1/14/20 – Bible Jam 2020.01.14.01 Notes on Ruth IB 1

Bible Jam

January 14, 2020

Hebrew Bible: TaNaKh

1/14/20 – Bible Jam 2020.01.14.01 Notes on Ruth IB 2

The 24 books of the Tanakh, in order

Law (Torah)

These are the books of teaching, the main character of which is Moses. In

these books, God chooses Israel to be his special people, and he lays out

his expectations for them.

1. Genesis

2. Exodus

3. Leviticus

4. Numbers

5. Deuteronomy

This section ends with the scribes commenting that no prophet like Moses

has come along since his time. (Which isn’t quite true anymore, if you ask

Christians!) This implies that there were more prophets—which is covered

in the next section of the Tanakh.

Prophets (Nevi’im) This is where we see God’s covenant relationship with Israel play out.

(Spoiler alert: it doesn’t go so well.) God sends messengers to Israel to

warn them of the consequences of breaking God’s laws, but the people, for

the most part, ignore them.

1. Joshua

2. Judges

3. Samuel

4. Kings

5. Isaiah

6. Jeremiah

7. Ezekiel

8. The Twelve

(Minor prophets in the OT)

1/14/20 – Bible Jam 2020.01.14.01 Notes on Ruth IB 3

The Prophets end with a note that looks back on the Torah and anticipates

the writings. In the book of Malachi (which likely means, “My Messenger”),

God tells the people that they will once again see the distinction between

the righteous and the wicked, and urges the people to remember the law

that Moses gave in the Torah.

And the Writings pick up where the Prophets left off, describing how

blessed the person who remembers the Law is, and how those who forsake

the law eventually come to ruin.

Writings (Ketuvim) These works of wisdom, poetry, and narrative are arranged to help readers

navigate the world in light of God’s laws. They helped ancient Jews make

decisions, worship God, remember their history, and look forward to a

future when the long-awaited Messiah would save them.

1. Psalms

2. Proverbs

3. Job

4. Song of Songs

5. Ruth 6. Lamentations

7. Ecclesiastes

8. Esther 9. Daniel

10. Ezra-Nehemiah

11. Chronicles

1/14/20 – Bible Jam 2020.01.14.01 Notes on Ruth IB 4

The Book of Ruth (Ambiguous Dating)

From the Interpreter’s Bible (IB): Introduction on Ruth (p.891)

The book of Ruth contains an artistically constructed, kaleidoscopic

narrative that is more like an extended parable than an historical report.

The story is told with extreme narrative economy (a style that includes

delivered gaps or silences that leave many details unexplained) and with a

characteristic disregard for historical or political details.

The narrator uses symbolic names (such as the names of Naomi’s sons,

signifying in advance that they are not long for this world), word play (such

as puns and double entendres), and the purposeful repetition of words and

phrases to highlight themes and underline ambiguities. The “sophisticated

literary artistry of the author” is marked by “the conscious intentional

employment of multiple levels of meaning in the narrative.”

Notes:

1. Ruth has the power of revealing us to ourselves as we are rather than

as we think we ought to be.

2. Ruth is a Moabite, an ethnic group that was despised and rejected by

those who consider themselves to be the “people of God.”

3. Naomi is a central character in the book, who most closely mirrors the

attitudes and experiences of the people of God, including both Israel

and the church.

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4. Repetition indicates that “redemption” is a key concern in Ruth.

Naomi is the ultimate recipient of redemption in the story.

5. Reversal is the essence of redemption. Within the story world Naomi

is the primary object of redemption. It is Naomi whose life is turned

around, whose feelings of bitterness, emptiness, and hopelessness

are reversed. Ruth’s faithfulness is only the instrument God uses to

accomplish Naomi’s redemption.

6. Ruth, the outsider, the representative of a group Deuteronomy

refuses to admit to the “assembly of the Lord,” is the agent or tool

God uses to bring about the redemption of Israel/Naomi.

a. Deut 23:3 – “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the

congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall

they not enter in the congregation of the Lord forever.”

7. A redemptive reading of Ruth will assume that the story is primarily

concerned with the faithfulness of God rather than with the

faithfulness of the people of God. In Ruth, redemption is based on

grace, not merit. Redemption is not a reward given to Naomi because

of her exemplary behavior. God chooses to redeem those who seem

to have done little to deserve it. And God chooses to use those who

seem unqualified acc. to human standards of judgment to accomplish

God’s purposes in the world. The admirability of the “other” in the

story (be they Samaritan or Moabite) should serve primarily to convict

us of our own repeated failures to recognize the despised “other” as

an agent of God’s redemptive activity in the world.

1/14/20 – Bible Jam 2020.01.14.01 Notes on Ruth IB 6

A Note about David

Some posit that this was written during the time of David to strengthen his

position as king. Arguments for and against this make it difficult to say

whether this is so. However, I thought that this reference in the IB, was

interesting to note:

“… David’s greatest fame in Israel came in retrospect, as people in later

times looked back on the beginnings of the Davidic dynasty, which had

become remarkable for its stability and longevity. Long after David’s own

time, as the gap between the theological ideals projected onto human

kingship and the historical realities perpetrated by human kings continue to

widen, the faithful in Israel began to look for a future king descended from

David (a messiah), meaning “an anointed one” whose reign would bring

about true security, justice, and well-being. Thus, David’s significance did

not diminish with time but grew even greater in the years just before and

after the Babylonian exile (587-539 B.C.E).”

Dominant themes: redemption; insider/outsider dynamics “The enduring appeal of Ruth depends precisely upon this non-specificity of dating, which allows the story to function effectively as revelation in our own as well as in Israel’s eyes. When the kaleidoscope of history spins into our own time, we must consider how people in a country that is in the process of tightening its immigration laws in order to protect its cultural identity will see or hear themselves reflected in the dynamics of the text. Every new reader is challenged afresh to recognize his or her own present reality mirrored in a narrative that both convicts us of our lack of merit and assures us of God’s redemptive inclinations.” (1998)