FREE ESSAY ON THE BOOK OF RUTH

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 - more moving in the King James Version than any other
[including the Hebrew apparently] - is often used in heterosexual marriage ceremonies.
But it is made between two women. This story may or may not be a lesbian story: many
commentators reject such an interpretation, but others [such as Tom Horner in David Loved
Jonathan support a lesbian reading. 
Quite apart from the lesbian reading of this passage, note that the Bible reveals a major
internal debate in the book of Ruth. The point of the story is that Ruth becomes the
grandmother of King David, - but Ruth was a Moabite women. The Deuteronomic code,
probably 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