Ruth and the David—Bathsheba Story: Allusions and Contrasts

Abstract

Numerous scholars maintain that the book of Ruth alludes to the Judah—Tamar narrative in order to provide a contrasting, wholesome portrait of the ancestry of David. This study argues that the book also alludes to the related narrative of David and Bathsheba, casting David's conduct in that episode as a departure from the favorable qualities of the bloodline modeled by Ruth and Boaz. The latter half of the book of Ruth contains three subtle features, each of which bears a unique resemblance to a feature of the Bathsheba tale; and in all three instances, it is proposed that the author of Ruth seeks to underscore a contrast between the characters in the two respective stories.