The Book of Ruth - Assignment

Running head: BOOK OF RUTH
BOOK OF RUTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

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Introduction
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.
Discussion
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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.