The Song of Ruth {Archived}

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The Near East and more comes to life in West of Eden.

The Song of Ruth {Archived}
Created by: * Voluptua Amytas, 2005-12-30 13:36:30

The Song of Ruth

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimilech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-Judah. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there.
RUTH 1:1-2

Biblical authorities do not agree upon the exact status of the Book of Ruth. One group, with considerable evidence, considers it to be a work of fiction, a very beautiful and tender short story composed by a Hebrew writer about BCE 500. Its purpose was twofold: first, to place a foreigner in the ancestry of David, in this instance Ruth, broadening the appeal of the Israelite faith to others, and second, to teach a lesson of tolerance and love which might lessen racial antagonisms and intense nationalism, at a time when the Jews were coming out of exile to resume their place as a separate people. Others believe it a true tale from Israel's past, set down at a much later date, as were most of the Old Testament accounts.
The action of the book takes place much earlier than its authorship, probably about BCE 1,000, toward the end of the reign of the Judges and near the selection of Saul as Israel's first King.
For whatever purpose it was written and at whatever time, the Book of Ruth remains a gem of ancient writing and prose rhythm. It is also an eloquent and effective sermon on tolerance and racial prejudice fully as applicable today as it was some 2500 years ago. It is my sincere hope that our Song of Ruth may in some small measure approach the beauty and eloquence of the original.
V.