The Book of Ruth

The Book of Ruth sensitively portrays bonding and devotion between two women. [But also don't miss Book of Judith for a surprising overturning of male/female roles: Judith sneaks into the enemy camps, cuts off the head of Holofernes, the leader of the enemy army, returns and receives a hero's welcome, and then lives out the remainder of her days with her maidservants, rejecting all male suitors] The final pledge of Ruth to Naomi - …

…adopted about the time of Ezra and Nehemiah condemns marriages between Jews and non-Jews - a reflection of the problems and nationalism of post-exilic Judaism. Interestingly Deuteronomy and the book of Nehemiah do not agree as to the details - but both books would exclude King David from the "congregation of the Lord" - because he was within ten generations of a Moabite, and Nehemiah would exclude Jesus of Nazareth! Bibliography The Book of Ruth