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Ruth, a tale of human kindness and just dealing far beyond the norm, contains elements that for centuries have been the subject of debate. With a sprightly translation and a commentary rich in informed speculation, Professor Campbell considers the questions of layman and scholar alike. Finding no overt mighty acts, the layman asks, "Why was Ruth included in the Bible at all? Where is God?" Professor Campbell shows that God is not only present throughout but is indeed the moving force behind all the developments of the story. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz each act as God to each other, by taking extraordinary responsibility and performing extraordinary acts of kindness. And it is God who is responsible for the series of coincidences on which the plot hinges. The scholar's questions deal with such matters as purpose, date, and genre. Professor Campbell's research into ancient customs and linguistics suggests to him that Ruth is a historical novelette, entertaining and instructive, composed not long after the reign of King David, during the time of Solomon or within the subsequent century. Professor Campbell demonstrates the storyteller's skill with sensitive analysis of form, pacing, and wordplay. By delving into word origins and nuances he shows how convincingly the characters are developed. One instance: Naomi and Boaz use obsolescent language, emphasizing the generation gap between them and Ruth. In addition, the illustrations help the reader understand unfamiliar elements of the story - the setting, the agricultural seasons and harvesting, the clothing of the times, the city gate where elders and interested villagers gather to make sure that all is done in a just and godly way.
188 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 3, 2022
An excellent resource that got me very excited about the book of Ruth! Campbell is strong on philology and grammar, archeology, textual criticism, and literary analysis. He's not quite as helpful for detailed theological insight, typology/canonical interpretation, or contemporary application -- but I expect that from an AYB volume.
He argues solidly for a very early date of composition, in part on the basis of probably archaic elements of the grammar (e.g., several occurences of an ancient feminine dual pronominal suffix, mistakenly pointed by the Masorites as a masculine plural). He does well at untying many of the knots concerning redemption customs -- or at least loosening them! He also does excellently at highlighting distant inclusios that frame and govern the whole narrative.
I think he's probably not willing enough to entertain the idea that the story may be genuinely historical. I also found myself frustrated with his insistence that, in many cases, there was no "original text." Instead, he sees the story as originating in a tradition of Hebrew bards who would improvise the narrative each time they sang it. At some point somebody wrote it down, but variants could well be attributed to variety in the bardic tradition. It's all extremely speculative and not worth much consideration, in my opinion.
On the whole, this is a marvelous technical work!
He argues solidly for a very early date of composition, in part on the basis of probably archaic elements of the grammar (e.g., several occurences of an ancient feminine dual pronominal suffix, mistakenly pointed by the Masorites as a masculine plural). He does well at untying many of the knots concerning redemption customs -- or at least loosening them! He also does excellently at highlighting distant inclusios that frame and govern the whole narrative.
I think he's probably not willing enough to entertain the idea that the story may be genuinely historical. I also found myself frustrated with his insistence that, in many cases, there was no "original text." Instead, he sees the story as originating in a tradition of Hebrew bards who would improvise the narrative each time they sang it. At some point somebody wrote it down, but variants could well be attributed to variety in the bardic tradition. It's all extremely speculative and not worth much consideration, in my opinion.
On the whole, this is a marvelous technical work!
April 6, 2014
When searching for resource material for a series I am currently doing on the Book of Ruth, I picked up a copy of The Anchor Bible: Ruth commentary by Edward Campbell, Jr. Having been familiar with the structure and focus of the Anchor Bible series as a result of utilizing a number of other volumes in this series for other research papers and personal Bible study, I was confident this particular volume would be true to form as the others, namely a commentary replete with scholarly information on the subject matter, in this case the Book of Ruth. I was not disappointed.
For anyone not familiar with the Anchor Bible Commentary Series, the stated purpose of this series is to “provide a fresh approach to the world’s greatest classic. Its object is to make the Bible accessible to the modern reader; its method is to arrive at the meaning of biblical literature through exact translation and extended exposition, and to reconstruct the ancient setting of the biblical story, as well as the circumstances of its transcription and the characteristics of its transcribers.” Also of note, the Anchor Bible series is somewhat of an “interfaith” effort, utilizing the works of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars. With that said, as with any commentary, it is important to read the comments made by the author with that needed proverbial grain of salt, always keeping in focus what God has to say in His word as being the true foundation.
What became readily apparent as I began to journey through the Book of Ruth is that despite being only four chapters in length, God has much so say in those four chapters. Furthermore, when one digs into the background and timeframe of the nations, characters, and events that take place within this story, there are numerous valuable concepts and truths that will unfold to the reader who is careful to study such things.
Those willing to take their time walking through the Book of Ruth will find the insights provided in the Anchor Commentary by Campbell to be very insightful. For instance, it is important to understand the genre which Ruth falls under, namely that of Hebrew historical short story or what is called novelle. Campbell aptly outlines for the reader what the novelle genre is to include how the Hebrew short story functions in practice. He saliently notes “these stories have a combination of purposes. They are by design both entertaining and instructive. Especially important: they look at ordinary events as being the scene of God’s subtly providential activity.” In the case of the Book of Ruth, understanding the novelle genre will greatly assist the reader trace that providential activity by God in the life of Ruth.
Another interesting aspect of the Book of Ruth noted by Campbell is that of the word-play that occurs through the book. Such word-plays are often missed in the English translation which is why it is important to engage the original languages when possible. A commentary tool such as the Anchor Bible will provide the reader the means by which to note these word-plays and more importantly, to understand why the word-play exists and what it is pointing to within the overall setting of the book. Things such as assonance and inclusio as well as long-range word-plays are all important elements of the Book of Ruth and Campbell does a great job of noting when they occur and why.
The Book of Ruth outlines God’s hesed or His lovingkindness as it is translated. This underlying theme is brilliantly noted by Campbell. Moreover, “Blessing, invocation, even complaint, all express ways in which God is expected to work out his will for the people who are involved in this openly human story – and in each case it is the people, living as they are under God’s sovereignty, who proceed to work it out.” Campbell also aptly comments “God it is who brings about shalom in the context of this town, among these people, through the caring responsibility of human beings for one another.” Campbell, throughout his commentary, traces that element of hesed, a key theme for the Book of Ruth.
Campbell arranges his commentary into small sections, each providing its respective pericope and commentary on that particular passage. One seemingly unique aspect of the Anchor Bible series is the provision of not only commentary on a certain portion of scripture, but also extensive notes that dig down deep into issues of language, history, scholarly debate, geography, and how all those issues feed back into understanding the passage at hand. While some may find the inclusion of such detail to be overwhelming and too scholarly in approach, I found the information to be very helpful when studying various word meanings and how such words were used in the time period of Ruth. Such background information is often invaluable for determining how to understand a word or concept, especially when it comes to certain words that are not used elsewhere in Scripture or that perhaps might have a large semantic range.
Overall, I found Campbell’s commentary on Ruth to be very useful. While it is not my favorite or go to commentary on this book, nevertheless, I found myself turning to it for matters of a more scholarly nature. I do recommend this commentary and the overall Anchor Bible series for those in Bible College or Seminary as its contents will be quite useful for research papers and discussions that involve a more scholarly approach to Scripture.
For anyone not familiar with the Anchor Bible Commentary Series, the stated purpose of this series is to “provide a fresh approach to the world’s greatest classic. Its object is to make the Bible accessible to the modern reader; its method is to arrive at the meaning of biblical literature through exact translation and extended exposition, and to reconstruct the ancient setting of the biblical story, as well as the circumstances of its transcription and the characteristics of its transcribers.” Also of note, the Anchor Bible series is somewhat of an “interfaith” effort, utilizing the works of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars. With that said, as with any commentary, it is important to read the comments made by the author with that needed proverbial grain of salt, always keeping in focus what God has to say in His word as being the true foundation.
What became readily apparent as I began to journey through the Book of Ruth is that despite being only four chapters in length, God has much so say in those four chapters. Furthermore, when one digs into the background and timeframe of the nations, characters, and events that take place within this story, there are numerous valuable concepts and truths that will unfold to the reader who is careful to study such things.
Those willing to take their time walking through the Book of Ruth will find the insights provided in the Anchor Commentary by Campbell to be very insightful. For instance, it is important to understand the genre which Ruth falls under, namely that of Hebrew historical short story or what is called novelle. Campbell aptly outlines for the reader what the novelle genre is to include how the Hebrew short story functions in practice. He saliently notes “these stories have a combination of purposes. They are by design both entertaining and instructive. Especially important: they look at ordinary events as being the scene of God’s subtly providential activity.” In the case of the Book of Ruth, understanding the novelle genre will greatly assist the reader trace that providential activity by God in the life of Ruth.
Another interesting aspect of the Book of Ruth noted by Campbell is that of the word-play that occurs through the book. Such word-plays are often missed in the English translation which is why it is important to engage the original languages when possible. A commentary tool such as the Anchor Bible will provide the reader the means by which to note these word-plays and more importantly, to understand why the word-play exists and what it is pointing to within the overall setting of the book. Things such as assonance and inclusio as well as long-range word-plays are all important elements of the Book of Ruth and Campbell does a great job of noting when they occur and why.
The Book of Ruth outlines God’s hesed or His lovingkindness as it is translated. This underlying theme is brilliantly noted by Campbell. Moreover, “Blessing, invocation, even complaint, all express ways in which God is expected to work out his will for the people who are involved in this openly human story – and in each case it is the people, living as they are under God’s sovereignty, who proceed to work it out.” Campbell also aptly comments “God it is who brings about shalom in the context of this town, among these people, through the caring responsibility of human beings for one another.” Campbell, throughout his commentary, traces that element of hesed, a key theme for the Book of Ruth.
Campbell arranges his commentary into small sections, each providing its respective pericope and commentary on that particular passage. One seemingly unique aspect of the Anchor Bible series is the provision of not only commentary on a certain portion of scripture, but also extensive notes that dig down deep into issues of language, history, scholarly debate, geography, and how all those issues feed back into understanding the passage at hand. While some may find the inclusion of such detail to be overwhelming and too scholarly in approach, I found the information to be very helpful when studying various word meanings and how such words were used in the time period of Ruth. Such background information is often invaluable for determining how to understand a word or concept, especially when it comes to certain words that are not used elsewhere in Scripture or that perhaps might have a large semantic range.
Overall, I found Campbell’s commentary on Ruth to be very useful. While it is not my favorite or go to commentary on this book, nevertheless, I found myself turning to it for matters of a more scholarly nature. I do recommend this commentary and the overall Anchor Bible series for those in Bible College or Seminary as its contents will be quite useful for research papers and discussions that involve a more scholarly approach to Scripture.
June 10, 2019
This spent a bit too much time on historical placement, historical origin, and other items that are less interesting to me than the theology of the work. If you want to know an entire background of this small book of the Bible, I think this would be an excellent resource. But notes on "all but this translation, some say 'x' instead, etc." dragged down the reading of the text as a companion piece.
For example, there's a large section about who the storyteller might have been. The Englsih Lit nerd I used to be would have been all over that. But now, I really want to know how Ruth's actions should help guide my own actions, and this wasn't really the book for that. And since it's called an "introduction and commentary" I think we needed more of the latter for it to really be what it said on the tin.
For example, there's a large section about who the storyteller might have been. The Englsih Lit nerd I used to be would have been all over that. But now, I really want to know how Ruth's actions should help guide my own actions, and this wasn't really the book for that. And since it's called an "introduction and commentary" I think we needed more of the latter for it to really be what it said on the tin.
September 13, 2022
So just to round up, this commentary on Ruth from the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary Series is great to get into the Hebrew, grammar and literary aspect. I would use it as a reference but not as a main commentary. Call me old-fashioned or nit-picking, but I think it’s important we both look at Ruth as a historical record rather than a fictional story, no matter how well-crafted the story may be.
Full 2,961 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
Full 2,961 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...
May 13, 2015
A great commentary on a great book! Very clear and well argued with a compelling translation.
October 24, 2023
Helpful in places; tedious in others, but like most academic works, true to its vision.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews