Rubert L. Hubbard - The Book of Ruth

The Book of

RUTH

ROBERT L. HUBBARD, JR.

W ILLIAM B . E ERDMANS P UBLISHING C OMPANY

G RAND R APIDS, M ICHIGAN

Copyright 1988 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hubbard, Robert L., 1943

The Book of Ruth / by Robert Hubbard, Jr.

(The New International Commentary on the New Testament)

Includes .

eISBN 978-1-467-42296-3

ISBN 0-8028-2526-5

1. Bible. O.T. RuthCommentaries.

I. Bible. O.T. Ruth. English. Hubbard. 1988.

II. Title. III. Title: Ruth. IV. Series.

BS1315.3.H83 1988

2223507dc19 88-24045

www.eerdmans.com

To My Parents,

Robert L., Sr., and Verna C. Hubbard,

With Deep Gratitude

CONTENTS

It is said that when the renowned nineteenth-century German scholar, Julius Wellhausen, saw a colleagues new book, he remarked, So thick a book for so thin a subject. Since Ruth has only four chapters (barely 85 verses!), readers may be similarly startled at the length of this book. They wonder how so simple a story as the book tells could require such extensive comment. In reply, I grant that the books apparent simplicity tempts one to treat Ruth casually. I have, however, sought to take the book seriously since, in fact, behind its simplicity lurk both knotty interpretative problems to be solved and rich literary art to be savored.

Happily, as if obeying Boazs command (2:16), scholarly predecessors have strewn my path with a rich harvest of study. It is a pleasure to acknowledge my debt to those from whom I have gleaned the most: A. Berlin, E. F. Campbell, Jr., H. W. Hertzberg, B. Porten, L. Morris, W. Rudolph, J. Sasson, P. Trible, E. Wrthwein. Unlike Ruth, however, I have occasionally ventured into another field (2:8); that is, I have offered my own interpretations on many matters from which others may gleanhopefully, at leastan ephah 2:17) of enriched understanding of this remarkable literary masterpiece.

Profound gratitude is also due to many others: to my former teacher, the late William H. Brownlee, for recommending me to this series; to its editor, Professor R. K. Harrison, for taking his advice; to Denver Seminary for providing a pleasant workplace and two generous sabbatical leaves; to the seminarys library staff for tracking down everything I needed (not an easy task!); to its Word Processing Center for preparing the manuscript; to faculty colleagues, Robert Alden and Craig Blomberg, for reading portions of the manuscript; to research assistants, Gary A. Long and the Rev. Barrett I. Duke, for cheerfully running tedious bibliographic errands; to my former student, Randy Merritt, for editorial assistance; to Tyndale House, Cambridge, for kind hospitality during a sabbatical in 1987; to Gary Lee at Eerdmans for capable editorial work; and to Kris Smith and Joe Cox for helping to prepare the indexes. I only wish that I could pawn some responsibility for the resulting contents on all of them!

Finally, the debt I owe my own Ruth, whose name is Pam, and our sons, Matt and Ben, is incalculable. If this book brings them any pride, that will hardly dent my indebtedness to them for their patience and encouragement during the many long hours.

The book is dedicated to my parents in gratitude for their love and example over the years. They not only gave me life but first introduced me to the Bible as Gods Word. If this book helps Gods people to know the ways of God in human lives better, they will be very proud and I will have made a small payment on an enormous debt. Since God is the hero in Ruth, however, my greatest joy would be for Him to receive the glory.

R OBERT L . H UBBARD, JR .

AB Anchor Bible

AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures

Akk. Akkadian

ANEP J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East in Pictures. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University, 1969

ANET J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University, 1969

AnOr Analecta orientalia

AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament

Arab. Arabic

ArOr Archiv orientln

ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch

AusBR Australian Biblical Review

AV Authorized (King James) Version

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

BAT Die Botschaft des Alten Testaments

BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the OT. Repr. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959

BET Beitrge zur evangelischen Theologie

BHS K. Elliger and W. Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia . Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 19671977

Bib Biblica

BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands Library

BK Bibel und Kirche

BKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes Testament

BR Biblical Research

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BT The Bible Translator

BWANT Beitrge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament

BZ Biblische Zeitschrift

BZAW Beihefte zur

CAD I. J. Gelb, et al., eds., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1956

CBC The Cambridge Bible Commentary

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

ConBOT Coniectanea biblica, Old Testament

CTA A. Herdner, ed., Corpus des tablettes en cuniformes alphabtiques dcouvertes Ras Shamra-Ugarit de 1929 1939 . 2 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1963

diss. dissertation

DJD D. Barthlemy, J. T. Milik, et al., Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (of Jordan). Oxford: Clarendon, 1955

DOTT D. W. Thomas, ed., Documents from Old Testament Times. Repr. New York: Harper & Row, 1961

EncJud C. Roth and G. Wigoder, eds., Encyclopaedia judaica . 16 vols. Jerusalem: Keter; New York: Macmillan, 197172

Eng. tr. English translation

EvT Evangelische Theologie

ExpTim Expository Times

Fest. Festschrift

FOTL The Forms of the Old Testament Literature

GHB P. Joon, Grammaire de lhbreu biblique . Repr. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1965

Gk. Greek

GKC Gesenius Hebrew Grammar. Ed. E. Kautzsch. Tr. A. E. Cowley. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1910

HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament

Heb. Hebrew

HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs

HTR Harvard Theological Review

HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual

ICC International Critical Commentary

IDB(S) G. A. Buttrick, et al., eds., The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible. 4 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 1962. Supplementary Volume. Ed. K. Crim, et al., 1976

Int Interpretation

IP M. Noth, Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung . Repr. Hildesheim/New York: Olms, 1980

ISBE G. W. Bromiley, et al., eds., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 19791988

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JJS Journal of Jewish Studies

JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies

JQR Jewish Quarterly Review

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JSOTS JSOT Supplement Series

JSS Journal of Semitic Studies

KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament

KB L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Hebrisches und Aramisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament . 3rd ed. Leiden: Brill, 1967