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Ordinary Time Bible Study: The Book of Ruth (2) | internetmonk.com

Review Study One

 

Study Two: Lady Wisdom’s Five Fair Daughters

In our first study we noted that the Book of Ruth is found in a different location in the Hebrew Bible than in our English versions.

Our English Bibles derive from the tradition of the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation, which organized the books according to historical chronology, then added the wisdom books and writing prophets. In this tradition, Ruth is placed in its historical context, after the book of Judges, and before the narratives of Samuel that introduce us to King David.

The Hebrew Bible, on the other hand, coming through the Masoretic tradition, organizes the books into three major sections: Torah, Prophets, and Writings. In the Hebrew Bible, Ruth is among the writings and considered both a Wisdom book and a story that has a great deal to say about the Davidic King, a major theme of this section that is dominated by Psalms.

Ruth is one of the Five Scrolls that are read at Jewish festivals each year:

Song of Songs , read at Passover Ruth , read at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) Lamentations , read at the Fast of Ab (commemoration of fall of Jerusalem) Ecclesiastes , read at the Feast of Tabernacles Esther , read at the Feast of Purim

These Scrolls, known in Hebrew as the Megilloth (31:10-31), the ultimate example of wisdom. This poem is not simply a description of a particular woman of virtue, but a highly artistic presentation of an archetype of God’s Wisdom.

The wise teach that the companion you want to have for the rest of your life is God’s Wisdom. She will “do you good and not evil all the days of your life” (3:15).

The Five Scrolls pick up on this symbolism. Their placement in the Hebrew canon right after Proverbs shows that the ordering of the books in this way is more by theme than chronology. If a “woman of excellence” is the model of divine wisdom, then these books will give us stories and sayings to help us get to know her better.

Each of the five books has a title that is feminine ). Lamentations is a song that expresses the grief of God’s people over the fall of Jerusalem.