Today I finished my first year of seminary. My brain is F-R-I-E-D. But, vacation is now 3 work days away.
I took the final exam for my "Genesis to Ruth" class this morning. Judges and Ruth were my two favorite books. Judges because it's super dramatic and twisty (think telenovella's for the Ancient Near East). Left handed judges, killing kings with copious amounts of belly fat, sex-addicted nazarites, sweets out of lion carcasses, a woman who pretends to be taking care of a guest to her tent only to stab him in his sleep. So much drama! Ruth because it's really compassionate, brave and tender. The book of Ruth is a short four chapters, but the story is beautiful, and this immigrant widow becomes a matriarch to both King David and Christ.
Speaking of Ruth, today starts the festival of Shavuot in the Jewish community. It's a time when the Ruth narrative is read. Rabbi Arthur Waskow asks the question, "What if Ruth came to America?" It's worth a read.
3 comments:
She didn't stab him in his sleep, she drove a tent peg through his skull. It makes me wonder how strong this woman was.
But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
stabbing, driving, related but distinct means of murder?
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