Ruth and Esther: Women of Agency and Adventure

By Bruce G. Epperly

How does one read the literature of a patriarchal society in a 21st century context? Where can one find good role models for girls and women in the Bible? All too often these questions are answered by presenting the answers given by patriarchal society and not by looking for liberating, examples. It is all too easy to let God's message of setting the captives free ring forth, but directed to a limited audience. But Ruth and Esther provide strong counter-examples of women who had to struggle against the cultural norms in order to live and to do great things for their people. All too often these women are excluded from our studies or when included are portrayed as subordinate people. But Dr. Bruce Epperly, pastor, father, grandfather, and theology sees them as women of agency and adventure, resourceful and proactive women in patriarchal cultures. But despite being subject to the apparently arbitrary decisions of males with authority, both women were agents in their destiny fulfilling their vocations in their particular culture. If you are a Christian pastor or teacher, you owe it to those in your circle of influence to let them experience these two Bible books in new ways, to see them as liberating documents that let everyone know that God doesn't exclude them. From these women of agency and adventure, those who find themselves excluded from power can find encouragement to stand up and be the persons of agency and adventure that God created them to be, no matter what restrictions others have placed upon them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Jan 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781631992353

Book preview

Ruth and Esther

Women of Agency and Adventure

BRUCE G. EPPERLY

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, FL

2016

Copyright © 2016, Bruce G. Epperly

Unless otherwise annotated, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV), copyright © 1989 by the Division of the Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

ePub ISBN:

ISBN10: 1-63199-235-X

ISBN13: 978-1-63199-235-3

Print ISBNs:

ISBN10: 1-63199-219-8

ISBN13: 978-1-63199-219-3

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, FL 32560

850-525-3916

energion.com

[e-mail]

With gratitude to the members of

South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ,

Centerville, Massachusetts

for their love of learning and support of my scholarly adventures

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East

I was surprised when my Bible study classes at South Congregational Church chose to read the books of Ruth and Esther. Most Christians know virtually nothing about these texts. At first glance, they contain no doctrinal statements, ethical admonitions, or prophetic challenges. There are no mighty acts of God or miracles, and no great demonstrations of divine sovereignty. In fact, at first glance, God appears to be on the sidelines or, in the case of the Protestant and Jewish texts of the book of Esther, not even mentioned. Ruth and Esther are cited only three times in the three-year lectionary cycle of the church. We know Ruth primarily from her declaration of loyalty to Naomi, and though her pledge is to her mother-in-law, it is primarily invoked at weddings. Although the Book of Esther is at the heart of the Jewish Purim celebrations, the only time I have heard it quoted in Christian contexts involves Mordecai’s counsel to Esther, suggesting she was elevated to queen for just such a time as this.

There is no clear historical evidence that either woman existed, nor do we know with exactness the authorship or dating of either text. It is easy to think of these texts as interesting novellas or short stories with little importance for our own faith journeys. But, like all good literature, both the books of Ruth and Esther are filled with surprising wisdom and unexpected theological reflection that goes far beyond superficial readings.

Ruth and Esther are women of agency and adventure. They are aliens, whose pilgrimages were, to some extent, against their will or in conflict with their life plans. They were resourceful and proactive women in patriarchal cultures, in which women depended on the support of males to survive. Both women were aliens who faced the possibility of death and destruction as a result of circumstances beyond their control. One became wealthy and powerful as queen, the other the spouse of wealthy landowner, but both were subject to the apparently arbitrary decisions of males with authority. Both women were agents in their destiny fulfilling their vocations in their particular culture. The impact of their decisions shaped the destiny of the Jewish people. Ruth and Esther were loyal to causes greater than self-interest, and their loyalty inspired resourcefulness and perhaps cunning to save those they loved.

The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther had a low estimate of the book of Esther as a result of the absence of God language in the Hebrew text, and wondered if it should remain in scripture. In contrast to much of scripture, the book of Ruth also appears to place God in the backseat in its focus on human agency. Still, the stories of these two women, called to shape their people’s destinies, reveal the gentle providence of God at every step and are appropriate texts for our pluralistic, postmodern age. For most of us living in