The Pentateuch and its reception in the Book of Ruth: constructing Israelite identity

This article deals with the Pentateuch and its reception in the book of Ruth. It is argued that the author/s of the book of Ruth knew most of the legislative and narrative texts in the Pentateuch and employed these in a most constructive manner to address identity issues in the Israelite community of the Second Temple Period. The main concern was the “true Israel”: should Israel be an exclusive community, consisting only of the descendants of the exile, or should foreigners — non-Israelites — be included in the “community of Yahweh” which is strictly forbidden by some legislative texts in the Pentateuch. By means of narrative, the book of Ruth proposes that descent is not determinative for Israelite identity, but that loyalty to the God of Israel, as stated by the first commandment of the Torah, is far more important. The conclusion is reached that although the book of Ruth is outside the Torah, the Torah is very much inside the book of Ruth.