1. Joshua 6:23 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why were Rahab and her family initially placed outside the camp of Israel?

Joshua 6:23 (ESV)

23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.

Rahab and her family were first placed outside of the camp as a kind of ritual quarantine.1 The camp itself was holy and nothing unclean was allowed to enter (Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:3; Numbers 31:19; Deuteronomy 23:3, Deuteronomy 23:14).