For Hess, Rahab was apparently one of few women in the outpost, but the story is more about her and the salvation of her family than it is about the fall of Jericho. Hess also argues that the Hebrew word melek (מֶלֶךְ) does not always mean “king” in the sense of a powerful monarch controlling a large territory. It can refer to an administrator subject to a more powerful ruler or “of anyone holding influence over others.”856 The “king of Jericho” then, could be understood as the military commander