From Gentiles To Jews:a Study On The Transformation Of Ruth’s Identity

The Book of Ruth is one of the most famous stories in the Hebrew Bible.Ruth as the representative female character is widely appreciated by readers.This thesis focus on the transformation of Ruth’s identity.Under the scope of Torah,we will follow the clue : “Moabite woman/daughter-in-law—the woman of substance—the wife of the dead—Jew” to explore her transformation.Ruth,as a foreign woman,has become to the respectful grandmother of King David.This shift also reveals the standard of Jewish identity change from blood to religion.The whole thesis consists of five parts.The first part is the introduction.In this part,I give the definition on the basic literary theory of this thesis—cultural poetics,and also presented the basic information about the Book of Ruth.The literature research discusses current studies both in China and western world,especially pay attention to the study on the transformation of Ruth’s identity.The second part focus on the wrestling of Ruth’s two identities—“Moabite woman”and “daughter-in-law”.In the context of the Hebrew Bible,Moabite women tend to have negative images and it exclude Ruth out of the Jewish community,while the identity of “daughter-in-law” include her as a member of Jewish family.The third part defines the rich meanings of hesed,and discuss the hesed embodied by Ruth,others and God.Because of her hesed,Ruth was acknowledged as “the woman of substance” by people in Bethlehem,accepted by the Jewish communities and blessed by God.The fourth part concentrates on the two Jewish laws: levirate marriage and gole institution.Ruth’s status as “the wife of the dead” made her the object of application of these two laws.It allows her to marry Boaz and to be a part of the family.The fifth part shed a light on the change of Jewish identity standards revealed by the transformation of Ruth’s identity.After exile,Jew who lost their land and political independence,chose to redefine their ethic identity.Ruth as a representative figure of proselyte in history,has been shaped as the ideal model of a covert by rabbis.Gradually,Ruth has become a part of Jewish history,culture and ethnic identity.