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Abstract Naomi is one of the characters in the book of Ruth who experiences many challenges. The death of her husband and two sons left Naomi as a widow. Naomi has to survive with the status as a widow who has limitations in social circles. This paper aims to analyze and describe Naomi’s personality archetypes using Jung’s psychoanalytic studies. The method used is descriptive analytic which is traced through historical traces, characterizations and conversations in the story. The results of the study prove that Naomi is able to survive and has the support of the archetypes contained within her. The archetypes are: anima-animus, shadow, persona, self, and the great mother. With the support of archetypes, Naomi is able to survive and show her best qualities. Abstrak Naomi adalah salah satu tokoh dalam kitab Rut yang mengalami banyak tantangan. Kematian suami dan kedua putra membuat Naomi hidup menjanda. Naomi harus bertahan hidup dengan status janda yang memiliki keterbatasan dalam lingkungan sosial. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dan mendeskripsikan arketipe kepribadian Naomi menggunakan kajian psikoanalitikal Jung. Metode yang dipakai adalah deskriptif analitik yang ditelusuri melalui jejak historis, penokohan dan percakapan dalam cerita. Hasil penelitian membuktikan bahwa Naomi mampu bertahan hidup dan mendapat dukungan dari arketipe yang terdapat dalam dirinya. Arketipe tersebut adalah: animus (pikiran), shadow (bayangan), persona (topeng), self (diri), dan the great mother (ibu agung). Adanya dukungan dari arketipe membuat Naomi mampu bertahan hidup dan menunjukkan kualitas terbaik dirinya.

This study used Ruth 1:1–5 as a lens in the study of the increasing challenges Nigerian migrants face. Famine was ravaging the land, and hence Elimelech moved his family away from Israel to the country of Moab so they would be fed (Rt 1:1–2). While this was a decision made out of a desire for survival, Moab was not the best place for Elimelech to take his family. He was leaving the Promised Land that God had given him, and the Moabites did not worship the Lord. After only 10 years in Moab, Elimelech’s sons died, and the household comprised of three widows. This is similar to what is evident in Nigeria. Most Nigerian migrants, due to famine and other economic hardships, migrate out of Nigeria to destination countries as regular or irregular migrants. There are cases of Nigerian migrants who ended up in destination countries as touts, prostitutes, and drug financiers and pedlars. Some were even executed in destination countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. The recommendations include public awareness and sensitisation of individuals by the government and concerned faith-based communities. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This study examined the Nigerian migrant crisis in the light of Ruth 1:1–5. The study implicated Old Testament Exegesis, contextual biblical studies sociology and migration studies.

The book of Ruth is generally regarded as centring on the key figure of Ruth. It is claimed that this limits the narrative, influencing the interpretation. Several literary techniques suggest the author’s intentional focus on Naomi, her faith struggles and God’s gracious healing of an embittered mother. Whereas the paradigm of covenant faith and ḥesed [faithful love] feature prominently they do also highlight the spiritual transformation that came about for Naomi upon her return from Moab. The fullness and completed rest for Naomi continued consequentially to bear fruit for God’s people through the tribe of Judah. Historically, it confirmed the royal line of David which concluded with God’s Go’el [kinsman-redeemer].

This chapter examined the concept of �Ecodomy� � life in its fullness � as it unfolds in the Book of Ruth. The book is dated to the post-exilic period in the history of Israel, and is read as narrative critique against the Moabite paragraph in Deuteronomy 23:3�5, and against the way that this text is interpreted and implemented in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, the protagonists in the narrative, become paradigmatic of the situation in post-exilic Israel. Their stories, dealing with loss and the actions they take in order to heal the brokenness become indicative for the post-exilic community. As the narrative plot develops, the chapter aims to indicate how �life in its emptiness� is changed into �life in its fullness� by the courage and creative initiative of individuals, even if it meant overstepping boundaries and challenging the social conventions of the time. Against the exclusivist policy of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Book of Ruth argues that foreigners may be included in the community of YHWH and that their solidarity with Israel is to the benefit of all the people. The point that the chapter wishes to make, is that life in its fullness cannot be taken for granted, but requires effort.

This article addresses two issues in the Book of Ruth that have not yet received much scholarly attention: why is the narrative plotted in the time of the judges, whilst the time of narration dates to the postexilic period, and why is one of the protagonists Ruth, the Moabitess, whilst the law in Deuteronomy 23:3�4 (HB 4�5) clearly forbids the presence of Moabitess and Ammonites in the community of YHWH? A suggestion is made that a possible explanation to both these questions may be found in tensions regarding Israel�s identity in the Second Temple period. Two different yet not completely opposite viewpoints are illuminated: that of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah who envisioned an exclusive Israel that is construed along genealogical and religious lines, and that of the Book of Ruth where solidarity with the people of Israel and the worship of YHWH are embraced by foreigners. Both sides are concerned about the identity of Israel and loyalty to YHWH, yet they employ a different jargon in order to argue for the inclusion or exclusion of foreigners. Furthermore, Ezra and Nehemiah consider mixed marriages as a serious threat to Israel�s identity, and they justify the expulsion of foreign wives on the basis of the Book of Moses. According to the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses interpreted the Torah for the children of Israel at Mount Nebo in Moab: Moab thus functioned as an interpretive space for the Torah. The Book of Ruth proposes an alternative interpretation of the Torah, also from the plains of Moab and the exegesis comes in the person of Ruth, the Moabitess.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article challenges the point of view that the Book of Ruth is a charming narrative of loyalty and love. Research reveals that this Book is a polemic document and its main contribution is to the intradisciplinary field of biblical hermeneutics that requests a re-interpretation of texts for changing circumstances.

Ruth 3:9 en 4:5: What does the levirate marriage have in common with the practice of land redemption? This article examines two passages in the book of Ruth – 3:9 and 4:5. Both pertain to two practices in ancient Israel, namely the levirate marriage and the redemption of property – here in the case of the book of Ruth. Ruth 3:9 hints only indirectly to these, therefore, I aim to indicate that Ruth does offer Boaz a marriage proposal and that some form of redemption of property is intended. In Ruth 4:5 these two practices are once again juxtaposed. Scholars propose various reasons why the levirate marriage and redemption are related to each other in the book of Ruth and nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It appears that their proposals can be related directly to their dating of the book, either pre- or post-exilic. In my article, I accept a post-exilic dating since the author of the book of Ruth seems to know most of the laws in the Pentateuch. I conclude with the views of Irmtraud Fischer, a feminist scholar who offers interesting perspectives from a feminist historical critical point of view.

The biblical text introduces Ruth, a Moabite woman, at a time of personal crisis. She faces destitution. Life has handed her multiple blows, amongst them widowhood and childlessness. Her single asset? Naomi, a cranky, elderly but endearing mother-in-law. Naomi, an Israelite and also widowed, is now quite determined to go home to Bethlehem. Ruth joins Naomi’s journey, but for Ruth it is a pilgrimage, for it is at this time that she switches allegiance from the gods of Moab to the God of Israel. As an immigrant facing change on every level – a new culture, a new religion, no friends and no job – Ruth nonetheless triumphs. Within only a couple of months, not only does she marry a prominent and prosperous bachelor, Boaz, but also wins the hearts of her mother-in-law’s friends, the women of Bethlehem. This analysis of her successful pilgrimage offers contemporary guidelines for facing dramatic changes. Using literary method, this article examines one of the Bible’s accounts of how a personal crisis is resolved via a combination of God’s providence and human initiative and courage. Die hantering van ’n krisis deur ’n kombinasie van menslike inisiatief en goddelike bestuur: Insigte uit die boek Rut. Die bybelse teks stel die leser voor aan Rut, ’n Moabitiese vrou, tydens ‘n persoonlike krisis in haar lewe. Sy is ’n weduwee, kinderloos en staar dus armoede in die gesig. Haar enigste pluspunt is Naomi, haar bejaarde, ietwat verbitterde dog innemende skoonmoeder. Naomi, ’n Israeliet en ook ’n weduwee, is vasbeslote om na haar huis in Betlehem terug te keer. Rut vergesel haar en dit word vir Rut ’n pelgrimstog na die God van Israel, weg van die afgode van Moab af. As immigrant wat ’n vreemde kultuur en godsdiens, ’n toekoms sonder vriende en werkloosheid moet verwerk, seëvier Rut uiteindelik. Sy trou binne ‘n paar maande met Boas, ’n prominente en welvarende vrygesel en wen ook die harte van haar skoonmoeder se vriendinne, die vroue van Bethlehem. Die ontleding van Rut se suksesvolle pelgrimstog bied tydgenootlike riglyne aan diegene wat voor groot veranderinge in hulle lewens te staan kom. Met behulp van die literêre metode ondersoek hierdie artikel ’n bybelse mededeling wat aantoonhoedat ’n persoonlike krisis deur middel van God se voorsienigheid en menslike inisiatief en moed opgelos kan word.

Ruth 3:9 en 4:5: What does the levirate marriage have in common with the practice of land redemption? This article examines two passages in the book of Ruth – 3:9 and 4:5. Both pertain to two practices in ancient Israel, namely the levirate marriage and the redemption of property – here in the case of the book of Ruth. Ruth 3:9 hints only indirectly to these, therefore, I aim to indicate that Ruth does offer Boaz a marriage proposal and that some form of redemption of property is intended. In Ruth 4:5 these two practices are once again juxtaposed. Scholars propose various reasons why the levirate marriage and redemption are related to each other in the book of Ruth and nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It appears that their proposals can be related directly to their dating of the book, either pre- or post-exilic. In my article, I accept a post-exilic dating since the author of the book of Ruth seems to know most of the laws in the Pentateuch. I conclude with the views of Irmtraud Fischer, a feminist scholar who offers interesting perspectives from a feminist historical critical point of view.