Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ruth
    A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ruth
    A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ruth
    Ebook162 pages3 hours

    A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ruth

    By James D. Quiggle

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The book of Ruth describes what the life of faith should look like from its barest beginnings in its first profession, to the fruition of faith in obedient and faithful practice. Everywhere in Ruth God works, unseen, arranging circumstances, giving grace, and bringing blessings. To understand the message of Ruth is to perceive the hand of God at work in our own circumstances.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames D. Quiggle
    Release dateMay 24, 2012
    ISBN9781476055510
    A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ruth
    Author

    James D. Quiggle

    James D. Quiggle was born in 1952 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He grew up in Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. In the early 1970s he joined the United States Air Force. At his first permanent assignment in Indian Springs, Nevada in a small Baptist church, the pastor introduced him to Jesus and soon after he was saved. Over the next ten years those he met in churches from the East Coast to the West Coast, mature Christian men, poured themselves into mentoring him. In the 1970s he was gifted with the Scofield Bible Course from Moody Bible Institute. As he completed his studies his spiritual gift of teaching became even more apparent. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany Bible College during the 1980s while still in the Air Force. Between 2006–2008, after his career in the Air Force and with his children grown up, he decided to continue his education. He enrolled in Bethany Divinity College and Seminary and earned a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Theological Studies.As an extension of his spiritual gift of teaching, he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to begin writing books. James Quiggle is now a Christian author with over fifty commentaries on Bible books and doctrines. He is an editor for the Evangelical Dispensational Quarterly Journal published by Scofield Biblical Institute and Theological Seminary.He continues to write and has a vibrant teaching ministry through social media.

    Read more from James D. Quiggle

    Related to A Private Commentary on the Bible

    Titles in the series (12)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      THE WAR FOR OUR YOUTH Why creation still matters

      Dec 30, 2019

      We’re being told by public education systems, universities, media, some parents, and unfortunately many church leaders, that parts of the Bible are not relevant anymore and that we need to reinvent God’s word. So, with this situation, in order to und

      3 min read

    • Article

      Stepping Into The Book Of Romans

      Oct 2, 2020

      The New Testament book of Romans is a copy of a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome, sometime around the end of 58AD while he was in Corinth. He had never been to the Roman church before, although he had desired to do so for a lo

      2 min read

    • Article

      Forward March!

      Sep 4, 2020

      Forward March!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!

      Dec 31, 2021

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Famous Fathers In The Bible

      May 20, 2019

      Scripture is filled with people who we can learn much from. When it comes to the challenging vocation of fatherhood, several fathers in the Bible show what is wise to do—and what is not wise to do. Of course, the most important father figure in the B

      2 min read

    • Article

      'God In The Qur'an' Continues Jack Miles's Journey Through Religions

      Nov 27, 2018

      Readers who marveled at the passionate intellectual pyrotechnics of Miles's two books will notice almost immediately in this third installment that something seems fundamentally changed.

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Smoking Quill? Notes In Bible Margin Could Be Handwriting Of The Venerable Bede

      Sep 16, 2023

      His life of service through scholarship earned him the title “venerable”. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the post-Roman world, and acknowledged as a saint in the Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican traditions. Now a leading acad

      2 min read

    • Article

      Woman letters

      Mar 21, 2024

      Woman letters
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shaping Scripture

      Feb 16, 2023

      Shaping Scripture
      1 min read

    • Article

      Poetry Is Prayer

      Feb 28, 2020

      Prayer and poetry are defined by being words that gesture beyond words themselves. The post Poetry Is Prayer appeared first on The Millions.

      13 min read

    • Article

      Giving Translators Their Due

      Feb 16, 2022

      Though translator Jennifer Croft and Polish author Olga Tokarczuk shared the 2018 Man Booker International Prize—now known as the International Booker Prize—for the novel Flights, Croft’s name was not on the cover of the U.K. edition, published by Fi

      5 min read

    • Article

      CHARACTERS OF THE BIBLE Ezra

      Jul 22, 2022

      CHARACTERS OF THE BIBLE Ezra
      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘Curveball’: When Spiritual Skepticism Leads To Sturdier Faith

      May 2, 2023

      In his probing spiritual memoir, “Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming,” Peter Enns describes a dark period. He realized his religious assumptions since his teenage years – that every word of the Bible was fact – needed a secon

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Private Commentary on the Bible

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Private Commentary on the Bible - James D. Quiggle

      A Private Commentary on the

      Book of Ruth

      James D. Quiggle

      Copyright Page

      Published at Smashwords by James D. Quiggle 2012

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      A Private Commentary on the Book of Ruth,

      Copyright 8 2012 by James D. Quiggle

      ISBN: 9781476019314

      This Smashwords version was revised September 2014 to correct minor formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors, and to clarify difficult passages. The New King James version translation was replaced with a translation by the Author.

      Translation by James D. Quiggle.

      Scripture may be quoted from:

      The Authorized (King James) Version, Public Domain.

      American Standard Version, Public Domain.

      New American Standard Bible7, Copyright 8 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

      The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

      New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982, 1983 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, by Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

      The Jerusalem Bible, Reader’s Edition, Copyright 8 1966, 1967, and 1968, by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd., and Doubleday & Company, Inc.

      To Hollies Lockaby,

      who introduced me to the Savior,

      and now looks upon his face.

      Contents

      Top of the Document

      Publisher’s Note

      Preface

      Introduction

      RUTH ONE

      RUTH TWO

      RUTH THREE

      RUTH FOUR

      APPENDIX ONE: Prohibition Against a Moabite

      APPENDIX TWO: Levirate Marriage

      Sources

      Publisher’s Note

      Certain Hebrew and Greek words cannot be accurately transliterated in the eBook versions of this work. The software used to convert documents to eBook format does not support the diacritical marks macron and hacek. Please consult The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament and Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament for a proper transliteration of Greek and Hebrew words (see Sources).

      When text is converted to eBook format, footnotes are converted to endnotes. In some eBook formats the superscript characters in the text that identifies a footnote cause an extra line to be inserted into the text. I feel these changes to the text disrupt the flow of the text for the reader. For these reasons the majority of explanatory footnotes as found in the print version have been incorporated into the body of the text in the eBook version.

      The same issue also affects footnoted sources. In the eBook versions I have placed references to sources into the body of the text using brackets. The references are shortened to the author’s name and page number cited, e.g., [Ames, 83]. When a source has two or more authors only the first is cited. Authors with the same last name are distinguished by the first initial, e.g., Brown, C., Brown J. Where a sentence begins with the author’s name followed by a quote I have shortened the reference to the page number where the quote will be found, and placed the bracketed number immediately following the author’s name. For example, Ames [83] wrote, God is everywhere because. Where an author has more than one work a short version of the title is also given, e.g., [Bush, Genesis, 25]; [Bush, Exodus, 37].

      To find the complete citation information please refer to the Sources section.

      Preface

      The Private Commentary on the Old and New Testaments is my interpretation of the Bible, neither more nor less. I am responsible for the use made of all quoted and cited material.

      The scope of the Private Commentary series is to bring the reader to a practical understanding of the scriptures. I explain and discuss each verse, idea, theme, and biblical truth as discovered in turn during the course of the exposition. My target audience is the non-technical Bible study/small group leader, Sunday School teacher, and local church Pastor. My point of view is a conservative theology. Other opinions concerning the Scripture are presented and discussed as I believe will profit the target audience. Bible students who desire to understand and apply the scriptures are invited to study the book with me and come to their own conclusions.

      This material is copyrighted to prevent misuse or abuse. Those persons using this material in their teaching/preaching ministry may copy and distribute individual pages (e.g., an excursus, a table/list, or an appendix) for distribution to one’s students or auditors. The entire book may not be copied and/or distributed, nor large portions of the book, such as a chapter or extended comments on Scripture passages. The cost of this work has been kept as low as possible so every interested teacher, preacher, and Bible student may afford a personal copy.

      Hebrew word definitions and transliterations, unless otherwise noted, are according to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1980). In most instances the vocabulary form of the word is used in the discussions versus the grammatical forms found in the Hebrew texts.

      Introduction

      The book of Ruth gives the reader another view of Israel during the times of the Judges, than the dismal picture provided by the book of Judges. "The lovely idyll of Ruth . . . happily reminds us of what we are apt to forget in reading [Judges], that . . . the blackest times were not so dismal in reality as they look in history" [Maclaren, 2:259]. Believers in every age have faced trials and persecution from without, and apostasy and heresy from within. Ruth gives its readers hope for something better. The book finds its significance in the contrast between recurring apostasy in the times of the Judges and the faith demonstrated by the people in Ruth. God has his people in every age, a Ruth or a Boaz faithful and obedient in the midst of evil times. May we be like them in our time.

      In retelling the story of these long-ago people from Bethlehem, the Narrator describes for the modern reader what the life of faith should look like. The measure of a peoples’ or a person’s faith is not found in miracles one might wrest from the hand of God, nor in one’s personal health and prosperity, but in demonstrating ethical character. If the words of James are true [and they are], that ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:17), then this book paints a picture of a lofty theology and an inspiringly vibrant faith [Block, 615.]. Ruth is a story of faith from its barest beginnings in its first profession, to the fruition of faith in obedient and faithful practice. Everywhere in Ruth we find God. Unseen he works, bringing judgment to the faithless and working with and in faithful and obedient lives arranging circumstances, giving grace, and bringing blessings. To understand the message of Ruth is to be able to perceive the hand of God at work in our own historical circumstances.

      I believe Ruth began as an oral history of family origins. The intimacy of detail (e.g., only three people knew what took place at Boaz’s threshing floor) suggests the story of Ruth was known and told in the house of Boaz and repeated to his descendants. My view is that the book was first an oral history passed down to family and close friends, a family story of how mom and dad first met. What couple has not told the story of their romance and marriage to friends and family? What parent has not been asked, How did you and mommy meet?

      This is a romantic story, and certainly the addition of a Moabitess to a family in Israel was worth remembering and repeating. The history of transmission is seen in the language. The speeches in the book are common language, dialects used in the early history of Israel, such as that in use during the time of the Judges, but the narrative is classical Hebrew. Boaz talks countrified dialect as contrasted with the more literary Hebrew of [the narrative of the book of] Ruth [Morris, 242–243]. The dialects from the oral history are preserved by the Narrator, who writes his parts in the literary language of his day and age. There is also a poetical quality throughout the book, and some commentators believe parts of the book were originally poetry (a means of preserving an oral history) before becoming prose [Morris, 242–243]. The story was passed along the generations, the history of the family of Boaz leading to the most illustrious member of that family, King David. At some point oral history became written history. Do the means of transmission undermine the doctrine of inspiration? No, God preserved the oral history so that it remained authentic, accurate and credible, just as he has done with the written history.

      Why was Ruth written? In its historical context, the story of Ruth the Moabitess may have been desired as the story of King David’s origin. At some point during David’s life someone, perhaps David himself, a relative, or a scribe, wanted to record the story of the King’s family history. (Probably not Samuel, unless it was written near the time Samuel anointed David to be king, 1 Samuel 16:13. Samuel was dead before David became King, 1 Samuel 28:3; 2 Samuel 5.) The oral history became the written history. In relation to generations of believers, the book of Ruth reveals a great deal concerning God’s relationship with man. Each of the main characters are seen to depend upon God for success in their plans: Naomi for a son to raise in the name of and for the inheritance of her dead husband; Ruth for a husband and a future family in Israel; Boaz for a wife and family; God (YHWH) for his purposes in David and his eternal purpose in Christ the Messiah.

      The book of Ruth teaches believers about God’s sovereignty and his providential dealings with his people. The key verse in this regard is 2:12, "The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God (YHWH ’El1ohĩm) of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge [Morris, 242–243]. God is present to bless his people and guide them to do his will. In the kinsmen-redeemer" who buys back Naomi’s land and marries Ruth, one may perceive a typological picture of salvation in Jesus Christ.

      The story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz tell us about the loving God who delivers his people from sin, guiding their path in life, and blessing their faithfulness. From another point of view, the moral lessons which Ruth incidentally teaches are of the most interesting and touching character: that private families are as much the objects of divine regard as the houses of princes; that the present life is a life of calamitous changes; that a devout trust in an overruling Providence will never fail of its reward; and that no condition, however adverse or afflicted, is absolutely hopeless, are truths that were never more strikingly illustrated than in the brief and simple narrative before us [McClintock, s. v. Book, Ruth of].

      The book probably received its written form during David’s reign. Various other kings have been suggested, from Solomon to Josiah. In these views the book is seen as an apologetic for the monarchy, or some particular monarch. The problem with these views is that they deny the historicity of the events of the book. The view of Ruth as a historical account of the family of David lets the story be genuine.

      The story itself dates from about 100 to 150 years before David. The Reese Chronological Bible places the story of Ruth between Judges 4:3 and 4:4, during the time of the oppression by Jabin and the deliverance by Deborah and Barak [Reese, 395–399]. Keil and Delitzsch place Ruth during the days of the Midianite oppression, Judges 6, because that seems to them a reasonable time for a famine in the land [Keil, 470]. Hubbard elects the time between Ehud and Jephthah (a span of some 300 years), because, except for the time of the Moabite king Eglon, Judges 3:12–30, Israel dominated Moab [Hubbard, 85].

      Any of these times seems reasonable for the story of Ruth. One study of biblical chronology provides food for thought on this subject. David Hollingsworth (a friend of the author) poses a date of 1162–1122 BC for Gideon’s judgeship (Judges 6:11–8:35), the birth of Boaz as between 1155–1140 BC, and the birth of Obed as circa 1100 BC (making Boaz between 40–45 years old at Obed’s birth) [Chronology]. Counting backwards ten years (1110

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1