RUTH
Apollos Old Testament Commentary
By L. Daniel Hawk
IVP / Apollos. 166 pages. £19.99
ISBN 978 1 783 593 071
This is a technical commentary, with a focus on literary devices.
The introduction is helpful for situating the book. Particularly interesting was the comparison between Ruth and several other OT women. However, the author approaches Ruth from the perspective that it was written as a polemical argument against the Ezra/Nehemiah reforms, which seems to pit Ruth against Ezra/Nehemiah in arguing for/against inter-marriage. Hawk’s arguments are not totally convincing on this. What’s more they leave one questioning the historical reliability of Ruth and hence biblical inspiration. Also worrying, however, is Hawk’s argument that ‘Ruth portrays God at work in response to rather than as the cause of human acts of blessing and hesed.’ One could read a hint of the prosperity gospel. Needless to say, Hawk’s theology influences how Ruth is interpreted.
