Ruth 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Unlike the judaica press and soncino commentaries, the jps commentaries are producing a detailed linebyline commentary of every passage, in every book of the bible. The jewish publication society, known in the jewish community as jps, has initiated a longterm, largescale project to complete a modern jewish commentary on the entire hebrew bible. Can be read any time during the year, but especially on shavuot pentecost, the.
English translation of the entire tanakh tanach with rashis commentary. Where to find podcasts, videos and essays on the weeks portion. Olitzky this work incorporates interpretations from the targum, rashi, and ibn ezra, as well as scholarly and contemporary sources, to create an engaging and accessible modern. Ruth is the ancestor of king david, and consequently the matriarch of the messianic line. Moreover, jewish canonical tradition links judges and ruth, together as one book, again pointing to an early date. The book of ruth derives its name from its principal character. This hebrew bible was edited by esteemed translator and scholar, rabbi a. A comparative study of jewish commentaries and patristic. She lived long enough to see her greatgrandson david, who became the l. The old testament tells us some of the things that happened before the life of jesus on earth. New commentary on book of ruth a refreshing approach to bible. Uncover his feet remove the clothes which are upon his feet. This article describes the first printing of the hebrew bible with major jewish commentaries, notes concerning translations into aramaic and english, lists some universally accepted jewish commentaries with notes on their method of approach and lists modern translations into english with notes. Ruth by james van dine against the black cloth of judges, ruth sparkles like a white pearl of great price.
The hebrew bible, which is also called the tanakh t. Indeed, the book of ruth is a fresh breath of air after reading judges. Ruth 1 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on the. Online english translation of the tanakh jewish bible with rashis commentary. The jps bible commentary ruth, commentary by tamara cohn eskenazi and tikva frymerkensky, jewish publication society, 2011, 178 pp. Commentary on the book of ruth by matthew henry old. This delightful version of the book of ruth includes the full text from the complete jewish bible on the left page of the twopage spread.
From alienation to monarchy, as well as the two other commentaries that have been published so far in the maggid studies in tanakh seriesone on the book of. Its story of gods concern for two widows and of ruths devotion to her motherinlaw and first husband is inspiring and fore. As we move from the book of judges to the book of ruth, a bright light suddenly shines against the dark backdrop of a morally corrupt time period. Thus, the exegesis of for wherever you go, i will go. In the letter the book of ruth forms a suitable introduction to the prophecies, in spirit it stands like the psalms at the gates of the gospel. The book of ruth, which is poetically idyllic in character, although the narrative is in the form of prose, contains an episode from the period of the judges. Anyone reading the story of ruth is immediately struck by the strength of her dedication to her mother in law, naomi. Broch book of ruth, as reflected in rabbinic literature new york, philipp feldheim, 1975.
We, like ruth, have traveled away from our father in hebrew mo ab. You can find the best commentary on ruth for you using the tools on the right side. The jewish publication societys highly acclaimed bible commentary series provides a critical linebyline commentary of the biblical text, which is presented in its original hebrew, complete with vocalization and cantillation marks, as well as the jps english translation. Commentaries in this series now include jonah, lamentations, ruth, the song of songs, ecclesiastes, and proverbs. On the right are artful illustrations with brief story summaries that can be read to young children. In the series of the sacred writings of the old testament, the short book of ruth occupies two different principal. Jesus, the greatest of all kings, came from bethlehem from the same family.
A broad survey of older jewish commentaries is presented along with more modern discussions. Ruth 1 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on. They look at the bible and its galaxies of commentaries and at customs surrounding marriage and sexuality to describe a tradition that both honors and esteems the pleasures of sex. How the five books of moses are divided up into weekly portions. The jewish publication societys highly acclaimed bible commentary series provides a critical linebyline commentary of the biblical text, which is presented in its original hebrew, complete with vocalization and cantillation marks, as well as the jps english translation the moving story of ruth, with its themes of loyalty, loving kindness hesed, and redemption, is one. Ruths name provides the title for the book of ruth, probably a piece of. We clearly indicated that both exegetical schools of interpreters did not find meaning in the text of the book of ruth, but rather read in some agendas and issues into the text from outside, from the exegetes themselves and their surrounding backgrounds. The research work for this project urges the need to analyze both jewish and patristic. It is set in the time of the judges not the best ones, if we assign it to the period of gideon and samson and it attempts to define the rights of widows and aliens within a society fallen upon hard times. The jewish study bible, from oxford university press, edited by adele berlin and marc zvi brettler. Top 5 commentaries on the book of ruth ligonier ministries. Ruth, book ofcommentaries, commentaries old testament. In the relations between boaz and ruth it is also felt that both are performing acts of kindness to each other.
Such a view tends to regard the book as reliable history. These are the latest books collected and designated as authoritative in the jewish canon, with the latest parts having dates ranging into the 2nd. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. Lessons from the book of ruth jewish theological seminary. Another is the fact that ruth is found in hebrew bibles in the hagiographa. Ruths name provides the title for the book of ruth, probably a piece of historical fiction set in the time of the judges. The hebrew bible was codified by the rabbis at the great assembly and was first printed as volume 1. See the full text of the book of ruth in hebrew and english with rashis commentary. Among historical narratives in scripture it is unexcelled in its compactness, vividness, warmth, beauty and dramatic effectiveness an exquisitely wrought jewel of hebrew narrative art. It is understandable that traditional jews have been wary of modern biblical studies for so long. Jewish traditions say that the six measures of barley given as a gift to ruth were a sign of six pious men who would descend from her, endowed with six spiritual gifts. Learn the many chapters that make up the tanach and find out where you can find more information about each.
Appealing to scholars and laypersons alike, jpss bible commentary on the book of ruth follows a similar pattern to the volumes dealing with jonah, esther, and ecclesiastes published. Naomi cares for her daughterinlaw ruth, and ruth cares for her motherinlaw naomi. It celebrates the loyalty and reward of a young moabite widow ruth who chooses to follow her israelite motherinlaw naomi back to bethlehem after naomi was bereaved of her own husband and two sons. Ruths earlier or first love was the love she had shown to her deceased husband and her motherinlaw comp. The interpreters bible gives the following outline of the book of ruth. Ruth, naomi and boaz all occupy the stage in turn, and. Upon his death she becomes a childless widow who chooses to accompany her motherinlaw, naomi, to judah. The book of ruth, the second of the tanakhs five scrolls to be read on shavuot, turns on at. While quite obvious at first glance, this theme does present a major difficulty on closer examination. The jewish publication societys highly acclaimed bible commentary series provides a critical linebyline commentary of the biblical text, which is presented in its original hebrew, complete with vocalization and cantillation marks, as well as the jps english translation the moving story of ruth, with its themes of loyalty, loving kindness hesed, and redemption.
New commentary on book of ruth a refreshing approach. The hebrew bible was codified by the rabbis at the great assembly and was first. Free bible commentary on book of ruth in easy english. Fentresswilliams awakens readers to the beauty and possibilities of ruth on multiple levels. Ruth 1 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, by the leading authority in the church of christ, presents a verse level look at the bible.
From this family came boaz and, later, great king david. As a liberal jewish community, we encourage our young adults to affirm their commitment to the jewish community on shavuot. We also read the book of ruth because ruth s fidelity is symbolic of the loyalty expected of the entire jewish community to torah and to the people of israel. Ruth s name provides the title for the book of ruth, probably a piece of historical fiction set in the time of the judges. Ruth was a moabite princess of very fine character, who became the. Now see from royal davids line one hope for jew and gentile shine. The book of ruth stands apart from other books of scripture, and therefore may well deserve and demand a separate and somewhat distinct method of treatment. A comparative study of jewish commentaries and patristic literature on the book of ruth. The title of the thesis compared study of patristic and jewish exegesis indicates the goal and the scope of this study.
She was dissatisfied with the idolworship of her own people, and when the opportunity arose, she gladly gave up the privileges of royalty in her land and accepted a life of poverty among people she admired. Besides the opening statement of the book, the internal evidence reveals an intimate acquaintance with ancient hebrew and near eastern social customs chapters three and four. This commentary on ruth appears to be wellresearched and is wellwritten. Had ruth acted in any respect that in those days was judged indecent or immodest, it is most likely she would have highly displeased such. Joshua and judges have mostly to do with israels relationship to the land. There is no special book in the bible about mary, but god has given us this lovely book about ruth. Ruth focuses more on the seed promise of the abrahamic covenant with special emphasis on the line of the king. Ruth is a moabite woman who marries a judean immigrant named mahlon 1.
And david, as you know, was the youngest son of jesse. Who is this woman, special enough to have an entire book in the bible named for her, which we read on shavuot, the epic day on which the torah was given to the jewish people. This dissertation deals with two exegetical traditions, that of the early jewish and the patristic schools. New commentary on book of ruth a refreshing approach jewish. May 14, 2002 if we could learn to emulate ruth in our own act of torah acceptance, the act of divine service that is the essence of shavuot, we would succeed in absorbing the entire spiritual input offered by god on the shavuot holiday. The second part of the book iv, 1822 consists in a brief genealogy which connects the line of david through booz with phares, one of the sons of juda. In her the gentiles find a place to share the hope of judahs race. Ruth and jonathan mark associate editor, jewish week offer an engaging, accessible tour of sexuality within jewish religion and culture. Excerpts this commentary is from a modern writer and is well done background notes. On the surface, it is the story of a young virtuous maiden who leaves her family and her nation to cast her lot with a people and religion that she has not previously known. It is set in the time of the judges not the best ones, if we. See the commentary of the gaon of vilna on the book of ruth. The story of ruth is a true story, and it tells us about the birth of obed. Jewish bible commentaries merrimack valley havurah.
For ruth and boaz had a son named obed, who became the father of jesse. Ruth most likely comes from a moabite andor hebrew word meaning friendship. The five relatively short books of the song of songs, the book of ruth, the book of lamentations, ecclesiastes and the book of esther are collectively known as the hamesh megillot five megillot. Posted on june 12, 2005 5765 main commentary holidays. Jewish commentaries on the bible religionwiki fandom. She was a moabite princess who converted to judaism in the 10th century. Published by used with permission ruth what star of messianic truth more beautiful than gentile ruth. The book of ruth is a hebrew short story, told with consummate skill. These two different hermeneutical approaches from a specific period of time will be compared with each other illustrated by their interpretation of the book of ruth. The book of ruth, which appears in the third section of the hebrew bible, ktuvim, writings, is a beautiful folktale written in four short chapters. From alienation to monarchy, as well as the two other commentaries that have been published so far in the maggid. These texts are almost exclusively in biblical hebrew, with a few passages in biblical aramaic instead in the books of daniel and ezra, the verse jeremiah 10.
The book of ruth does not mention that boaz had a wife and children. The book of ruth summary ruth was a moabite princess of very fine character, who became the greatgrandmother of king david. It is a groundless tradition of the jews that ruth was the daughter of eglon king of moab, yet the chaldee paraphrast inserts it. The book of leviticus comes to life here, with its injunctions to leave part of the harvest for the needy, and with all of its concern and compassion for the underprivileged within the society. David, daniel, hananiah, mishael, azariah, and the messiah. To provide a biographical sketch of the pious ancestors of david the king which the books of samuel do not provide. The complete tanakh tanach hebrew bible the jewish. For this reason it is placed in the septuagint after the book of judges. The book of ruth, which appears in the third section of the hebrew bible, ktuvim, writings, is a beautiful folktale. Without imposing contemporary values onto an ancient writer, she probes the ambiguities of human motivation and the subtle negotiation of power in domestic relationships, while at the same time revealing the richness of ruth as a metaphor for israels struggle for identity. From alienation to monarchy, as well as the two other commentaries that have been published so far in the maggid studies in tanakh series one on the book of jeremiah and another on the book of joshua are good examples of studies of the bible that make use of the methods of literary analysis. Even linguistically the importance of kindness is prominent. Oct 01, 20 the jps bible commentary ruth, commentary by tamara cohn eskenazi and tikva frymerkensky, jewish publication society, 2011, 178 pp.
Ruth s earlier or first love was the love she had shown to her deceased husband and her motherinlaw comp. The allusion to the act of confirmation by the ceremony of the shoe as though it were an obsolete practice is only one of several indications that the book is later than this. Lovingkindness stands at the center of the book of ruth. There are several interwoven threads of meaning in the book of ruth. Neither doctrinal nor polemical, and scarcely to be called historical, it yet has the infinite suggestiveness which must always belong to human life, tried, tempted, and finally triumphant. Whereas there are few traditional commentaries on jonah, we are fortunate to. Ruth is a book for all times, whether written in post. If we could learn to emulate ruth in our own act of torah acceptance, the act of divine service that is the essence of shavuot, we would succeed in absorbing the entire spiritual input offered by god on the shavuot holiday.
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