Review of the Book of Ruth by Robert L. Hubbard

Long ago, working on a church class in the book of Ruth, I came across the 285 page work of love by Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., The Book of Ruth. The book is a delightful exploration into the depth of that short book, pulling out all sorts of beautiful internal principles (such as the concept of hesed and the Israelite view of immigrants.) The commentary is written with a love of the text and the Hebrew language. It provides deep insights into the purpose of Ruth and the rich color of the Hebrew text.  I have now used this book many times as a resource for church Bible studies in Ruth, an Old Testament book that has become my favorite.

The book of Ruth is only 85 verses, so in a 285 page commentary, there is considerable room to investigate the Hebrew text and various side trails. The book is copiously footnoted, with footnotes at the bottom of each page, making the footnotes easy to read. In addition, the author's own translation of the Hebrew is included in the text. Like Robert Alter, Hubbard will point out Hebrew word play and underlying emotions carried by the Hebrew text that might not appear in translation. Hubbard emphasizes the story-telling aspect of the book of Ruth, pointing to the deliberate cliff-hangers that occur at the end of each chapter. We are alerted to the constant identification of Ruth as "the Moabitess" and the author's occasional use of the phrase "it so happened that..." a phrase intended to make the reader ask, "Is this coincidence? Or does this "coincidence" represent the hand of YHWH?"

The book begins with a standard introductory chapter which describes what is known about the text, canonicity, literary criticism, author, date and purpose of the book. I summarize those finding below.

Unlike numerous Old Testament texts, there are few disputes between the Masoretic text (MT) and the Septuagint (LXX) of Ruth. There are fragments of the book of Ruth in the most ancient Qumran scrolls. The book has apparently always been in the Old Testament canon and accepted by rabbis from ancient times. The book is as "short story", says Hubbard, with a central message: the glory of ancient Israel, the glory of YHWH working within His people, working behind the scenes to create (with foreign influence) the shepherd king David. Ruth is praised, like Rachel and other women, as a Mother of Israel. (Hubbard, on page 40 of his commentary, provides a long list of places in the book where he believes the author is deliberately reminding the audience of ancient Jewish history.) In this message is embedded the genuine covenantal compassion of the people of Bethlehem as they welcome Ruth; in this message is a confirmation of David's line as the divine plan.

Questions have been raised, for some time, about the significance of Ruth 4: 7 (what does this say about the date of the book?) and Ruth 4: 17 (what does it mean for the women to "name" the child?) Scholars have long questioned the last five verses, Ruth 4: 18-22 (were those part of the original story?) The author is unknown; Talmudic tradition has Samuel as the author but Ruth 1: 1 implies that the time of the judges has passed and the genealogy at the end of the book puts the author into at least the reign of David. Hubbard points out, in a number of places, that the point-of-view of the book is that of women and that the lives of the women are constantly emphasized. Hubbard suggests that the author might have been a woman. I find it easy to see the story as one passed down to the time of David by a mother or grandmother of the future king. The date of the writing has long been in dispute (is it pre-exilic? post-exilic?) Hubbard suggest that the book may have arisen before the exile, during the culture of Solomon's reign, a time that included Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs.

The author of Ruth, says Hubbard, loves word repetition. There is wordplay such as in Ruth 4: 1 where the Hebrew that the NIV translates as "friend" is a rhyming phrase: peloni almoni, and might literally be translated "such-and-such" or "Mr. So-and-so". There is obvious irony; the name Elimelech means "God is King" yet Elimelech's death might make one wonder if this is true; Naomi's name means "pleasant" yet she asks that it be changed to "bitter." The word rest in Ruth 1: 9 means security, stability and is a major theme across the Old Testament, becoming a euphemism for the Promised Land. Hubbard argues that the Hebrew text of Ruth 1: 22 implies that Ruth is included among those "returning" to Israel and that this is deliberate -- Ruth "returns" to a place she has never been before, because it is where her true home is.

Hubbard points out numerous storytelling devices. The story is carried by personal dialogue throughout. The storyteller author deliberately ends episodes with a cliff hanger (the episodes are correctly reflected by the medieval chapter divisions.) The first episode ends with two starving women returning to Bethlehem ("house of bread") at the time of the barley harvest. The second episode ends with Ruth welcomed by Boaz and returning home to Naomi with hints of a future. The third episode ends the night in a barn with a marriage proposal and the introduction of a competitor for Ruth.

The author prepares us for Boaz by mentioning him at the top of chapter two and then a little later telling us the Ruth "just happens" to show up to work his fields. Boaz, in his conversation, in developed as a compassionate man of integrity. He is a man who obviously notices Ruth and begins to provide her with small gifts. In turn, Ruth first refers to herself as a sipha, using a humble lowly term for a woman but then, according to Hubbard, in the barn in chapter 3, Ruth raises the term to ama, and adds her personal name, indicating a woman of sufficient standing to marry. At the same time, Ruth reminds Boaz that he had prayed that God shelter her under His wings. She does this by asking Boaz to take her under his wings. Finally, the author describes the actions of Boaz before the town elders as he subtly maneuvers his rival into giving up this tribal right to Ruth.

As a commentator on the Old Testament, as one who brings out a love of the ancient Hebrew texts, Robert L. Hubbard is in the same league as Robert Alter.  I highly recommend his commentary! Because of that book I have bought other commentaries in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) sequence. I have also tended to grab anything written by Hubbard (as I do anything written by Derek Kidner or Robert Alter.)