Write about the Book of Ruth for Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament.
The Old Testament forms the theological base of both Judaism and Christianity. The book is one important part of the Hebrew Bible which has later on evolved after the descending of Christ and the beginning of Christianity. There are different wars that characterised the era and the incidents told in the book of Ruth is rather a change in the approach with loyalty, humility and affection taking front stage. How Ruth being loyal to her mother in law accompanied her and accepted the “the God of the Israelites as her God and the Israelite people as her own” (Bush 2018). There are various themes within the book that gets clearer as the book is studied in greater detail. The book of Ruth is studied in various occasions in religious gatherings. It is considered to be one of the most important books in the Christian theology.
There are various themes in the book of the Ruth, which can be understood by reading the book from various perspectives. Some of the themes which can be deduced from the book can be discussed. Humility of the protagonist can be considered as one of the main themes of the book. Ruth is the main character of this book and she shows how to use humility for the purpose of spiritual benefit. Ruth shows by example the process of being down to earth and kind (Halton 2012, 20-34). The mother in law Naomi who lost her son was already broken with grief. This would have been further increased if both of her daughter in laws would go away leaving her. However Ruth decided to stay which would improve the situation for her. This brings the reader to the next theme of loyalty. Ruth was very much loyal to her mother in law which meant that she would not leave her even if the husband was not there with the wife anymore. The other daughter in law of the lady decided to leave, this shows the difference between Ruth and her. That makes Ruth the ideal character of the book and also a theological hero of the Old Testament (Chisholm 2013). These two themes of humility and loyalty are two of the ideal characters of a person that can be learnt through theological studies and spiritual development. The Hebrew word for loyalty is “Chesed” which is seen repeatedly used in the book of Ruth (Longman 2013).
The Hebrew Bible also describes God being loyal to his own subjects that will increase the faith of the Hebrew gentiles on God. The book is naturally very famous in the Gentiles who were later converted into the Christian religion. The Non Israeli Jews can take it into consideration how God of the Israelites welcome non Israelites into his covenant. This establishes that God is not anti-Gentile, however there has to be deep devotion shown to Yahweh. Examples of similar incidents when God welcomes Rahab in the narrative of Joshua and Ninevites in Jonah, all of whom were gentile (Harris et al. 2012).
It can be seen from the whole book of Ruth that there no incidents of any miracles or any incidents that can be attributed to the wonders caused by God. Therefore it is re-established that God works through ordinary means and through ordinary people. Every time denoting a miracle to the act of God actually diminishes his power and that he can also act normally without causing any miracle to take place. Family life is one of the important themes of the book of Ruth, in which though a family is seen to be in the face of utter chaos and crisis however there is God who is guiding the members of the family towards the right path (Goswell 2014). Both the husband and the son of Naomi dies, she is hopeless however it is to be understood that all is not lost and if there is Gods will then anyone can get over such crisis. Boaz also did not have an heir of his own and Naomi was in the same condition after death of the male members of her family, yet by God’s will Ruth is married to Boaz and they get a child progeny. Therefore the will of the God is greatest and one should depend on God without moaning. The family line that continues after the birth of this child is very important in theocratic history. This son is Obed who is the father of Jesse, who is father of David. David’s greater son is Jesus Christ. Therefore God himself acts in the life of the family and blesses them with the fortune of establishing the family line in which Jesus himself appeared (Schipper 2016).
There are various scholars who have researched on the various themes of the book of Ruth and gives a synthetic study of the same. Ruth has shown her awareness of God from the very beginning of the portrayal of her character. She has referred to God by the term deity whereas all other characters are seen to be taking name of God. This shows her respect to the almighty. There is a fundamental difference in which Naomi perceives the pervasiveness of God and how Ruth perceives the same (Fentress-Williams 2012). The theological scholars have shown the presence of the hand of God in Ruth’s life through various events such as the “natural events, the events happening by chance, the humanistic interference, the legal process, the matters of reproduction and biology that takes forward the family.
One of the best features of the book of Ruth lies in the fact that the people also reflects the characteristic of God. The characters in the book show very ideal characters and they always follow the path of righteousness. The hand of God is reflected not only in the events but also in the characters of the narrative. The extreme commitment of Ruth to her mother in law, her humility her loyalty and her faith in embracing the God of Israel are all reflections of the Godly nature present within the humanity. Ruth is herself a gentile or outsider to the religion, in spite of that she shows her faith and commitment to the God which is remarkable and worth noting even for many of the Jews people following the Hebrew Bible very seriously (Laffey and Leonard-Fleckman 2017).
Boaz is one character who is having his Messianic ideals as he is the one who helps Ruth in getting back to the normal life after marrying her in spite of Ruth being the widow of the son of Naomi (Fewell and Gunn 2013, 233-239). However many scholars also view Obed as having typical Messiah. He has taken birth in unusual circumstances from a lady who was perceived to be “barren”. He is the one who later established the lineage where Jesus Christ appeared. The name of the person given by the community meant “servant”, therefore he was allegorically meant to be the servant of the supreme Lord.
The Book of Ruth is one of the two books of Bible that bears the name of a woman, the other one being the book of Esther. Ruth is non-Jews or Moabites on the other hand Esther was Jewess. The book of Ruth remarkable narrates the history of a gentile woman who accepted the Jewish religion and had the fortune to become the great grandmother of David.
Conclusion
The thesis statement of the paper is thus proved that through the book of Ruth it can be proved that even gentiles can become an important part of the theological scenario of the Biblical religion if the devotion and love for God is there. Ruth being a gentile woman gets a Biblical narrative in her own name and she becomes one of the important Biblical figures in the lineage of Jesus Christ himself.
The various authors, scholars and theological experts who have given their interpretation of the book of Ruth has explained how this book has helped in reviving the faith of the non-Jewish in the Biblical religion. The assurance of protecting and rescuing even the fallen gentile souls is possible when the faith in Yahweh is restored. Ruth herself shows through her characteristic features the ideal character of the true devotee of God. Her humble nature and her loyalty towards family are some of the important traits that can be understood from this book. She shows loyalty to her mother in law when she was in the greatest crisis of losing both her husband and her son.
Gender role in Biblical religion and the importance of the family are two other important aspects that is there in the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth is the only book other than the book of Esther that is in the name of a woman. She in spite of being gentile is given such a high place is a remarkable fact in the theological history.
Reference:
Bush, Frederic W. Ruth-Esther. Vol. 9. Zondervan, 2018.
Chisholm Jr, Robert B. A commentary on Judges and Ruth. Kregel Academic, 2013.
Fentress-Williams, Judy. Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries| Ruth. Abingdon Press, 2012.
Fewell, Danna N., and M. G. Gunn. “A Son Is Born to Naomi’: Literary Allusions and Interpretation in the Book of Ruth.”.” Women in the Hebrew Bible (2013): 233-239.
Goswell, Gregory R. “The book of Ruth and the house of David.” Evangelical Quarterly 86, no. 2 (2014).
Halton, Charles. “An Indecent Proposal: The Theological Core of the Book of Ruth.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 26, no. 1 (2012): 30-43.
Harris, J. Gordon, Cheryl A. Brown, and Michael S. Moore. Joshua, Judges, Ruth (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series). Baker Books, 2012.
Laffey, Alice L., and Mahri Leonard-Fleckman. Ruth. Vol. 8. Liturgical Press, 2017.
Longman, Tremper III. Old testament commentary survey. Baker Books, 2013.
Schipper, Jeremy. Ruth: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Yale University Press, 2016.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download
