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Ruth: A Commentary

£58.00

After the significant and ground-breaking commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah by Lisbeth Fried, she now turns her attention to a different genre of biblical literature and to the book of Ruth. Fried approaches Ruth as folktale, specifically, a fairy tale. This new reading of Ruth allows the book to be experienced in a new way, a way infrequently recognized, that provides novel but compelling insights into the author’s intentions and goals.

 

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SKU: 978-1-914490-36-1

After the significant and ground-breaking commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah by Lisbeth Fried, she now turns her attention to a different genre of biblical literature and to the book of Ruth. Fried approaches Ruth as folktale, specifically, a fairy tale. This new reading of Ruth allows the book to be experienced in a new way, a way infrequently recognized, that provides novel but compelling insights into the author’s intentions and goals.

Fried uses Propp’s Morphology of a Folktale to provide the guideposts for her strikingly refreshing approach. The story of Ruth is one of a stranger in a strange land. Ruth’s author explores the meaning of identity, assimilation and acceptance. He asks whether identity can be changed, whether the Judean god and the Judean nationality can be taken on voluntarily, whether assimilation is possible,
whether the stranger can or should be welcomed into the bosom of a family, and indeed, whether he or she can be trusted. These are questions we deal with today, but it was a vital issue after the return from Babylon and on into the Hellenistic period, when foreigners (first Persian and then Greek) were everywhere, and in control of everyday life, and when their foreign ways were rampant. Ruth’s author recognizes that welcoming the stranger was and indeed is a scary proposition.

Like her Commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah, the present volume includes a new translation of the book, plus text-critical notes on each verse which compares and contrasts the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions as well as the Aramaic Targum. The Introduction and extensive chapter commentaries provide a discussion of the larger historical and literary issues. Fried’s commentary promises to revolutionize how we read the book of Ruth.

This is the fourth volume in the Critical Commentaries series.

Additional information

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Place of the Book of Ruth in the Liturgical Calendar
Position in the Canon
Date
Moab
Conversion
Purpose of the Book
Unity
Genre
The Approach of This Commentary
Text

Ruth 1.1-2
The Initial Situation (α): Members of a Family
Αre Enumerated
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
Comment A. The Initial Situation
Comment B. Who Were the Moabites?
Comment C. National Boundaries

Ruth 1.3-5
Function I: β. The Men in the Family Have Died
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comment: Death of the Family Member

Ruth 1.6-15
Function II: γ. A Command Ιs Addressed to a Family Member
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A. 
Propp’s Function γ: An Interdiction or Command Is
Addressed to a Family Member
B. Why the Return Home?
C. 
Why Does Naomi Command her Daughters-in-Law to
Stay in Moab?

Ruth 1.16-22
Function III: δ. ‘The Command Is Violated’
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A. Propp Function δ (delta): The Interdiction Is Violated
B. Literary Effect of Ruth’s Speech
C. Migration
D. Conversion
E. The Theology of the Text

Ruth 1.19-22
Digression: A Positive State Is Described
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comment: The Barley Harvest

Ruth 2.1-17
Function IV: ε. Ruth Attempts a Reconnaissance
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A: 
Propp’s Function ε: Ruth Makes an Attempt
at a Reconnaissance
B. Literary Type Scenes and their Inversions
C. Ruth—the Foreign Woman (nokriyyâ)

Ruth 2.18-23
Function V: ζ. Ruth Receives Information about Boaz
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A: The Role of Boaz according to Naomi
B: The Role of Boaz according to Propp
Excursuses
A: The Role of the Redeemer, the Gō∍ēl
B: The Role of the Levir

Ruth 3.1-5
Function V2: ζ2. The Villain Receives Additional
Information about the Victim
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A: Function V, ζ (zeta). Ruth Learns Where Boaz Is
B. Naomi and Inheritance Laws
C. The Effect of Food Insecurity

Ruth 3.6-9
Function VI: η. Trickery. The Villain Deceives the Victim by Trickery or by Direct Magical Means and Takes Possession of Him
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A. The Word לט, lāṭ , in Verse 7
B. The Role of Deception in the Book of Ruth

Ruth 3.10-18
Function VII: θ. Complicity. Boaz Submits and Agrees to Help Ruth
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comment and Excursus
Comment: The Social Support System in Ancient Judah
Excursus: The Meaning of ‘Redeem’ in Ruth 3.13

Ruth 4.1-2
Function XI (Departure: ↑): Boaz Departs, Determined to find the Redeemer of Ruth and Naomi
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A. Peloni-Almoni—Donor or False Hero?
B. Judgment at the City Gate

Ruth 4.3-12
Functions XII-XIV (D, E, F): The Hero
Is Tested and Passes the Test Enabling Him
to Receive the Magical Agent
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comments
A. Did Boaz Act from Altruism or Self-Interest
B. Ruth as the Magical Agent
C: Had Ruth Been Trafficked? Was She Enslaved?
D: Has Ruth Converted to Judaism? Has She Become a Jew?

Ruth 4.13-17a
Function XVIII (I): The Villain Is Defeated and
Function XIX (K): The Lack Is Liquidated
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comment: Where Is Judaism in This Story?

Ruth 4.18-22
The Hero Is Married and Ascends the Throne
(Designation K)
Translation
Textual Notes
Notes
Comment: The Genealogy

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Book information

Author
Lisbeth S. Fried
List Price
£58 / $78 / €68
Series
Critical Commentaries
Scholars' Price
£29 / $39 / €34
ISBN 13 hardback
978-1-914490-36-1
Format
hardback
Page Extent
x + 200
Publication Date
October 2023
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