Women in the Bible

Ruth

Book of Ruth; Matthew 1:5

• Ruth 1:15-16 So [Naomi] said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God.

• Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.

List of Reading & Resources

Articles

• “This National Hispanic Heritage Month, Let’s Celebrate the Story of Ruth” by Karen Gonzélez

• The Epic of Eden: Ruth by Dr. Sandra Richter (Bible Study Guide)

Books

• “‘Your People Shall Be My People, and Your God My God.’ The Shared Life of Ruth and Naomi as a Model for Women Transgressing Intercultural Boundaries” by Christiane Rosener in Transgressors: Toward a Feminist Biblical Theology edited by Claudia Janssen (2002)

• Ch 8, “Ruth: Crossing Borders and the Hesed of God” (pp.119-128) by Kristy Garza Robinson in Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing Our Influence (2019)

• “Ruth: The Art of Memorizing Territory and Religion” by Athalya Brenner (pp. 82-89) in A Critical Engagement: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of J. Cheryl Exum (2011)

• “Reading Ruth 3:1-5 from an Asian Woman’s Perspective” by Anna May Say Pa (pp. 47-59) in Engaging the Bible in a Gendered World edited by Linda Day and Carolyn Pressler (2006)

• Women on the Biblical Road: Ruth, Naomi, and the Female Journey by Mishael Caspi (1996)

• “Ancient Israel’s Law of Defending the Weak” by Anthony Pagliarini in Church Life Journal: A Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life (2017)

• “Ruth” by Amy-Jill Levine (pp. 78-84) in Women’s Bible Commentary Ed. Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe (1998)

• “ ‘Wherever You Go, I Go’: Queerness in the Book of Ruth” by Elana Spivack in Jewish Women’s Archive, (2020)