The Interwovenness In The Book Of Ruth

The interwovenness of kindness in the book of Ruth is unparalleled in any other book of the TaNaKh (aside from the "hesed" or "chesed" of the LORD). Although it appears that Ruth's kindness results in positive rewards, which it certainly does, that is not what the Book of Ruth is about, though. Further, it would be faulty to attribute Ruth to being simply a story of a cause and effect relationship between kindness and positive things. Such as the cause being kindness with results in the effect of positive rewards. Amidst the importance of Ruth's loving-kindness is the piece of the linage of King David, who is said to have the heart of God. If David is of the matriarch of Ruth, who embodies hesed, then it would be make sense for David to be …show more content…
My reasoning is perhaps lacking insomuch as it may be too specifically relating to my personal experience rather than a generalization that I am disputing. In the churches I was taken to as a child (non-denominational and evangelical covenant) when the pastor would talk about Ruth he (always a he) would describe her important story almost as if it was a Gospel-esque parable of Jesus'. This always bothered me, but I could not really put my finger as to why it did until reading your prompt on how Ruth is a celebration of kindness. To equate Ruth as simply a parable regarding the positive prospects would take away the innate Jewish-ness of the story which is hesed: her lovingkindness, and further warp her into a "rational actor" who simply acts in kindness as the means to a better end. This is obviously not who Ruth was, nor what the book itself stands for. Now, that being said, there is a certain Jewish belief that does have a certain equation of good vs. evil, but this belief is not stating the idea of using kindness to further yourself, which is, as stated above, directly against the heart of the book of …show more content…
From Ruth's resolve to stay with her mother-in-law to her self-sacrificing nature, all of Ruth's actions were rooted in love. Because of Ruth's heart of love in her kindness, her "lovingkindness" she is the perfect human example of hesed. This book seems to celebrate the revolutionary idea of hesed, that her actions as a woman not born into Judaism would produce such Godly lovingkindness is a wild idea to be added into the TaNaKh, but it actually is showcasing that God is more than simply law. The book of Ruth seems to celebrate the goodness of the LORD by way of Ruth's