Commentary on the Book of Ruth by George Albert Cooke

A brief commentary on the book of Ruth by G.A. Cooke, who was successively Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University. This title is in the public domain.

George Albert Cooke [1865-1939], The Book of Ruth in the Revised Version with introduction and notes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1913. Hbk. pp.22. [Download complete volume in PDF]

Table of Contents

• Preface
• List of Principal Abbreviations

1. Contents and Aims of the Books
2. Date of the Book
3. Place of the Book in the Canon

• Text and Notes
• Index

Introduction

Contents and Aim of the Book

The ancient narratives of the Book of Judges carry us back to a half-barbarous age of struggle and disorder, memorable chiefly for the deeds of Israel’s heroes: the Book of Ruth, although the scene is laid in the same age, gives us a very different picture. It introduces us to the peaceful life of the home and of the village, with its sorrows and joys, its wholesome industry and kindly virtues; a life which is by no means barren of heroic qualities, but they take the form of unselfish affection and generosity and loyalty to the ties of kindred; a simple community, tenacious of long established customs, and penetrated throughout by a spirit of unaffected piety. No doubt the picture is idealized; but the author, so far from inventing facts which never existed, is evidently describing a life with which he was familiar. [Continue reading]

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