Ruth, Jonah, Esther (Believers Church Bible Commentary | BCBC)
Overview
The Believers Church Bible Commentary Series is published for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today—Sunday school teachers, members of Bible study groups, students, pastors, and other seekers. The series is based on the conviction that God is still speaking to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God’s will.
Each volume illuminates the Scriptures; provides historical and cultural background; shares necessary theological, sociological, and ethical meanings; and, in general, makes "the rough places plain." Critical issues are not avoided, but neither are they moved into the foreground as debates among scholars. The series aids in the interpretive process, but it does not attempt to supersede the authority of the Word and Spirit as discerned in the gathered church.
The Believers Church Bible Commentary is a cooperative project of Brethren in Christ Church, Brethren Church, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Brethren Church, and Mennonite Church.
Overall Outline
The commentaries are organized into sections according to the major divisions of the text. Each section comprises five parts:
- An introductory preview
- A summary outline of the section
- Explanatory notes
- The text in its biblical context
- The text in the life of the church
Ruth, Jonah, Esther
Eugene F. Roop focuses on three of the Bible's most compelling short stories, Ruth, Jonah, and Esther. He draws attention to distinctive narrative characteristics of these three magnificent dramas. Such scrutiny opens new vistas of interpretation that can undergird the faith, life, and neighborly relations of the church.
Each narrative features intense interaction among the characters and, in the case of Jonah, with God. As we enter the world of these struggles and events, Roop hopes we will experience in the narratives something of their sorrow and laughter, hope and faithful loyalty, and grasp of God's mercy and grace.
Top Highlights
“It seems more likely that the fish here acts as an agent of divine deliverance, not punishment” (Page 125)
“Can a speech of repentance, no matter how sincere, or a moment of fasting, no matter how earnest, erase the violence and death that Nineveh has visited on Israel, Judah, and other vulnerable people?” (Page 154)
“The purpose for the fish is more important than its species” (Page 124)
“More likely, Jonah experiences God’s plant as a reaffirmation of the divine promise of protection, symbolized by his sacred booth. In building a sacred booth celebrating God’s protection of Israel, Jonah remembers God’s justice in the past, and longs for it in the present: Jonah is waiting to see what would become of the city (4:5). In the plant, Jonah rejoices over God’s response.” (Page 152)
“Although the order of the Writings was somewhat fluid, Ruth came to be grouped together with four other books as the five Festival scrolls (Megilloth). Each of these scrolls was read at a different Jewish festival: Song of Songs at Passover, Ruth at Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, Lamentations at the commemoration of Jerusalem’s fall, Ecclesiastes at Tabernacles, and Esther at Purim. Some Hebrew manuscripts list the Festival Scrolls in the calendar order of the festivals (so Tanak). Other Hebrew texts use a more chronological order for these five stories. Such an ordering places Ruth first, since it tells about the time when the judges ruled (1:1).” (Page 18)
- Title: Ruth, Jonah, Esther
- Author: Eugene F. Roop
- Series: Believers Church Bible Commentary
- Publisher: Herald Press
- Print Publication Date: 2002
- Logos Release Date: 2005
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. Ruth › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Jonah › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Esther › Commentaries
- Resource ID: LLS:29.13.3
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-08T22:06:26Z