Judges and Ruth
Judges and Ruth
This commentary brings to life the world portrayed in the stories in Judges and Ruth. The intention is to prepare the reader to understand social norms and customs, such as hospitality codes, marriage customs, inheritance laws, or agricultural practices when they appear in the stories. Having established a cultural and literary context for Judges and Ruth, the commentary then treats each episode separately and as a whole. It is written to be accessible for a wide audience - including clergy, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested lay people. A suggested reading list - a feature of all volumes in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary - serves as a point of entry for the new serious students of Judges and Ruth, and the entire NRSV translation is provided throughout the text as a convenience to the reader.
- Provides inset boxes with outlines, translations of ancient texts, or structural features of stories
- Designed for lay audiences and pastors through a clear writing style and by offering a Suggest Reading List and the whole of the NRSV for Judges-Ruth
- Emphasizes social world with details on everyday life in early Israel
Reviews & endorsements
"Matthews has written a fine, very readable commentary...I recommend it highly for students in colleges, universities, and seminaries." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Gale A. Yee, Episcopal Divinity School
"Before he launches into a chapter-by-chapter commentary, he provides very helpful bibliographies that focus on these and other methods, specifically literary, redactional, feminist, social scientific, and historical critical analyses. It presumes significant biblical background and a basic knowledge of Hebrew." The Bible Today
"Judges and Ruth is written to accomodate a wide range of readers, from the serious Bible student to the scholar...A strength of the book comes in its annotated bibliography. Matthews includes eighteen pages of bibliography divided into separate disciplines of study; commentaries, literary studies, redaction studies, feminist studies, social world and archaeohistorical studies, social scientific studies, historical-critical studies and additional articles and monographs of interest." - Sara Fudge, Cincinnati Christian University
"The author's contribution lies in...his rich treatment of concrete tales. A seasoned scholar, Matthews brings to the text a keen literary analysis and an unusual grasp of comparative ancient Near Eastern literature, archaeological data, and cross-cultural studies." - Carolyn Presler, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
Product details
- Published: January 2004
- Format: Paperback
- ISBN: 9780521000666
- Length: 294 pages
- Dimensions: 227 × 153 × 21 mm
- Weight: 0.396kg
- Contains: 25 b/w illus. 2 maps
- Availability: Available
Table of Contents
- Part I. The Book of Judges:
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Suggested reading list
- 3. Commentary
- Part II. The Book of Ruth:
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Suggested reading list
- 3. Commentary.
- Show more
