Book of Ruth

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ֹּ The book of Ruth or Ruth , Hebrew רוּת, is a book of the Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament . It has been divided into four chapters since the Middle Ages . The book of Ruth, as a novella in the Hebrew Bible, comprises a total of 85 verses. Here the book is under the "five fixed roles" (Ruth, Song of Songs, Kohelet, Lamentations, Esther). In the Greek-Latin. Tradition has it that it is regarded as an appendix to the Book of Judges and accordingly placed before Samuel's books. The “foreign peoples motif” (Ruth, the Moabite woman ), however, suggests to many interpreters that it was written in the post-exilic period (not before the second half of the 6th century BC). In Judaism, the book of Ruth is one of the five megillot , the festival rolls, and is read in the festive liturgy of the Jewish festival of the week . The book is about 1000 BC. At the time of the judges in Israel. Obed , Rut's son, is David's grandfather .

content

Ruth in the field of Boaz, painting by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld , 1828

The book of Ruth tells of the fate of a Jewish family who had to emigrate from Bethlehem in Judah to neighboring Moab because of a famine . Naomi (one of the main characters in the novel) and Elimelech move abroad with their two sons Machlon and Kiljon , where Elimelech dies soon after. The sons marry two Moabite women, Rut and Orpa ( Rut 1.4  EU ), but remain childless. After her sons died, Naomi was left alone as a widowed wife with her now widowed daughters-in-law ( Ruth 1.5  EU ).

Orpah then stays in Moab, but Ruth insists on moving to Israel with her mother-in-law, although as a Moabite she has to expect rejection there. Ruth replied, “Don't urge me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people are my people and your God is my God. Where you die, I will die too, that is where I want to be buried. The Lord should do this and that to me - only death will part me from you. ”( Ruth 1: 16-17  EU )

In Israel, Ruth collects ears of barley from Boaz , a relative of Naomi, which according to ( Lev 19.9  EU ) and ( Lev 23.22  EU ) the poor and strangers were entitled to. Boaz notices Ruth, acknowledges her extraordinary commitment to her family (2.11ff.) And encourages her. Then Naomi advised Ruth to lie down with Boaz at night after working in the fields. Boaz promises Ruth to marry her. There is, however, another relative who also has the right and duty to marry Ruth under the Levirate Law. Since the latter refuses, Boaz releases Ruth and takes her as his wife. Ruth bears him a son, Obed , the father of Jesse and grandfather of David . Ruth is thus also related to Jesus (see family tree of Jesus in Matthew 1.5 EU and Luke 3.32 EU )

The Orthodox Rabbi Israel Drazin sees the story of Rut as an example of how it was easier for non-Jews to be recognized as members of the people of Israel than it is now . According to the Mishnah , the recognition of Ruth as an Israelite does not contradict Deuteronomy 23: 4, since this regulation only applies to the male Moabites.

people

  • Naomi ("love"), later Mara ("bitter")
  • Ruth (unclear)
  • Boaz ("there is power / the potent in him")
  • Elimelech ("God is King")
  • Machlon ("sickly")
  • Kiljon ("weaker")
  • Orpa ("the one who turns her back")
  • Obed ("servant / servant")
  • the anonymous solver (in Hebrew: "so and so")

Remembrance day of the main character Ruth

Quotes

  • “Ruth replied: Don't urge me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people are my people and your God is my God. Where you die, I will die too, that is where I want to be buried. The Lord should do this and that to me - only death will part me from you. ”( Ruth 1: 16-17  EU )

Trivia

  • Ruth 1,16b  EU (see above) is often chosen as a marriage saying, also for two lesbians.
  • In the family tree of Jesus according to Mt 1,1ff  EU , Ruth (verse 5b) is one of five women who are mentioned. Next to her stand: Tamar (verse 3a), Rahab (verse 5a), Bathsheba (verse 6b) and Mary (verse 16).
  • The text was also filmed with some additions to the content: The Story of Ruth (1960; German title " The Book of Ruth ").

literature

Bible commentaries:

Novel adaptations:

  • Gerhard Fröhlich: The girl Ruth, the Moabite woman. A family story from the land of the Bible. Schardt, Oldenburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89841-424-1 .
  • Francine Rivers : A Woman of Love - Ruth. Johannis-Verlag, 2002.

Web links

Commons : Book of Ruth  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Israel Drazin: Did Ruth Convert to Judaism? , Timesofisrael.com , May 16, 2018.
  2. ↑ Alexandru Mihăilă: The Conversion of the Foreigners between Ruth and Ezra-Nehemiah, in: Institutul Teologic Penticostal (ed.), PLĒRŌMA. studii şi cercetări teologice, Bucharest 2011, pp. 32–33.
  3. ↑ This passage is found in several liturgies for the blessing of homosexual and lesbian couples, e. B.
    Blessing of couples in civil partnership. Materials for the divine service (Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck), Kassel 2013, ISBN 978-3-89477-884-2 , page 16;
    The celebration of the partnership blessing in the Catholic diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, developed for worship use by the Liturgical Commission and published by the Bishop and Synodal Representation, Alt-Katholischer Bistumsverlag, Bonn 2014, ISBN 9783934610-91-0 , page 18;
    Jewish blessing liturgy: B'rit Ahavah. Seder kiddushin l'zuggot chad-miniyyim / Covenant of Love. Service of Commitment for Same-Sex Couples, Liberal Judaism Series, London 2005, 21.