The Book of RuthThe Little Biblical Book with Large Themes Talkback Add Your Comment
 Many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the story of Ruth, but we may not be aware that this short book contains many of the themes important to the Hebrew Bible as a whole. We’ve selected two articles that will help you deepen your appreciation of this beautiful Biblical tale. In “Ruth,” an article that originally appeared in Bible Review, Bible scholar Adele Berlin recounts the story of Ruth and shows how it interweaves issues of land and people, exile and return. In a second BR article, “Men Are from Judah, Women Are from Bethlehem,” Denise Dick Herr, a professor of English, uses bestselling contemporary books on the different communication styles of women and men as a springboard to examine the speech of the characters in Ruth; her close reading reveals that the men’s speech is concerned with control and power while that of the women focuses on relationships and love.
The book of RuthRuth is advised by her mother-in-law to wash and perfume and go to Boaz that night to lie 'at his feet'. That is Biblical euphemism for Boaz's genitals. Ruth did to Boaz what Monica Levinsky did to Clinton some 2,000 years later, but with a happier outcome. • • • • • • • the book of ruthImportant personal lessons: Elemelech, whose name means, GOD IS KING, must have had Godly parents. But in time of famine he does not live up to his name but retreats to an idolatrous country, bringing eventual disaster. Boaz, on the other hand,weathers the famine with God's people. Lesson: What I do in life can seriously affect others. A serious study of this little book can be a blessing to you - READ IT. • • • • • • • the book of ruthNo question, Ruth is a most important book in the OT writings. I have taught it often - there are so many practical lessons for us today since the setting of the story, "In the days when the Judges ruled" were days when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes. See further comment • • • • • • • RuthAdele Berlin's article on Ruth contains some acute insights into the meaning of this book. I think the point made about the remarkable incorporation of the foreigner (Ruth) into the life of her mother-in-laws community (Israel) finds support in William Dever's Who Were the Ancient Israelites and Where Did They Come From? published 2003 (after the original of Berlin's article). Dever makes a good case that the observed upsurge in population in the Judean highlands in the 12th century BCE is not evidence of a conquest, but represents an influx of the residents of Canaanite cities. After reading Dever's book it occurred to me that the real story behind the 12th century population boom for Israel is not in Joshua but in the book of Ruth. It is nice to see a hypothesis confirmed from two very disparate sources. • • • • • • • |
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