EXEGESIS OF THE BOOK OF RUTH - 2200 Words

EXEGESIS OF THE BOOK OF RUTH (Essay Sample) Content: EXEGESIS OF THE BOOK OF RUTH Name Course Date Introduction The book of Ruth is an absolute delightful short masterpiece that people can readily identify with based on its down-to-earth-features. Readers can effortlessly identify with it through picturing themselves in the story. The readers can empathize with poor Naomi, who suffers from life’s tragic blows such as exile, famine, grief and loneliness. Additionally, readers can readily admire Ruth because of her charm, commitment, cleverness and courage. Equally, in terms of its text, like a solid underpinning under a sturdy house, a precise original text must underlie the appropriate interpretation of the book. In the Jewish canon, the book of Ruth is included in the third division while in Christian canon, the book of Ruth is a history book found between Judges and First Samuel. Based on the literary quality of the book of Ruth, the text is a world literature evident from the Hebrew prose writing attaining an artistic climax, which is not the case for other books in the Bible. The assertion attributes to the scenic structure of the book, the fashioning of guidelines for reading evidently in the means of interpretive words as well as quotations from older texts that are a reflection of an intelligent and precision manner. The paper purposes to analyze the book of Ruth. Textual Matters and Translation Like a solid foundation under a study house, an authentic original text has to underscore all proper interpretation. Fortunately, the Hebrew text (BHS) on which the interpretation and analysis premises remains relatively free of unsolvable difficulties. Only the closing of Ruth 2: 7 resists satisfactory solution, yet nothing vital to the comprehension of the book turns on that ambiguous phrase. Many other alleged obscurities appear capable of reasonable explanation without recourse to textual emendation. From the book’s eighty-five verses, only six changes in the consonantal text will be essential evident in Ruth 3: 14, 17; 4: 4, 5. Of these, four follow the Qere while two assume the versions (4: 4, 5). Only a change at the 4: 5 will influence the interpretation of the book. In contrast, there is a preference of the Ketib to Qere in five instances, which are 2: 1; 3: 3, 4: 4: 4) including one Qere but not Ketib evident in 3: 5. The Hebrew text of Ruth has a single oddity for which textual criticism confers a possible explanation, which is not convincing. At the glance of the text evidences, a form of gender confusion in gender disagreements between subjects and verbs as well as between suffixial pronouns and their antecedents. For this reason, if the book of Ruth is at least pre-exilic in origin, appeal to linguistic development is excluded because the phenomenon would be apparent in both the early and late books. As a result, the excellent solution is the regarding of the anomalous forms to be common but not feminine duals. Composition al History The text of Ruth with the possible exception of the genealogy in Ruth 4: 18-22 is a unified composition composed to confer theological stance on the real but possibly problematic family history of David, which would have been preserved using oral tradition. The identity of the composer is unknown, and a female is no out of the question. Jewish traditions maintain Prophet Samuel as the composer evident in verse Ruth 1:1. The composition of the book could have been as early as the reign of David visible in the tenth century BC (213), but the events took place much earlier. No evidence exists for extensive reliance on diverse written sources, for this reason, the final composer may have relied on oral traditions, but it is unlikely that the book has been subject to much compositional development. Some scholars place the book in a post-exilic period based on its theological and linguistic analysis; however, this evidence is questionable. The book of Ruth has been subject to a series of strategic edits layered over the story of Naomi. The assertion attributes to the text being a creation of penned oral presentations. Genre and Structure The book of Ruth is a historical narrative in spite of many scholars attempting to identify the genre restrictively as a novella, idyll, short story, folktale or comedy. The following structure constitutes a full construal of the Ruth narrative. Structure in the first chapter 1:1-5: The Prehistory of the book entails famine in Judah; two sons of Naomi dying after ten years 6-22: The narrative of the book: On the way to Bethlehem from Moab 8-22: Conclusion: The two women proceed to Bethlehem Chapter 2 2: 1-7: Preparation for the conversation entailing Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz 8-13: Conversation between Ruth and Boaz 14-17: Events at midday where Boaz welcomes Ruth to eat 18-23: Conversation between Ruth and Naomi after she returns Chapter 3 3: 1-5: Ruth receives advice from Naomi 6-7: In the evening Ruth follows Naom i’s advice 8-9: Midnight: Boaz questions Ruth 10-11: Boaz accepts Ruth 12-18: Boaz request Ruth to lie for the second time, besides Ruth receives more advice from Naomi Chapter 4 The transaction 1-6: Boaz engages other kin 7-10: Boaz engages witness on his acquisition of Ruth 11-12: conclusion 13-17: Ruth becomes Boaz’s wife; a son is born who is named Obed, who sires Jesse, the father of David. Historical Context of the Book of Ruth The dating of the events in the book of Ruth dates back to the period of judges (Ruth 1:1). The exact time within this era of the judges is unknown. In spite of the prospect that the book of Ruth may have been composed in the pre-monarchic and exilic periods, these ages have rightly gained few proponents. Scholars in the twentieth century classed the book to be a manifestation of the post-exilic period based on reasons such as alleged Aramaisms, sandal custom (Ruth 4: 7), priestly genealogies, and portrayal of Ruth as Moabite and canonic al placement of Ruth. Nonetheless, the monarchic date is the accepted view because of the conclusion of the twentieth century evident from Edward Campbell proposing the date from 950 to 700 B.C.E. eras. The basis for this argument was the similarities in the genre and theological stance to prior stories such as the Court History of David (Second Samuel), Judges and First Kings 22: 1-36. Campbell claims that the book was produced orally in the era of Solomon. The book was then written in ninth century B.C.E., most probably in the reign of Jehoshaphat. Literary Context and Canonical Placement Structuralism has been applied to the studies of the book of Ruth based on dramatis personae as well as their role in furthering the plot evident in its folktale pattern. Intertextuality has also been suitable for the book based on its explicit references to other texts, for instance, the account of Leah and Rachel as well as Judah and Tamar. In spite of the concept of the text, being compre hended in light of other texts was a principal idea of the form of criticism, recent intertextual approaches move beyond a focus on the genre to thematic resemblance and similar circumstances. Rhetorical criticism also finds a voice in the text evident from concerns of James Muhlenberg's programmatic 1969 JBL article. Nonetheless, narrative criticism is the primary mainstay in the analysis of the book. The canonical placement of the book of Ruth is varied in the textual traditions, and each distinct placement offers its theological perspective. In the Hebrew canon, the book is placed in the Writings (Ketuvim) and is grouped with five festal scrolls (Megilloth). Talmudic tradition places it in Writings before Psalms but contemporary Jewish Bibles, for instance, the JPS translation have it after Songs of Songs. The Greek canon (LXX) places the book between Judges and 1-2 Samuel, which is most familiar to modern Christians. The order in the Greek canon bases on the historical settin g in days of judges apparent in Ruth 1: 1 as well as chronological sequencing, for instance, the transition from judges to monarchy. Literary Analysis of the Text The reading of the book of Ruth can be at diverse levels of history, romance or polemic. The literary analysis will detail the following. At the outset, in terms of the genre of the text, the book of Ruth is a narrative evident from being a splendid example of the storyteller’s art. Secondly, in the instance of the plot line of the book of Ruth, the book is presented as a single narrative with four scenes, which form a circular pattern. These scenes are Ruth 1: 1-22, which focuses on bitter life of Naomi, Ruth 2-1-23 that focuses on Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz, Ruth 3, 1-18, which concentrates on Ruth’s appeal to Boaz for help and Ruth 4: 1-22, which underscores the blessings of Naomi through Boaz. Thirdly, in terms of characters and characterization, it is conclusive that two women Naomi and R uth are the primary characters of the book who engage in in-depth and complicated conversations. These conversations fulfill the two principal functions of biblical narrative dialogues. Another character is Boaz who serves not the interest of the narrative plot line but also serves the interest of the characterization of the two principal characters. Fourthly, in terms of the point of view, the book presents two perspectives evident from the viewpoint of the narrator and the perspective of characters. Themes and Theological Message The central message of the book of Ruth was to champion the right of David’s family to the throne. Nonetheless, like many other books, the book of Ruth has more than the single message of championing the lineage of David. The book contains few statements that could be construed as theological evident from mentioning God twice in 1: 6 and 4: 3. In these two verses, the book acknowledges God as the provider of bread (food) and children. In this wa y, the theology corresponds precisely to the plot where Ruth overcomes childless...

A Story Of Application Of Felony Murder Rule On Juveniles - 275 Words

A Story Of Application Of Felony Murder Rule On Juveniles (Essay Sample) Content: A Story of Application of Felony Murder Rule on JuvenilesStudents NameInstitutional AffiliationABSTRACTThis report exhausts the ethnographic case study of a young man, 15 years of age and his admission into prison due to the application of the felony murder rule that applies in many parts of the United States of America, Illinois being one of them. The study was conducted in the state of Illinois after I encountered many related questions during my time as a volunteer at the Illinois legal Aids Online platform. I interviewed up to thirty participants from Illinois, legal officers, parents, youth and ex-convicts on the felony murder rule had applied. The research utilised more than 200 pages of interviews that had been transcribed. The study took me three weeks, working from Monday to Friday of every day as shown in my volunteers schedule attached at the appendix of this paper.A Story of Application of Felony Murder Rule on Juveniles is aimed at providing answers to th e following questions: What are the different interpretations of this rule by the various stakeholders? How are the attitudes of the people interviewed towards the rule characterised? What role does the community play in preparing the juvenile for inclusion in prison for a felony? How did each participant describe the process of sentencing the juvenile to nine years in jail for murder? Do the accounts of the various respondents suggest an alignment or tensions due to conflict of opinions? What was the consequence of these tensions or alignments on the application of the rule?INTRODUCTIONAfter the attainment of independence in the US, many states in the country made amendments to their laws to curb the worrying rise in cases of crime. One of the enactments that were made was the inclusion of the felony murder rule. This law classified serious criminal offences as a felony. Here, the accomplices of a dead aggressor were to be charged with murder regardless of whether they were present or not at the time the crime took place. The law assumed that if an accomplice died in a criminal activity, then his or her accomplices had to be accountable because they contributed in one way or the other in his or her death. In light of this, the report is built around a case of a juvenile that was charged with felonious murder. The researcher chose Illinois as the most appropriate site for the study because the first ruling was made her. Research data was collected through numerous interviews that were conducted on legal officials, parents and ex-convicts under the same rule. The research intended to make an inference about the society by applying symbolic interactionism to the case.Symbolic interactionism is a sociological framework that heavily relies on the symbolic meanings that people form or develop and depend on in the process of interacting with each other (Blumer, 1986). Max Weber first argued that peoples actions are informed to the interpretations that they make the world they live in. He was first among the many sociologists that have attempted to define the approach to sociological studies. George Herbert made modifications to Webers definition by arguing that this approach helps in the analysis of the society and the subjective meanings that the people attach to behaviours, objects and events (Charon Cahill, 1979). The various interpretations that are attached to the things and events are referred to as the definition of the situation. This approach is important to my case because it helps one to understand the reason behind the involvement of youth in criminal and the various definitions that they attach to situations because of their vulnerability and gullibility associated to their age.Literature reviewSymbolic interactionism lays great emphasis on the symbols and the language that helps us to attach some sort of meanings to the experiences that we go through in our lives (Manis et.al, 1972). There an individual interacts with the world, the more he/she changes the meanings that he or she attaches to social interactions. It is common for one to spend a lot of time to think on their next line of action because it is the nature of human beings to adjust their behaviour according to their beliefs of the perception that people have about them.According to many social interactionists, the reality that we know is formed by interactions and communications (Sandstrom et.al, 2006). Put differently, the beliefs that are championed by the symbolic interactionists postulate that reality is construed in the society in the sense that is a creation of then many ideas, thoughts and the conversations that take place in our lives. Previously, the emphasis was put on the interactions that people had face-to-face. However, it is prudent to take into consideration other types of interaction such as online experiences, written communication, and mobile phone text messaging.A major take away from the explanation above is that individuals possess the power to influence the order in the world and do not merely need to be victims of the forces of the world. In addition to that, the change that individuals cause in the world is ever-changing. There are many real life examples that can be used for one to understand this approach well. If you happen to have a sister with whom you always clash because of conflict of interests, ten such conflicts are only brought about by the numerous interactions and communications that take place between the two of you. In addition to that, any event that your sister participates in has a symbolic meaning attached to it. For instance, if she gets a promotion at her place of work within the first year of working, you will still be tempted to think that the promotion came because she always gets what she wants yet you dont. This is a classic illustration to show that the interactions that take place two people play a major role influencing how an individual interprets various actions and events.George Herbert Mead is one of the sociologists that laid the foundations for the study of the frameworks that can assist in the study of sociology. He came up with the concept of self by defining it an organism that is dynamic and exists on its own (Snow, 2001). According to him, the self is divided into two parts; I and me. I am defined as that spontaneous disorganised that response that an individual gives to other peoples attitudes. On the other hand, George defines me as the perspectives about the self that an individual interprets from other peoples organised attitudes.In addition to that, Charles Cooley played a major role in the formulation of the symbolic interactionism theory. His major contribution is referred to as the looking glass self, where e argues that an individual is what he or she thinks others think of him or her (Stryker, 1980). Put differently, the theory implies that individuals perceive themselves by how they feel others perceive them. According to He rbert Blumer, the behaviours exhibited by people are determined by what meanings such behaviours bring to them. The said meanings are in turn derived from the interactions that take place between an individual and his or her peers. Additionally, it is worth noting that the meanings that people attach to things and events continuously change depending on the interpretation by the individual.One of the social cultures observed within Illinois is people ...