Compromising Redemption: Relating Characters in the Book of Ruth

by Danna Nolan Fewell, David M. Gunn

Book by Fewell, Danna Nolan, Gunn, David M.

Genres: Theology, Reference, Biblical Studies

141 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

Reviews

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book does a retelling of the book of Ruth that encompasses the writer’s interpretation of the character’s motives. The narrative is kind of funny.... makes the character seem a bit more sketchy than the noble version that is more familiar to us.

Then it goes into an analysis of each character and their motivation behind their actions or their words. It was a short, easy read that offered a view not commonly expressed about this story. Often the book of Ruth is told with one vantage point, and this book offers an enriched version. I’m not sure I could agree with all of its points and interpretations but nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short commentary on Ruth approaches the text more from a literary standpoint than a historical or philological standpoint. There are numerous textual notes, but they are for the most part relegated to the endnotes (which should be read). I learned of this book because it was often reference in a couple other commentaries on Ruth that I had previously read. Ruth lends itself to literary criticism because the characters are compelling, often complex, and the book itself reads like a novella. The first half of the book or so is a dramatic retelling of the story of Ruth. I don’t know if I was crazy about it. One attractive feature of the retelling was the way the authors worked in the stories of Tamar and Judah, and Leah and Jacob, both of which are referenced in the biblical version of Ruth. I would not recommend this as the first commentary to read on Ruth, but it would work well as the second or third.