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Old testament essays the book ruth
Old testament essays the book ruth
Old testament essays the book ruth
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Evidence is insufficient on the author of the book of Ruth. Historically, it gives the impression to be during the era of the judges (Ruth.1:1), but was finalized at another time. (Hubbard, 1988). According to Gerald West, editor for Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, “The opening words, In the days when the judges ruled looks back to that period; the gloss in Ruth 4:7 explains an ancient custom for later readers; and Ruth 4:22 mentions David. Thus, the final editorial process could not have ended before the time of David” (West, 2003, p. 211). The 19th century German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said that Ruth is "The loveliest complete work on a small scale" (Hillenbrand, 2003, P.189).
During the time of the Judges, Israelites’ apostasy and immorality brought suffering (Judges 2:19). God judged the people, and the consequences was war and famine. Due to the famine, Elimelek and Naomi, from the tribe of Judah, left their family property located near Bethlehem to go to a neighboring country called Moab. The Moabites were descendants of Lot through his daughters (Genesis 19:36-38). There is no indication that they were led by God to leave, but headed to the land for survival. Their sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.
I consider Ruth's marriage to be her first career. During this time, women had only two acceptable places in society: they could be a daughter in their father’s household or a wife in their husband’s household. A woman without a husband had no social standing (Taitz, Henry, Talon, 2003). Ruth's marriage to Malhon proved an important career decision. H.B. Gelatt states in his Formal Decision Theory, that an individual that “must make a decision has two or more possible courses of action. ...
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...verything and take care of Naomi. Rather we classify her a missionary or a caregiver she had the compassion and empathy to handle both.
In Naomi’s homeland Ruth becomes an alien in a foreign country. Things were bad but life had to go on. Naomi was bitter and living through hard times. Naomi was sure God was dealing harshly with her, and she was unhappy. Ruth was an encourager and stayed with Naomi taking care of her needs. We can see the spirit of a counselor take form. Ruth tried to provide assistance during Naomi’s time of difficulty. There is not a lot of information in this part of a passage to draw a specific conclusion but seeing the type of woman Ruth was becoming leads me to believe the role of counselor in Ruth’s life was used in Naomi. Any yet, God still used Naomi even in her bitterness to graft Ruth into the lineage of Jesus Christ (West, 2003).
Although it can be said that seeing as women had no rights during the time period, why not have them serve their husbands as a primary goal. Women usually were less educated, had restrictions on trades that they may practice and limited job opportunities. (S.V. Rosser, 2008 p23) They also were considered to be too young at the time of marriage to know what is best for them so their parents chose their suitor. In fact, one could say if the girl is too young to know what is best for he, should she marry at that age in the first place? Although work was not always strenuous for wives of wealthy suitors, they should have their own lives within the marriage like their husband and not have to constantly please them and have their own lives dictated to...
Growing up, Ruth had a rough childhood growing up in a very strict jewish household. Her family was poor, her mother was physically handicapped, her father was verbally and physically abusive, and she faced prejudice and discrimination from her neighbors and classmates because she
To begin with, Orleanna in Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and Materia in MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees both lost their daughter. They both have grieved their loss, but it is in the way they grieved that has determined their progress in life. To start, the death of Ruth May was tragic to say the least, but Orleanna reacted in a smart way that has shown to pay off. It is evident that Ruth May's death was the figurative 'last straw' for Orleanna and she needed no more delay to leave the Congo. Orleanna became fixated on saving herself and her remaining children, saying "as long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in the water" (Kingsolver 381). Orleanna kept herself distracted from Ruth May's death
This warms my heart. Mothers devote most of their lives to their children. They are willing to do anything for their children. I can clearly visualize the picture of Ruth sending James away. Although they are both heartbroken, they conceal their pain for each other. I love how Ruth offered all the money she had to James. It truly shows how a mother is willing to sacrifice everything just for her child. Fourteen dollars may not be a lot, but it shows a lot of significance and how much love Ruth has for James.
While comparing her time, theology and spiritual practice we realize she lived during the time of immense change, similarly we are living on the edge of a challenged modernity. Her spiritual direction allows us to recognize and develop further abilities in our pastoral ministries of caring for one another as participants within the corporate communities as well as within the mission fields.
To women and some men, she is a hero, and to anti-feminists she is a villain. Moreover, there are still many people who do not applaud Ruth on the wonderful changes Ruth has made to American society. For growing up in the mid 90s, it is shocking to some that Ruth is not against abortion. After fighting for women to have the freedom to decide for themselves, Ruth said, “Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that changed their abortion laws before Roe are not going to change back. So we have a policy that only affects poor women, and it can never be otherwise.” However, Ruth is not against nor for abortion rather she is wants people to be able to make their own choices. She said, “The emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control.” Also, Ruth is an advocate of same sex marriage. She wants freedom for everyone and for every one to be allowed to make their own decisions. She said, “In recent years, people have said, ‘This is the way I am.’ And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door
The stories about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Women were slaves, concubines, and child bearers; they were also wives, matriarchs, and prophets. Although, some women had less important titles than others each served a purpose. Even if the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates the love and dedication women had for Him. The scriptures describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.
The first problem Ruth faces is how to support her family. Accused of not paying enough attention to her son, Ruth snaps at Mama shouting, “I feed my son, Lena!” (1880). This encounter with Mama displays an uptight, stressed side of Ruth, who balances a job, a son, her husband, and keeping the expected baby a secret. With so much preoccupying her mind, Ruth still tries to make money while feeling ill telling Mama, “I have to go. We need the money,” (1881). Money becomes a topic of great interest in the Younger family causing everyone to worry entirely too much about it. Ruth puts her family before herself caring about their conditions and the money they make over her own health. The next struggle Ruth encounters is deciding what option is best for her family and possible new baby. After finding out about the pregnancy, Ruth assures her family “she”, the doctor, confirmed everything is fine (1888). The slip up reveals that Ruth is considering getting an abortion. Furthermore, pushing her own conflict aside, Ruth still supports her family’s dreams, encouraging Mama to “open it”, meaning the check, for Mama’s own benefit and use toward a better lifestyle (1893). Ruth solves her own conflict by deciding to keep the baby and motivate her family in whatever way possible in the new challenges to
I will say this was a wonderful experience for me to interview Ruth as I know that each and every one of us has to go through all this different stages in life. I am only 23 years old and I am still trying to find a commitment relationship that I can be happy with like Ruth and Richard did. I really did admire their lives history and I am glad to have this chance to write this report.
...of god, allowed women to follow him despite their social status. Mary Magdalene was a prominent disciple of Jesus who played an active role in serving him. Ruth is also an excellent example of god’s trust in women. Not only does the bible disprove of the belief that women are less than through situations he also proves this in individual verses.
At St. Joseph Parish in Windsor, Connecticut, women are seen as equals to men. They are greeted by a handshake and a warm smile, just like their husbands or siblings they attend church with. I got the feeling that they didn’t care that I was a woman attending Sunday mass alone, they just cared that I had come at all. On every wall of the church were beautiful stain glass with pictures of Jesus and his disciples, while behind the altar, a painting of Jesus on the cross was painted so that everyone who walked in would see it. In every visual aspect of the church, a woman was present and was with Jesus. There was even a statue of her towards the front of the church. She had a halo around her head just like Jesus and the other male disciples. It
The Old Testament and the Bible itself has been studied extensively for centuries. Archeologists and Scholars have labored and pondered over texts trying to decipher its clues. It does not matter how many times the Old Testament has been studied there will always be something new to learn about it or the history surrounding it. In the book Reading the Old Testament: an Introduction, the author Lawrence Boadt presents us with a few different authors of the Old Testament that used different names for God and had a unique insight into the texts. These four sources are titled P for priests, E for Elohim, J for Jehovah, and Y for Yahweh (95). These four unique sources help us realize that there is more than one author of the Pentateuch. These authors took the text and adapted for their culture. This independent source is used by scholars to help gain insight into what was behind the texts of the bible so we are not left with an incomplete picture of what went into the creation of the bible. Julius Wellhausen used these four sources to publish a book to able us to better understand the sources and to give it credibility with the Protestant scholars at the time (Boadt 94). These sources that is independent of the bible as in the DVD Who Wrote the Bible? and the Nova website aide in shedding light on the history that surrounded the writers who wrote the text and what inspired them to write it in the first place. The DVD shows the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls and the extensive history of the texts and all its sources in an effort to try to find exactly who wrote the bible (Who Wrote). These scrolls have aided scholars immensely by giving us some of the oldest known manuscripts of the bible in the world today. It shows that the bible w...
Ms. Lamb began ministering to women years ago by having bible studies in her home. Deborah shared, “In 2000, my father gave me a big old Victorian house and told me I could do whatever I wanted with it”. So Ms. Lamb decided to open a home for women in crisis situation who were in need of a place to live, or to work on their recovery from addictions.
and is reinforced in the story of Ruth. Though the story of Ruth appears in
"...[Ruth's] passions were narrow but deep. Long deprived of sex, long dependent on self-manipulation, she saw her son’s imminent death as the annihilation of the last occasion she had been made love to" (134).