Ariel’s Bible Commentary: Judges and Ruth

by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

Publisher:

Ariel Ministries

, 2007

Overview

The spiritual condition of God’s chosen people during the period of the Judges is summarized by the final verse of the book. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”—Judges 21:25. Israel’s repetitive cycles of sin, slavery and submission to the gentile peoples in and around the promised land, repentant submission to God, and finally salvation by God’s work through the judges He raised up as deliverers provides the story line in the national incubator prior to the united kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon.

The characters of this exciting time provide the body of Messiah with illustrations pointing to God intervening in the lives of his people when they call upon him. The story of Ruth is a foreshadowing of the Lord’s redemptive plan for all peoples—Jew and Gentile alike.

With Logos Bible Software, this volume is enhanced with cutting-edge research tools. Scripture citations appear on mouseover in your preferred English translation. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Powerful topical searches help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Tablet and mobile apps let you take the discussion with you. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

This resource is also available as part of Ariel Ministries Messianic Collection (11 volumes).

Product Details

• Title: Judges and Ruth: The Second Installment of Ariel’s Bible Commentary Series
• Author: Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum
• Publisher: Ariel Ministries
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 478
• Christian Group: Judaism
• Resource Type: Commentaries
• Topic: Judges, Ruth

About Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

One of the foremost authorities on the nation of Israel, Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum is a messianic believer and founder and director of Ariel Ministries, a Texas-based organization dedicated to evangelism and discipleship of Jewish people.

Dr. Fruchtenbaum was born in Siberia after his father was released from a communist prison there. Aided by the Israeli underground, the Fruchtenbaum family escaped from behind the Iron Curtain. While living in Germany from 1947 to 1951, Arnold received Orthodox training from his father – who had himself been reared to assume Chasidic (ultra-orthodox Jewish) leadership in Poland, only to later lose most of his family and his faith to the Holocaust. The Fruchtenbaums immigrated to New York, and five years later, at age 13, Arnold came to saving faith.

Before receiving his doctorate from New York University in 1989, Dr. Fruchtenbaum earned his ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary. His graduate work also includes studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Having lived in Israel for three years, Dr. Fruchtenbaum’s intensive study of the role of that nation in God’s plan of world redemption has made him a much in-demand speaker at Bible conferences and schools throughout the world.

Contents

Top Highlights

“This was not because his strength was in his hair, but because cutting it would visibly manifest disobedience to the Lord, disobedience that had begun earlier by his eating of the honey out of the body of the lion and that culminated in revealing the truth to Delilah, whom, by now, he had no good reason to trust. His hair was the most visible, continuous, and unbreakable symbol of the Nazirite Vow. He broke his Nazirite Vow several times before, but these were actions that came and went. However, with his visible hair cut off, all remnants of his separation for God disappeared, and he was now fully separated from God.” (Page 196)

“Ruth 1:1 states that the story takes place during the time of the Judges; and later in the book, the author shows the story takes place during and after a time of famine. If this was the same famine as that mentioned in Judges 6:3–4, then the story would have taken place during the time of Gideon, which is probably the best fit.” (Page 273)

“Three basic observations can be made concerning chapter 2. First: Ruth finds chesed in the eyes of Boaz on one level, but on a higher lever, also in the eyes of God. Her loyalty to Naomi in chapter 1 was now being paid back by both God and man. Second: Naomi and Boaz never meet in this chapter; Ruth served as an intermediary between Naomi and Boaz. However, if the childlessness of Naomi is to be resolved, it will now obviously involve Ruth. Third: God has begun His payment of Ruth’s wages; the generosity of Boaz was only the down payment.” (Page 317)

“But the sojourn to Moab was wrong for three reasons. First, Naomi herself recognized that her bereavement of her husband and her two sons was a judgment of God. Second, in Deuteronomy 23:5–6, the Moabites were barred from participating in the life of Israel, and Israel was forbidden to seek their prosperity. Third, if God wanted them to move, He would have declared it as He did with the two captivities of Assyria and Babylonia.” (Page 288)

Product Details

• Title: The Books of Judges and Ruth
• Author: Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Series: Ariel’s Bible Commentary
• Publisher: Ariel Ministries
• Print Publication Date: 2007
• Logos Release Date: 2007
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. Judges › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Ruth › Commentaries
• Resource ID: LLS:ARBBLCM07
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-05T16:34:36Z

About Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum (1943– ) is a messianic believer and founder and director of Ariel Ministries, an organization dedicated to evangelism and discipleship of Jewish people. He earned his doctorate from New York University and his MTh from Dallas Theological Seminary, and he studied at Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

As a child, Dr. Fruchtenbaum was trained by his father in Orthodox Judaism, but at age thirteen he came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. He worked as a missionary with the American Board of Missions to Jews (known today as Chosen People Ministries) and served as editor of their monthly publication, The Chosen People.

Dr. Fruchtenbaum is the author of Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Book of Genesis and the eleven volumes in the Ariel Ministries Messianic Collection, and he is the coauthor of How Jewish Is Christianity?: 2 Views on the Messianic Movement.