We’re uncovering more than Boaz’s feet in this episode of The Bible for Normal People as Judy Fentress-Williams joins Pete and Jared to take a historical-critical look at the symbolism, cultural context, and subversive embrace of the other within the book of Ruth. Join them as they explore the following questions:
What is the plot of Ruth?
Who are the main characters in the story of Ruth?
Why was Ruth written?
Is the book primarily historical or fictional? What difference does it make if it’s historical? Fictional?
What are the meanings behind the names in the book of Ruth?
When do scholars think the book was written? Is there more than one theory?
What kind of meaning would the book of Ruth held for its readers?
What is important about the placing of Ruth in the Christian and the Jewish canons?
Who were the Moabites and what role do they play in the story of Ruth?
What parts of the narrative do we miss as modern day readers who are not located within the culture of the Ancient Near East?
How does levirate marriage play into the story of Ruth?
We all want to know but are too afraid to ask—what really goes down on the threshing floor with Boaz?!
How does the story of Ruth help us think about enemies as kin?
In what ways does postcolonial biblical studies shape the way we can read Ruth?
Tweetables
Pithy, shareable, sometimes-less-than-280-character statements from the episode you can share.
Instead of asking “why was this book written?” we may want to ask: “why was the story told?” The Israelites were an oral culture. And so this is a story that was told. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
When we think about dating [a text] in a historical critical method, and we want to figure out when it may have been written, that may have very little to do with how long the story had been in circulation. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
If I think about the story of Ruth, we are hard pressed to designate this story as history. The names are highly symbolic, tied more to their role in the story than what they may have been named as historical characters. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
I like the argument or the theory that Ruth is written or comes into its final form at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, which would have been the sixth or fifth century. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
Ruth is associated with the Festival of Weeks, this harvest festival, and that makes sense—we've got all this harvest going on in the book. This book is chanted at that festival every year. So when people celebrate this holiday, they remember this story. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
We have a narrower view of Scripture because we come from a writing culture. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
When we ask the question about historical accuracy in the Bible, it's an invitation for us to be more critical of how we understand history. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
One of the things I love about the Bible is, you know, the people who are your enemies are actually your cousins. — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
I'm hoping that we read [Ruth] as an invitation for us to see the way that God works through the person that we deem "other." And that our survival depends on us seeing God working through that "other." — Judy Fentress-Williams @theb4np
Mentioned in This Episode
Class: August Summer School class “Universal Salvation is Not Modern”
Books: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Ruth by Judy Fentress-Williams
Join: The Society of Normal People community
Support: www.thebiblefornormalpeople.com/give
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In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Richard Kalmin about the origins and history of the Talmud, why it was written, and how the text has functioned not just within Jewish history, but also in various modern denominations of Judaism.
