Book of Ruth
Julia Merryman
CORE 110-V
Lora Mendenhall
Formal 3 Draft 1
November 26, 2012
Book of Ruth
This is a love story, although it is not the usual love that recent fictitious novels depict. Most love stories are about two people, while this story is about three. It is about a more sacred and deep love that cannot be described by a word that has lost it’s meaning throughout the years. The word “love” has become an overused word that people use for everything. What I find discomforting is the fact that the word is used not only to express how much you “love” someone, but also how much you “love” something. “I love my mom”, “I love pizza”, “I love my boyfriend/girlfriend,” and “I love my phone,” are all phrases we are familiar with. They all use the same word, and yet the meaning is different in each sentence. The Book of Ruth tells about a greater and more meaningful love that cannot be expressed by that word alone. It is conveyed through the characters actions.
Two widowed women, Ruth and Naomi, are related to each other through marriage. This tale tells of their travel to Bethlehem, and how there they find a distant male relative named Boaz. The book of Ruth only has four chapters and 85 verses, but what it lacks in size is made up for in abundant love and unwavering faithfulness as Naomi, Boaz, and especially Ruth discover, firsthand. Ruth shows her love through dedication and devotion without actually mentioning the word “love”.
In the beginning of the story, Naomi’s husband and her two sons die. Without them, she is a poor lonesome woman. She pleads with Ruth and Orpah, her sons’ widowed wives, to return to their homes, but they insist they want to return to Bethlehem with her. Orpah eventually turns back. When Naomi pressured Ruth to leave her like her sister did, because Naomi has no life to offer her, Ruth countered with, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; and your God my God; Where
CORE 110-V
Lora Mendenhall
Formal 3 Draft 1
November 26, 2012
Book of Ruth
This is a love story, although it is not the usual love that recent fictitious novels depict. Most love stories are about two people, while this story is about three. It is about a more sacred and deep love that cannot be described by a word that has lost it’s meaning throughout the years. The word “love” has become an overused word that people use for everything. What I find discomforting is the fact that the word is used not only to express how much you “love” someone, but also how much you “love” something. “I love my mom”, “I love pizza”, “I love my boyfriend/girlfriend,” and “I love my phone,” are all phrases we are familiar with. They all use the same word, and yet the meaning is different in each sentence. The Book of Ruth tells about a greater and more meaningful love that cannot be expressed by that word alone. It is conveyed through the characters actions.
Two widowed women, Ruth and Naomi, are related to each other through marriage. This tale tells of their travel to Bethlehem, and how there they find a distant male relative named Boaz. The book of Ruth only has four chapters and 85 verses, but what it lacks in size is made up for in abundant love and unwavering faithfulness as Naomi, Boaz, and especially Ruth discover, firsthand. Ruth shows her love through dedication and devotion without actually mentioning the word “love”.
In the beginning of the story, Naomi’s husband and her two sons die. Without them, she is a poor lonesome woman. She pleads with Ruth and Orpah, her sons’ widowed wives, to return to their homes, but they insist they want to return to Bethlehem with her. Orpah eventually turns back. When Naomi pressured Ruth to leave her like her sister did, because Naomi has no life to offer her, Ruth countered with, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; and your God my God; Where