ContradictionsReading order 516Bible context 1 min read
Was Rahab saved by faith or works?
Hebrews credits Rahab's faith, while James credits her actions. Neither quoted account says that the other factor was absent.
- Textual conflict
- Weak contradiction
- The supplied passages do not establish incompatible claims. Different events, meanings, or conditions may account for the difference.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
Both passages associate Rahab's reception of the spies with her favorable outcome and neither excludes faith or action.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Rahab escapes destruction through faith expressed in receiving spies
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Hebrews 11:31
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Hebrews 11
Rahab is justified through her actions toward the messengers
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
James 2:25
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
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