Depending on whether you’re using a Jewish or Christian version, the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and Samuel or between the Song of Songs and Lamentations. But wherever it appears in your Bible, you will want to find it and study it again after you read “Ruth—Big Theme, Little Book,” originally published in the August 1996 issue of Bible Review. In this article, Adele Berlin argues that Ruth illuminates the main theme of the Hebrew Bible: the continuity of God’s people in their land.—Ed.
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