{"product_id":"ruth-9781783593071","title":"Ruth","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn the surface, the book of Ruth tells the tale of an unlikely marriage between a destitute Moabite widow and an upstanding citizen of a Judean village. The deeper import of the story, however, has to do with the internal boundaries that define the people of God. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs Israel a closed community, held together exclusively by bonds of kinship, or a nation that welcomes faithful outsiders into its sphere of belonging?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eRuth appropriates marriage as the symbolic vehicle of a transformation in Israel's self-understanding - from a community articulated by Naomi's declaration that her daughters-in-law marry within their own people, to the acclamations by the people of Bethlehem that endorse Boaz's marriage to a Moabite.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eL. Daniel Hawk undertakes a detailed narrative analysis of Ruth that goes beyond the description of its content and stylistic features to illumine its deep structure and use of metaphor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eInformed by contemporary studies on ethnicity, he discovers a work of remarkable sophistication that employs a story of intermarriage to address opposing ideas of Israelite identity. Hawk's meticulous attention to patterned structures, stylistic devices and characterization reveals the strategy by which the narrator constructs a vision of Israel that looks beyond rigid internal boundaries to the welcome of faithful foreigners as agents of blessing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eL. Daniel Hawk is professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Apollos","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50865710268690,"sku":"9781783593071","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_357bbbfd-009b-4306-a603-5887a7ad2c3f.jpg?v=1737684736","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/ruth-9781783593071","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}