More reasons than I realized as to why I like a seemingly
insignificant Old Testament book
APOLLOS Old Testament Commentary 7B: Ruth
Author: L. Daniel Hawk
Publisher: Apollos (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press,
England) (www.ivpress.com)
Pages: 166
People seem surprised when I tell them that Ruth is one
of my favorite books in the Bible. They wonder why I like such a small (only
four chapters), seemingly insignificant book. It has few references to God and
little theological content.
I probably haven’t helped much by saying that I like a
good story. Maybe I have not realized all the reasons why I have been drawn to
it. I do know that I was thrilled with the surprise of having L. Daniel Hawk’s
commentary arrive in the mail. He articulates why I cherish Ruth.
Warning: this article contains spoilers. If you have
never read this particular book in the bible, you should stop now before you
continue. It won’t take long, but take your time. The text itself is better
than my review or any commentary.
As noble as some of the characters in Ruth behave, I had
never thought of the story as being scandalous. Yet Hawk highlights an
insider/outsider motif. Ruth is not only an outsider, but a Moabite, a race
with a history of antagonism in relation to Israel.
The threat of idolatry looms behind the prohibition of
intermarriage with Moabite or other foreigners. When a relatively small company
of Jews repopulated their homeland, it was marriage to foreign women that
caused the godly Ezra so much consternation.
So how can an outsider like Ruth from a hated people
group be accepted into the community of Israel? Ruth tells the story, and
Hawk’s analysis is masterful. I will let him speak: “The book of Ruth plays
directly off these sentiments (of antagonism towards Moab – reviewer’s
addition) and turns them on their heads. In Ruth the reader encounters a
Moabite who joins the Israelite community and devotes herself to Israel’s God.
She personifies the faithfulness (hesed)
that defines the heart of ideal Israel. She marries an upstanding Judean male
and becomes the great-grandmother of Israel’s greatest king. Although she is
‘Ruth the Moabite’ throughout the narrative, the final mention of her name does
not include the ethnic signifiers. In the end she is only ‘Ruth’ (4:13), fully
indentified with the covenant community (Glover 2009: 294, 302-303)” (23).
It’s astonishing where Hawk, or should I say the story,
takes us: “The book concludes, however, with the community’s blessing of a
Moabite wife as better than seven (Israelite) males (4:15), articulating the
conviction that faithful foreigners can become valued members of the covenant
community” (25-26).
In reaching this conclusion, the author briefly summarizes
the relationship between law and narrative. He sees a flexible understanding of
the law. Think of Jesus refusing to chastise his hungry disciples from picking
and eating kernels of grain on the Sabbath. Christ responds to this challenge
from the Pharisees by directing their attention to an episode when David and
his men were fleeing from Saul. They broke the law by requesting and receiving
the bread that was only meant for the priests. Hawk notes three things from
this exchange that bear on Ruth’s acceptance into the community: “First, Christ
set a narrative text in opposition to a commandment. Secondly, he implied that
sustaining life takes priority over the strict application of the commandment;
both David and the disciples broke commandments in order to assuage hunger.
Thirdly, he commented on the role of the law: laws are made to serve people,
not the other way around” (138).
Does this make the author a theological liberal? No, he
has found exquisite beauty in a text that reflects God’s hesed, his steadfast love. He writes, “Ruth resists the idea that
membership in the covenant community is restricted to those who can trace a
bloodline to the nation’s ancestors and that walls must be erected to keep
ethnic others safely outside. It presents an alternative vision that recalls
the heart of the covenant tradition, that is, that Israel is a community
constituted by covenant rather than be genetics. Israelite identity, in other
words, is ultimately volitional, not innate. One becomes an Israelite by the decisions
one makes to live in devotion to Israel’s God and to display the devotion to
others that lies at the heart of the commandments. Ruth reveals that Israel’s
internal walls though have gates, and it establishes the means by which
outsiders may pass through them to unite with those who bear the blessing of
Abraham. Ruth the Moabite confesses Israel’s God, exemplifies covenant devotion
and, in due course, receives the blessing of Yahweh and a standing among
Israel’s ancestors” (140).
At first I thought that this commentary wasn’t oriented
enough towards application. I would have liked to have seen more along these
lines, but in reviewing passages like the foregoing, I realized that it is
here, and it’s exceptional. It’s just not what I expected. I was looking more
for pastoral insights and how readers can apply this to their own lives.
The author doesn’t get into types and allegories, places
that others frequent. Perhaps he believes that would read into the text
something that is not explicitly stated. Frankly, it’s probably better to start
with something like this, which is careful, sometimes technical exegesis. This
is a sure foundation.
