Journal of Biblical Theology and Worldview 3, 2 (2023)

The latest issue of the Journal of Biblical Theology and Worldview, published by BJU Seminary, has recently been made available online.

Contents as below are available from here, with the whole issue available for download as a pdf here.

Esdras O. Borges

Joy to Naomi, Obed Is Born: A Literary and Theological Analysis of Naomi’s Story

Ken Casillas

Evaluating Progressive Covenantalism’s Approach to the Application of the Mosaic Law

Brian C. Collins

The Covenant of Grace: A Critique of the Concept in Stephen Myers’s God to Us: Covenant Theology in Scripture

Mark Sidwell

George Whitefield and the Rise of American Evangelism

Book Reviews

Currents in Biblical Research 19, 1 (October 2020)

The latest Currents in Biblical Research recently arrived, with titles and abstracts of the main articles as below.

Jennifer M. Matheny

Ruth in Recent Research

From the early treatments focused on historical-critical methods to the interdisciplinary approaches of the social sciences today, Ruth research continues to speak to the current developments within interpretive conversations. This article briefly surveys major commentaries on Ruth, and then discusses the shifts in research from 2001 to today, highlighting future trajectories and trends.

Phillip Sherman

The Hebrew Bible and the ‘Animal Turn’

Animal Studies refers to a set of questions which take seriously the reality of animal lives, past and present, and the ways in which human societies have conceived of those lives, related to them, and utilized them in the production of human cultures. Scholars of the Hebrew Bible are increasingly engaging animals in their interpretive work. Such engagement is often implicit or partial, but increasingly drawing directly on the more critical aspects of Animal Studies. This article proceeds as a tour through the menagerie of the biblical canon by exploring key texts in order to describe and analyze what Animal Studies has brought to the field of Biblical Studies. Biblical texts are grouped into the following categories: animals in the narrative accounts of the Torah, legal and ritual texts concerning animals, animal metaphors in the prophets, and wisdom literature and animal life. The emergence and application of zooarchaeological research and a number of studies focusing on specific animal species will be discussed. Sustained attention will be given to two recent works which have brought Animal Studies into the fractured fold of biblical scholarship more directly. Finally, I will suggest some future directions for the study of the Hebrew Bible in light of Animal Studies.

Jason F. Moraff

Recent Trends in the Study of Jews and Judaism in Luke-Acts

This article surveys and assesses recent developments in the study of the depiction of Jews and Judaism in Luke-Acts since 2010. Studies are grouped into three general, often overlapping approaches. First, identity construction proves to be a productive avenue of research for understanding Luke’s portrait of ‘the Jews’. Second, scholars have begun to investigate the place of Luke-Acts in the ‘parting(s) of the ways’. Third, others continue to evaluate the relationship between the Jewish people, the covenant, and Luke’s future hope for Israel. The final section outlines some common issues and potential areas for further study, highlighting how these studies have reinvigorated a stagnant debate.

Jonathan Lookadoo

The Date and Authenticity of the Ignatian Letters: An Outline of Recent Discussions

This article examines recent studies of the date and authenticity of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch. Although the debate has a long history, this article focuses on the most recent period of this debate – from roughly 1997 through 2018. While not wanting to diminish the differences between contributors to this debate, three general views can be adduced. This article begins by highlighting the major players and formative contributors to each view. Of particular note in this most recent phase of debate is the separation of the date of the letters from the question of their authenticity. The article next turns to consider the primary pieces of evidence that are utilized when considering Ignatius’s date: the historical value of the Eusebian evidence, the possibility of interpolations within Polycarp’s Philippians, and Ignatius’s interactions with Second Sophistic rhetoric. The conclusion inquires about whether there is other evidence that might be utilized to aid scholars in dating and evaluating the Ignatian letters more securely.

Asbury Journal 75, 2 (2020)

The latest issue of Asbury Journal is now available, containing the below articles. The entire issue is available as a pdf here.

From the Editor

Esther D. Jadhav

The Place of Theology in Diversity Efforts in Christian Higher Education: A Wesleyan Perspective

Theology is essential to diversity efforts in Christian Higher Education. In current culture there are at least two ways in which theology emerges in this work, as an afterthought and as foundational in some instances. In this article the author provides a discussion around the question: Does theology have a place in the work of diversity efforts in Christian higher education? This paper asserts that theology is a critical and significant contributor in diversity as it relates to these efforts taking place across Christian Higher Education in North America. A Wesleyan theological perspective is utilized to demonstrate how Wesleyan theology can speak into diversity efforts in Christian higher education.

Shawn P. Behan

Exegeting Scripture, Exegeting Culture: Combining Exegesis to Fulfill God’s Calling

Seminary has separated biblical exegesis from cultural exegesis, teaching them in different programs and seldom requiring them for those outside of those programs. Yet, to fulfill either of those exegetical processes we need both – they are mutually building and supporting entities that only make sense when combined with the other. As teachers, preachers, and leaders of God’s Church, it is essential that we learn how to combine these two exegetical processes in order to faithfully live out our calling in God’s kingdom. Thus, we must study both biblical and cultural exegesis and learn how to combine the two; for one without the other is knowledge, but combined they form knowledge with the wisdom of how to apply that knowledge. While this seems like a Herculean task, it has been accomplished by many in the history of the Church, often when they did not even know they were doing so. One such previous leader and teacher in the Church is Bishop J. E. Lesslie Newbigin, who’s [sic] exegetical life made him a renowned name in his own day and continues to challenge us to “do likewise” in our lives.

Abbie F. Mantor

Caring for the Sufferers Among Us: Job 3 Through the Lens of Classical Rhetorical Theory and Modern Psychological Trauma Studies

A lack of engagement with the theology of evil and suffering leads to immature responses when tragedy strikes our congregations and alienates the sufferers among us. I believe the best path forward is an interdisciplinary approach that is both intellectually honest and spiritually whole. In this article, I explore the first speech of Job through the lens of classical rhetorical studies and modern psychological trauma theories in order to demonstrate how Job’s deep lament offers the Church an example of how to give sufferers the space to work through their grief as they walk their path towards healing and hope.

Dain Alexander Smith

Prophetic Peace in the Epistle to the Romans: Intertextuality, Isaianic Discourse and Romans 14:17

Interpreters of Romans have not recognized the Isaianic character of Paul’s description of the kingdom in Rom 14:17. Therefore, in this paper I demonstrate that there is an intertextual relationship between multiple Isaianic texts and Rom 14:17. First, I identify key texts in Isaiah that depict kings or kingdoms and share terms found in Romans: righteousness, peace, joy, good, and spirit. Second, I conclude by rereading Romans 14:17 in dialogue with Isaianic kingdom texts. This reading reveals that Romans presents the kingdom of God – and the church community – as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s eschatological hope for peace.

Kelly J. Godoy de Danielson

Women on the Outside Looking In: Rahab and Ruth as Foreign Converts to the People of God

How does an outsider become an insider? This is a question that emerges from considering both the modern immigrant situation and the unique situation of non-Israelite women becoming part of the people of God in the Old Testament. The usual pattern in the Old Testament is to be born into the people of Israel, but for men there is the possibility to become part of the covenantal people through the physical act of circumcision. In this patriarchal society, women usually had no choice but to follow the decisions of their husbands. But what if there was no husband? The Bible tends to take a particularly harsh view on Israelite men marrying non-Israelite women, so even marriage does not seem to be an acceptable pathway for unmarried or widowed women. But two significant women in the Old Testament do successfully navigate the transition from outsider to insider, Rahab and Ruth. This article explores what this means for understanding conversion within the Old Testament context as well as its potential theological implication for the immigrant community in today’s world. Understanding the importance of a person’s allegiance to YHWH as well as following up this allegiance through actions of loving-kindness (hesed) are the key similarities which bind these two women together and help create a theological bridge for immigrants in our modern context.

Kelly J. Godoy de Danielson

Mujeres desde Afuera Mirando hacia Adentro: Rahab y Rut como Conversas Extranjeras al Pueblo de Dios

Features

From the Archives: Ichthus Music Festival – The World of Christian Music Comes to Wilmore

Book Reviews

Mary Evans on Judges and Ruth

Mary J. Evans, Judges and Ruth: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (London: IVP, 2017).

I was recently asked to attend a book launch at London School of Theology of, among others, Mary Evans’ recent addition to the Tyndale Series, and to offer a commendation of it – which I was very happy to do.

For thirty years or thereabouts, Mary taught at London Bible College, now London School of Theology, where she was Senior Lecturer in Old Testament and also served as Vice Principal.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that Mary is a long-standing friend. I sat under her teaching as a young, slightly cheeky, wet-behind-the-ears undergraduate student, and then I became her slightly less young but still slightly cheeky and still wet-behind-the-ears colleague for 16 years. Mary had a reputation among students for down-to-earth Bible teaching, and a reputation among her colleagues for being an innovator in ways of doing theological education at a time when everything had become a tad stale and samey. Mary has been a visiting lecturer at colleges for different lengths of time in a number of countries around the world, has served on the boards of several Christian organisations, and written and contributed to many books.

The following is a lightly-edited version of what I said at the launch:

This is going to be less a book review and more a personal testimony. I really enjoyed reading through Mary’s commentary on Judges and Ruth. And as I did so, I found myself feeling grateful for three things.

First of all, I found myself feeling grateful to God for his word, the Scriptures.

It would be easy to become cynical at what might feel like a never-ending stream of commentaries on the Bible, each with their own distinctive slant. That, I think, would be a shame. Commentary writing has an ancient pedigree. It reminds us of our place as the most recent in a long line of those who have gone before us, who themselves have sought to understand the Bible for the benefit of others. But most of all, commentary writing keeps us close to Scripture. I see our ongoing writing and reading of commentaries as a mark of a commitment which says that this collection of texts matters.

A good commentary – like this one – reminds us that God always has yet more light to shed from his word. And that’s something to be grateful for.

Then second, I found myself feeling grateful to God for London School of Theology.

Not only did Mary write this commentary, as a former long-standing member of LST faculty, but the general editor for the series is David Firth, a former LST student, and the theological editor at IVP (named by Mary in the Preface) is Phil Duce, also a former LST student! Plus, Mary’s contribution to this series puts her in the company of Dick France and Donald Guthrie, also significant figures in the history of LST and of evangelical biblical scholarship more generally.

I say this not as a line for the next marketing campaign, but as a grateful reminder of the work LST has been directly or indirectly responsible for over the years, and the significance of good scholarship done for the church.

I know that Mary didn’t write the commentary whilst being employed at LST, but those of us who have worked at the School know that our experience becomes part of our iceberg when we move on. It takes a certain type of person nurtured in a certain type of community to produce a book like this. It’s a certain type of institution which says this type of work matters and that we will not only allow, but actively encourage our people to give good time to it.

So, third, I’m grateful to God for Mary.

For those of you who don’t know Mary as well as I do, this commentary is just a single slice of a highly productive life serving God by serving others.

And it reminds me of the things Mary does really well – like its down-to-earthness, like the way I’m drawn into the story so that I have to imagine the force it would take for a woman to crush a man’s skull with a pointed-but-not-necessarily-sharp tent peg, like the quirky asides such as telling us that Judges has one tenth of all the references to donkeys in the Old Testament!

There were new things for me, too. Like many, I’ve seen the references in the final few chapters of Judges that ‘there was no king’ as an apologetic for the monarchy that would follow this period. But Mary reminds us that the kings didn’t do that much better! And I think Mary is distinctive in suggesting that the writers of Judges are asking about the possibility of good government, and that while kingship could be blamed for many things, it couldn’t be blamed for the situation described in these times.

I think also I’ve tended to see the opening reference in Ruth, ‘In the days when the judged ruled’, to provide a contrast with what’s gone before. But as Mary points out, even in the book of Ruth not all is as it should be in Israel.

But the thing that really sticks out is Mary’s commitment to the text. Many commentaries are actually meta-commentaries – commentaries on commentaries. What we get is: ‘So-and-so says X, but such-and-such says Y.’ And there’s due acknowledgement of scholarship in this commentary, but it never gets in the way of Mary’s own running reflections on the text.

This commitment to go where the text goes shows up in Mary’s treatment of gender-sensitive passages, of which there are many in Judges and Ruth. Helpfully, in my opinion, Mary writes from a stance of trust in Scripture rather than suspicion of Scripture. Mary writes from a perspective that listens for the critiques of patriarchy where they occur – and they are there – but which recognises that the questions and issues of the original audience aren’t necessarily ours, and it does no-one any favours to turn Judges and Ruth into protofeminist texts!

The constraints of the Tyndale series means that there isn’t a lot of space to reflect on implications for Christians today of this period in the life of God’s people, but Mary makes the most of what there is. The commentary certainly drew me in to reflect on my own way of life as a member of God’s covenant people, and left me thankful for the one, the only one, who truly can save us.

So, with all that in mind, I give thanks to God for his word, for LST, and – on this day – for this book and for Mary too. Thank you.

Currents in Biblical Research 14, 3 (June 2016)

The latest Currents in Biblical Research recently arrived, with titles and abstracts of the main articles as below.

Russell L. Meek

Twentieth- and Twenty-first-century Readings of Hebel (הֶבֶל) in Ecclesiastes

The meaning of הֶבֶל is a crux interpretum for the book of Ecclesiastes. Notwithstanding some variation, Jerome’s vanitas reading of הֶבֶל in Ecclesiastes dominated scholarship for several centuries. Since the rise of modern biblical scholarship, הֶבֶל as ‘vanity’ has been largely rejected; however, little consensus has been reached regarding the word’s meaning. The result has been a rich history of interpretation as scholars develop various suggestions for how הֶבֶל should be understood in Ecclesiastes. This essay briefly sketches the history of interpretation of הֶבֶל, then surveys proposals for the meaning of הֶבֶל in Ecclesiastes during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Amy Erickson and Andrew R. Davis

Recent Research on the Megilloth (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther)

Until recently, study of the Megilloth as a coherent canonical grouping has been minimal. On the whole, the lateness and fluidity of the collection within the Jewish canon has negated its value for biblical scholars, who have long preferred texts and categories thought to be ‘early’ or ‘original’. The state of the field has begun to shift, however, as scholars are giving more attention to connections between individual books of the Megilloth and the coherence of the collection as a whole. This new interest coincides with the growing recognition among scholars that the later (re)uses of a biblical text are constitutive of its interpretation; thus the lateness of the Megilloth (if the collection really is late) does not preclude interpretation but shapes it. Recent studies in the Megilloth as a coherent collection include canon-historical approaches, which trace the formation of the Megilloth within the Jewish canon; intertextual approaches, which focus on allusions to earlier biblical traditions and on literary connections within the five scrolls; and theological approaches, which adopt a synchronic method that puts the Megilloth in dialogue with contemporary theological discourse.

Garrick V. Allen

Scriptural Allusions in the Book of Revelation and the Contours of Textual Research 1900-2014: Retrospect and Prospects

This article traces the contours of the past century of discourse surrounding the underlying textual form of allusions embedded in the book of Revelation. Special attention is paid to the rapid developments on this issue in the past thirty years, a period in which New Testament scholarship has grappled with the textual complexity of the Hebrew Bible presented by the scrolls from the Judaean Desert. The question of textual form is of foundational importance for analysing the reuse or interpretation of Scripture in the book of Revelation. Despite this reality, it is common to find assumptions or misconceptions in recent studies that obfuscate the textual reality of the Hebrew Bible and its early Greek versions the first century CE. The appraisal of scholarship on this issue allows scholars to better contextualize their own approaches to the text of allusions in the light of previous research. This analysis also highlights the changing methods and approaches by which scholars analyse the text of allusions and suggests some avenues for future research on the allusions embedded in the Apocalypse.

Patrick Schreiner

Space, Place and Biblical Studies: A Survey of Recent Research in Light of Developing Trends

This article surveys developing research on the nature of space and place. It summarizes the arguments proposed by geographers and philosophers outside biblical studies, and then illustrates how biblical scholars have employed these theories in the study of the biblical text. The review focuses on the theoretical underpinning and then examines a number of scholars who have appropriated what they call ‘critical spatiality’ to historical, sociological, and narratival readings. In short, some now describe space in a tri-part division; the physical world in which people exist, the ideological underpinnings of understanding places, and the lived practices of people within those places that sometimes challenge and sometimes reaffirm the expected uses of such places.

Yael Shemesh

Directions in Jewish Feminist Bible Study

The article highlights various possible directions that Jewish feminist Bible scholarship can take. Even though this field has naturally been influenced by feminist scholarship in general, I believe that it does have a number of unique traits, with regard both to content (such as pointing out the Christian source of certain misogynistic interpretations) and form (commentaries oriented to the weekly Torah portion). The first part of the article deals with these unique features of Jewish feminist Bible scholarship. In the second part I look at four goals shared by feminist Bible scholarship in general and the Jewish subgenre, while focusing on the latter: (1) Emphasizing that the Bible is a patriarchal and androcentric – some would say misogynistic – text; (2) highlighting the voices for equality that can be found in the Bible; (3) focusing on biblical women and recounting her-story rather than the traditional his-tory that has been dominant for generations; (4) discovering the female authors of biblical texts, or at least the women’s voices that emerge from it. In the third section I draw on several Jewish feminist Bible scholars’ treatment of three issues to exemplify how the same underlying data led different readers to different and even contradictory attitudes and assertions about the biblical text. Two of these issues relate to narrative – the characterization of Eve and that of Ruth and Naomi and their relationship. The third issue comes from the legal corpus – the laws of menstrual impurity (Lev. 15.19-24). Here we saw not only the different positions taken by different scholars, but also the change over time in the view of Rachel Adler, which corresponds with the change in her religious perspective and move from one religious denomination to another.

More Videos from the Bible Project

The Bible Project continues to put together a series of helpful short videos, some of which introduce the structure and themes of biblical books, and others of which trace some major themes through the entire Bible.

Since I lost posted on this, several other Bible book videos have been made available (including on Ruth, Job, Psalms, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and Hebrews), and one themed video on atonement.

Check them out from here (click on ‘Videos’ or scroll down to the ‘Videos & Study Guides’ section) or see them all via YouTube here.

In Days Like These

I contributed this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

In the days when the judges ruled...

Ruth 1:1

For those who know what’s gone before, the first line of the book of Ruth – ‘In the days when the judges ruled’ – sounds ominous.

For this was an era of increasing religious apostasy, moral apathy, and unlawful violence. These were dark days of political, social, and spiritual chaos. As if to reinforce the point, the book of Judges ends with a downward spiral of breakdown in episodes of idolatry, lawlessness, and civil war. The horrific story of the gang rape and dismemberment of a nameless woman shocks us into realising how far the people of God have failed in their calling to be a holy nation, with everyone doing what is right in their own eyes (17:6; 21:25).

The opening of Ruth seems to take up where Judges leaves off – describing famine, death, widowhood, childlessness, and grief in quick succession – a world of anguish, every bit as dark and hopeless as what’s gone before.

And yet, a closer look reveals something different. Difficult to see at first, it becomes clearer as the story unfolds. In Judges, the major characters abandon their commitment to God and others. In Ruth, they gladly shoulder their covenant responsibilities. The shameful, violent treatment of a woman by men in Judges gives way to tender, honourable conduct towards women in Ruth, where men and women become partners in a common cause. In place of idolatry is integrity. In place of cruelty is compassion. In place of fear is faith.

And through it all, God works out his purpose with the inclusion of a Moabite ‘outsider’ into the fold of the covenant people – not only as one who is herself a sign of the fulfilment of his promise to bless the nations, but from whom King David – and Jesus himself – is eventually born.

For us too, the book emboldens us to see God at work in and through day-to-day events and relationships, new transitions and challenges, the common sorrows and joys we share with others – the grief that comes with death, the delight that comes with a new birth. The story told in Ruth encourages us to discern God’s ‘fingerprints’ in the routine of our own life. And to recognise that no act of kindness, no stand for what is right will go unnoticed as God gently nudges us towards his future redemption of all things.

Yes, even in days like these.

Blessing (3)

PrayerWorks, a new venture from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity starting in early January 2012, seeks to encourage prayer for the workplace by providing creative ways of praying and developing pathways of prayer for Christians together. From 1 February, this will include a 40-day journey of prayer for work using the prayer pathway of blessing. As part of this, I have been asked to write a supportive piece on what the Bible says about ‘blessing’ – what it tells us about God and the way he works, and its implications for our response in praise to God and in praying for others.

Earlier posts:

• Blessing (1) – Introduction

• Blessing (2) – Blessing comes from God – the creator God

(b) The covenantal God

To be blessed is not only to benefit from God’s ongoing gifts in creation but to enjoy special relationship with God. God’s desire and intention to bless his people is bound up with the covenant relationship he establishes with them, beginning with Abraham.

The promise to Abraham

The promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, given against the backdrop of the curses announced in the previous chapters (3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25), mark a new turning point in God’s dealings with the world. Judgment is not the last word: God does not reject the nations, but chooses one family to bring blessing to the nations. Thus begins the first episode in a long story in which God progressively works out his plan of restoration – a plan which includes creation itself. In this way, God’s promises to Abraham may be read in conjunction with Genesis 1 – as a reaffirmation of his original blessing on men and women. It is Abraham and his descendants who will become God’s instruments to bless the world. From this one man and his family, God’s blessing (‘bless’ words appear five times in Genesis 12:2-3) will flow to all nations.

It’s not clear in 12:2 whether Abraham is commanded to be a blessing or told that he will be a blessing; either way involves the transmission of blessing to others. There is also ongoing debate as to whether 12:3 should read ‘all families will be blessed through you’ (passive) or ‘all families shall bless themselves by you’ (reflexive). As it happens, similar phraseology elsewhere in Genesis (in 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14) suggests both will be case, and the upshot is the same in any case – God’s blessing will be extended to the nations through Abraham.

The link with worship

The deliverance of God’s people from Egypt and the establishment of his covenant relationship with them at Sinai leads into the building of a sanctuary to facilitate preservation of that relationship. Through the sacrificial cult, Israel was able to dwell in harmony with God and enjoy his ongoing blessing – mediated through the priests. So it is that at the conclusion of the first service of worship, Aaron blesses the people (Lev. 9:22-23), and the levites are set apart for this as an ongoing task (Deut. 10:8; 21:5; 2 Chron. 30:27). God’s blessing is thus bound up with appropriate worship and sacrificial offering. With the priest’s blessing comes the guarantee that atonement has been successful, making the final blessing an essential component of the worship, confirming God’s favourable attitude to his people, serving as a reminder that his presence is with them, to bless them.

The priestly blessing is specified in Numbers 6:22-27:

‘The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”’

The source of the blessing is clear: it is the Lord himself – seen in the threefold repetition of his name in the blessing itself, and confirmed in the final phrase (‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them’). This strong link between God’s covenant name and the blessing of his people is also promised in Exodus 20:24, where it is connected with appropriate means of atonement. Although the blessing comes only through the Lord God, it is the priests – in a functional and representative role – who mediate it to the people. It may be seen as a prayer for God’s blessing and protection, his approval and grace, his attention and peace – a prayer which is promised to be effective – ‘I will bless them’ (6:27).

The priestly blessing is alluded to in several psalms (e.g., 29:11; 115:12-15; 134:3). Psalm 67, for example, begins: ‘May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us’ (67:1). But the blessing, in this case, is sought not for its own sake or for the sake of Israel, but for all peoples, as seen in the next line of the Psalm – ‘so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations’ (67:2) – with the Psalm expressing the hope that God’s blessing will become a global reality. While Psalm 67 reflects on the ‘blessing’ part of the priestly benediction, Psalm 121 echoes the ‘keeping’ part, with forms of that word appearing six times in this Psalm of Ascent. The Lord watches over his people not just on their occasional journeys, or even on the physical ascent to the temple in Jerusalem, but ‘now and forevermore’ (121:8).

The blessing promised in Numbers 6 is reinforced by the account of Balaam in Numbers 22-24. The king of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel (22:4-6); but each time Balaam opened his mouth, he blessed them instead of cursed them (Num. 23:8, 20; 24:9-10). Balaam, in spite of his skills and renown as a prophet, was powerless to bless or curse Israel without the Lord’s direction (cf. Deut 23:4-5; Josh. 24:9-10; Neh. 13:1-2). It’s a strong indication that no magic or rituals will make a difference; the authority to bless belongs to the Lord who cannot be coerced.

The way of obedience

According to Exodus 23:25-26 and Deuteronomy 7:11-15, God promises to bless his people if they are obedient to him and provide them with everything necessary for their well-being in the land. The blessings are articulated more fully in Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (cf. Lev. 26:1-13), providing a picture of the blessed life as bound up with the provision of food and water, children and crops, farming and fertility, defeat of enemies and long life in the land. The establishment of the covenant flows out of God’s undeserved love for the people (Deut. 7:7-8), but the promise of blessing seems conditional on ongoing obedience to the covenant stipulations (7:11-15; 11:8-15; 28:2), while disobedience causes a breakdown of the covenant, with curses replacing blessings (27:26; 28:15-68). At the very least, this shows that the old covenant people of God were not simply passive recipients of blessing, but were called on to follow God’s standards in everyday life.

Even so, this is not a mechanistic system of reward and punishment so much as an expression of the consequences of staying within and straying from the covenant stipulations which ordered their relationship with God and each other. Keeping or breaking God’s requirements does not set in motion a series of blessings or punishments applied by fate, but from the hand of God with whom they were in covenant relationship.

The invocation of blessing

So far, we have focused on God’s blessing of the created world and his covenant people, but we also see in Scripture examples of people praying for God’s blessing on other people. We have already noted that priests were called to pronounce blessings in the Lord’s name, but others were also able to do so, effectively invoking God’s blessing on someone else – ‘May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful’ (Gen. 28:3).

In some cases, a blessing could be as simple as a greeting (Gen. 47:7; 1 Sam. 13:10; 15:13; 2 Kings 4:29) or a parting (Gen. 31:55; 47:10; 2 Kings 19:39), or it could be as significant as a father invoking God for the continuation of blessing from one generation to another (Gen. 27:27-29; 48:15-16; 49:25-26). There are examples of leaders blessing their people (Deut. 33:1; 2 Sam. 6:18; 1 Kings 8:14, 55), of family members blessing a woman about to be married (Gen. 24:60), of a mother blessing her son (Judges 17:2), of a blessing for fertility (1 Sam. 2:20-21). In each case, blessing appears to involve praying for, even invoking, wellbeing, health, and prosperity from one party to another. Such blessings are different from regular prayers in that they are addressed to fellow men and women rather than God, but they still function as requests or desires for God to bless, and he is still understood to be the ultimate source of the blessing.

It should come as no surprise that many of the blessings occur in the context of family life, expressing hopes for the safe birth of children, fertility of crops, increase of herds, defeat of enemies, and length of days. Even so, within the context of the biblical story as a whole, such blessings were significant for the ongoing survival of God’s covenant people precisely so that God’s plan to bless the nations could be brought to its completion.

A number of these themes are combined nicely in the book of Ruth, which shows the significance of blessing at the heart of the ongoing life of the covenant community. The story begins with a parting, with Naomi urging her widowed daughters-in-law to return to their homes in Moab and effectively praying a blessing on them (1:8-9). In doing so, she commits their future to God, seeking his kindness for them, and praying that God will grant them the security that comes from being married rather than the vulnerability that would come with widowhood. The next blessing occurs in 2:4, as Boaz greets his harvesters with ‘The Lord be with you’, and they reply with ‘The Lord bless you!’ Although this may be no more than a greeting (but what a greeting!), it’s a lovely reminder of God’s presence in the everyday, with the use of God’s name to invoke his blessing in daily life and work, in the meeting and leaving of friends. In his first encounter with Ruth, Boaz prays a blessing for Ruth’s wellbeing because of her faithfulness to Naomi (2:11-12), words which are picked up again in his blessing of her in 3:10 as she dares to seek Boaz, as her next of kin, to take responsibility for her wellbeing. 2:19-20 then records Naomi’s reaction to Ruth when she returns from the fields with a supply of grain – ‘Blessed be the man’ – with a prayer seeking God’s blessing on Boaz. Then, after Boaz and Ruth are married, those who witness the occasion seek God for the provision of children and the building up of their household (4:11-12). When a child is born, the women bless God in thanksgiving for dealing kindly with Naomi (4:14-15). Naomi’s desire for Ruth to find security in a husband’s house (1:9) has come true. In a story shot through with covenant faithfulness, the blessing she sought has come about in the blessing from God of a family from whom will come king David (4:18-22), from whom will come Christ himself (Matt. 1:5). Here is one snapshot of the Old Testament story which traces the transmission of God’s promise of blessing from Abraham through the generations to all nations.

That we are blessed by God means we acknowledge that God is Lord of creation and covenant, the one who freely gives us all good things. That we bless others is an expression that they too might enjoy what we have received. In relationship with God, we are blessed by him, a blessing which overflows from us to others which is then offered back to God in thanksgiving and praise.

The Period of the Judges: Spiralling Out of Control

[I recently wrote a short piece on Judges and Ruth for something I’m currently working on, and thought I’d post it here.]

Towards the end of his life, Joshua gathers the people together and recites the story of all that God has done for them. Affirming that he and his household will serve the Lord, the people respond by saying that they too will stay faithful (Joshua 24:1-28). Knowing our own capacity for self-delusion, we’re perhaps not surprised to learn that, after Joshua’s death, they stray from the Lord. This leads into an era when there is no national leader or central government, with little unity between the tribes. Early military successes give way to failure, and moral apathy takes hold. Then, as now, neglect of the covenant relationship with God spills over into society.

Still, God doesn’t abandon his people. They are disobedient to him, and he allows them to be defeated by enemies, but he responds to their cries for help by raising up a a ‘judge’ through whom he brings deliverance – only for the people to turn away from him again. This pattern can be seen in the account of the first judge in 3:7-12, but the cycle is repeated throughout the book.

Except that, if anything, it becomes a downward spiral. The final chapters (Judges 17-21) portray the inevitable breakdown in episodes of idolatry, lawlessness, and civil war. The horrific story of the gang rape and dismemberment of a nameless woman (19:1-30) shocks us into realising how far the people of God have failed in their calling to be a holy nation, with everyone doing what is right in their own eyes (17:6; 21:25). Alas, no judge arises to meet this progressive anarchy, and a recurring refrain – ‘Israel had no king’ (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) – strongly hints that something else is needed.

There is brutality, but there is also blessing. The first verse of the book of Ruth invites us to read the story that follows in the light of what we know of the period of judges. As we do so, the shameful, violent treatment of a woman gives way to tender, honourable conduct towards women. And through it all, the sovereign God works out his purpose with the inclusion of a Moabite ‘outsider’ into the fold of the covenant people – not only as one who is herself a sign of the fulfilment of his promise to bless the nations, but from whom King David (Ruth 4:17-22) – and Jesus himself (Matthew 1:5) – is eventually born.

Interpretation 64, 2 (April 2010) on Ruth

One of the journals I subscribe to is Interpretation. The issues are themed, with the April 2010 devoted to Ruth – containing the following essays:

Tod Linafelt
Narrative and Poetic Art in the Book of Ruth
Although the Book of Ruth is in many respects a classic example of biblical Hebrew narrative, there are two examples of formal poetry in the book (1:16–17 and 1:20–21). Biblical poetry works with a very different set of literary conventions than narrative, and by taking note of those conventions, we can see the distinctive contributions made by these poems to the book as a whole.

Martin O’Kane
The Iconography of the Book of Ruth
Although absent from early Christian iconography, Ruth has been a popular figure in both Christian and Jewish art from the medieval period onward. In depicting scenes from the Book of Ruth, artists have been sensitive to the nuances and subtleties of the biblical narrative and have interpreted her story visually in many original and distinctive ways.

Helen Leneman
More Than the Love of Men: Ruth and Noami’s Story in Music
This essay introduces and discusses four musical works that extensively treat Ruth and Naomi’s relationship: two late nineteenth-century oratorios, and two twentieth-century operas. Both music and librettos are treated as midrash – a creative retelling through both altered text and in the language of music.

Athalya Brenner
From Ruth to the ‘Global Woman’: Social and Legal Aspects
In this short study, the Scroll of Ruth, and especially Ruth’s undisclosed motives for following her mother-in-law, are read alongside the situation of foreign, female migrant workers in contemporary Israel – and vice versa. This allows a bi-directional reading that supplies a possible context both for the biblical text and for the evaluation of today’s issues.

John R. Franke on the Early Church Fathers

John R. Franke, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament Volume 4 (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), xxxii + 458pp., ISBN 9780830814749.

John Franke edited the volume on Joshua to 2 Samuel in the Ancient Christian Commentary Series. Links to the general introduction, the introduction to the volume on Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1-2 Samuel, as well as selected commentary from 1 Samuel are available on the publisher’s website.

The early church fathers saw links and parallels between Joshua and Jesus, such that Joshua is understood as a type of Christ; likewise with Samuel and David, with Ruth being seen as a type of the church. Running commentaries on Old Testament historical books are rare in writings of the early fathers, so most of the excerpts in the volume are taken from theological and pastoral treatises, sermons and letters.

Franke’s Introduction is helpful in providing an orientation to the interpretive rationale of early Christian readers as well as an introduction to some of the most significant interpreters. The most significant of these was Origen (xviii-xxiii), but Franke offers thumbnail sketches of eight others: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great (xxiii-xxvii).

Yitzhak Berger on Ruth and the David-Bathsheba Story

Yitzhak Berger, ‘Ruth and the David-Bathsheba Story: Allusions and Contrasts’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33.4 (2009), 433-52.

Allusions and links between Ruth and the Judah-Tamar incident of Genesis 38 have been well documented and provoked some discussion. Yitzhak Berger looks here at links between Ruth and the David-Bathsheba story of 2 Samuel 11, particularly arguing that ‘the author of Ruth sought to cast the troubling depiction of David in the Bathsheba affair… as a departure from the authentic, unblemished character of the Judean royal lineage’ (436-37).

Michael S. Moore on Ruth

Michael S. Moore, ‘To King or Not to King: A Canonical-Historical Approach to Ruth’, Bulletin for Biblical Research 11. 1 (2001), 27-41.

Here’s the abstract of an interesting essay on Ruth:

Contemporary approaches to Ruth tend to focus on the book’s internal structure and contents. Only rarely is sufficient attention given to the book’s external context, particularly its canonical-historical context. In Judges 17-21 all of the major characters balk in the face of challenge. Priests, landowners, husbands, wives, and warriors all abandon their responsibilities. In Ruth, however, the main characters valiantly shoulder their responsibilities, however burdensome. In Judges, men treat women insensitively, shamefully, even violently. In Ruth, women are treated like partners on a common mission. Why? Having been led by the book of Judges (particularly the self-contained anthology incorporating chaps. 17-21) to wonder whether the one-and-only source of Israel’s agony is kinglessness, Ruth is a canonical-historical surprise. Both Ruth 1-4 and Judges 17-21 come from the premonarchical period of the ‘judges’, yet each offers a radically different response to this fluid situation. To read Ruth against its canonical-historical context not only reconnects us with some of the book’s earliest interpreters, it also generates newer literary and sociological insights into the theological message of this beloved short story.

Richard Bauckham on Ruth

Richard Bauckham has published essentially the same discussion of Ruth in different contexts:

Is the Bible Male? The Book of Ruth and Biblical Narrative, Grove Biblical Series 2 (Cambridge: Grove Books, 1996).

‘The Book of Ruth and the Possibility of a Feminist Canonical Hermeneutic, Biblical Interpretation 5, 1 (1997), 29-45.

Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 1-16 (‘The Book of Ruth as a Key to Gynocentric Reading of Scripture’).

In short, Bauckham suggests that an otherwise androcentric text (Ruth, in this case) essentially authorises a gynocentric reading of that text.

The book of Ruth, he avers, can play a crucial role in forming a feminist hermeneutic that accepts the normative function of the canon even while resisting much of its androcentricity. Seen from a gynocentric perspective, the social structures evident in Ruth are made to work to the advantage of women and are not as patriarchal as they may first appear.

He agrees with recent studies on Ruth which hold that the story speaks with a female voice, providing a woman’s perspective on ancient Israelite society, making visible what would otherwise remain invisible. This is true throughout Ruth, he holds – except for the genealogy at the end, which speaks with a male voice. But the male voice does not undermine the female perspective of the rest of the book; rather, it is ‘exposed by the female voice of the narrative as pitifully inadequate in its androcentric selectivity’ (Gospel Women, 11).

According to Bauckham, set against the rest of the book, the genealogy in 4:18-22 effectively says:

‘This is how the usual men’s perspective views the history of this period of David’s ancestors. This is the way you readers are accustomed to thinking of this period. Everything the narrative you have just read has taught you to see as important is here left out’ (Is the Bible Male?, 17).

He concludes:

‘In effect this gives Ruth an important canonical function, that is a function in relation to the rest of the contents of the canon of Scripture… By revealing the Israelite women’s world which is elsewhere invisible in biblical narrative it makes readers aware of the lack of this women’s perspective elsewhere, expanding the hints and filling in the gaps which they can now see to be left by the narratives written purely or largely from a male perspective’ (Is the Bible Male?, 17).

According to Bauckham, such a gynocentric perspective may be found in other biblical texts, including the gospels, in which the dominant perspective is more or less androcentric.

This does not result in establishing a canon with the canon, he holds. Rather, it means that gynocentric texts have the role of relativising the androcentrism of texts, not in overturning androcentric texts in every respect… so that the canon itself can be seen as ‘correcting’ or subverting androcentrism in Jewish and Christian thought and practice, instead of promoting such androcentrism.

Danna Nolan Fewell and David M. Gunn on Ruth

Danna Nolan Fewell and David M. Gunn, Compromising Redemption: Relating Characters in the Book of Ruth, Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1990), 141pp., ISBN 9780664251352.

A flurry of books appeared in this series – Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation – in the early 1990s, often written by those drawing from outside the traditional disciplines of biblical criticism to find theoretical models which could be adapted to the interpretation of the Bible. The result was some provactive readings of biblical books, including this one by Fewell and Gunn on Ruth.

The traditional reading sees Ruth as a story of loyalty, kindness, and love.

Fewell and Gunn seek to subvert this traditional reading.

In the first part of the book, they retell Ruth as ‘a leaner, tougher story’. Their retelling is effectively an expansion of the biblical story which, according to one reviewer, loses the style and terseness of the original account, and effectively stacks the deck in favour of their own approach. Another reviewer described their retelling as ‘somewhat stilted’. Even so…

The second part provides a reading of the three main characters of the book of Ruth – Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth – seeking to present them ‘as complex people, not merely built around a single primary trait, like loyalty, altruism or generosity’. Fewell and Gunn explore what they take to be the selfish motives of the lead characters, which shows how this story of redemption is ‘compromised’ by suspect behaviour.

Sexual overtones bubble to the surface in their reading. So, for example, mention of vessels, drinking, and eating are said to be subliminal sexual references, and ‘sheaves and grain can be seen as phallic’. Ruth’s request that Boaz spread his garment over her brings his religiosity down ‘to the most basic level of human interaction – sexual intercourse’.

Ruth’s statement of loyalty to Naomi in chapter 1 is said to be hyperbolic, and not without mixed motives. Naomi, for her part, plans (through Ruth) to trap Boaz, the man of substance, on the threshing floor, for ‘sexual intercourse, if not pregnancy, will enforce either marriage or a pay-off’. Boaz is fearful that in his inebriated state, he and Ruth may have had sexual intercourse, and so he marries Ruth as much out of a desire to protect his reputation as out of love or compassion for Ruth.

One reviewer praised the authors of the book for ‘walking the line with apparent ease between celebrating indeterminacy on the one hand and reading for ideological subversion on the other’, and for giving us ‘a provocatively playful reading of the Book of Ruth’. Indeed.

By contrast, in a 1998 Christianity Today article on literary approaches to the Bible, Leland Ryken wrote:

‘Literary criticism can follow other paths than this, but here we find in microcosm the current state of literary criticism of the Bible: iconoclastic and subversive of traditional interpretations, debunking of received views of biblical characters and events, preoccupied with sex and with the human element in the Bible to the relative neglect of the divine.’

Of course, we need to hear the challenge that comes from readings more subversive of the text than we have been used to…

Of course, we need to enquire what subtextual messages there may be about gender and sexuality…

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that the line that would lead to David and eventually the Messiah has been propagated by sexual subterfuge and less than completely honourable means…

But… sometimes a sheaf of grain is just a sheaf of grain.

Barry G. Webb on The Scrolls

Barry G. Webb, Five Festal Garments: Christian Reflections on the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, New Studies in Biblical Theology No. 10 (Leicester: Apollos, 2000), 151pp., ISBN 0851115187.

[The following is a lightly-edited version of a review first written in November 2000 and published on London School of Theology’s website.]

Barry Webb’s work (in the ‘New Studies in Biblical Theology’ series) takes up the five generally neglected Old Testament books traditionally known as ‘the Scrolls’ – Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther.

His discussion of each book is divided into three parts: first, he looks at the book itself, allowing it to set its own agenda; second, he then reads the book against its wider Old Testament context; then third, because Webb is self-consciously offering ‘Christian reflections’ on these works (as indicated in the volume’s subtitle), he looks at how the book in question relates to the gospel as proclaimed by Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. As such, the volume provides a concise overview of the books themselves and worked examples of looking at them from a biblical-theological perspective, offering helpful perspectives on what he sees as their themes – Song of Songs as the garment of love, Ruth as the garment of kindness, Lamentations as the garment of suffering, Ecclesiastes as the garment of vexation, and Esther as the garment of deliverance.

A few points for dialogue could be raised. With the possible exception of Ecclesiastes, all books have had considerable input from ‘feminist’ interpreters, but you wouldn’t really know it from Webb’s work. One doesn’t have to agree with all that is said in the name of feminist approaches to the Bible to appreciate some of the challenge such interpretations bring to the contemporary church. Even if one starts from the text (as well we should) rather than impose ideological agendas onto the text, we have to do justice to the significance of the singing voice of the woman in Song of Songs, to the mournful cries of the widowed ‘daughter of Zion’ in Lamentations, to the role of the central female characters in Ruth and Esther – all within a broader biblical-theological reflection on the relationship between men and women in Christ.

Also somewhat lacking is discussion of the interface between Christianity, Judaism and biblical theology (an ongoing and controversial topic in current scholarly debate on biblical theology and Christian theology more widely). This is particularly ironic, as Webb has chosen to tackle these books as the ‘Scrolls’ which are gathered together in the third part of the Hebrew canon (the ‘Writings’) and which were adopted for reading at five major Jewish festivals, but which are separated in the Christian canon (!) and apparently serve no function as a unit.

But these are simply indications that we all still have a lot more work to do. If these volumes and others like them continue to be published, we may be both optimistic and excited for the future of biblical theology.

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart on Ruth

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 81.

‘The book of Ruth tells the story of God’s faithfulness to his people in a specific case, as a Moabite woman becomes part of his story of redemption.’