking, not too eager. I try to be careful about making mistakes, because there are some services I don’t provide, and I’ve been burnt before. But they looked okay, and they knew Avi. Business travelers, I thought, slumming it up in the red-light district. I let them in.

They gave the room a once-over, my humble abode. I told them where to sit, in the dark corner near where I had been weaving flax into rope. I poured them each a drink, gyrating and throwing them each a wink. I described to them the services I offer—and told them which ones I don’t offer—and how much it would cost. Nods all around.

One of them started a conversation. Nothing about that seemed out of whack. Men often enjoyed a little casual talk before satisfying their baser urges. Salmon said he had heard that I sometimes met high-ranking officials. Even that didn’t make me suspicious. I just told him I couldn’t discuss who I know or don’t know. I may be just a whore, but privacy is still pretty important in my line of work, and I don’t want to get on the wrong side of some of my clients.

“What have you heard about the nomads camped on the other side of the Jordan?” the other man asked.

I think that’s when I first started to suspect something wasn’t quite right about these two.