Overview

A Critical Edition of Ruths Recompence by Richard Bernard presents Richard Bernard’s commentary on the book of Ruth, originally published in 1628, to the modern reader. Arlene McAlister’s introduction sets the work in its contemporary context and most significantly elucidates the issue of women’s conduct that arises from the biblical story and challenges Bernard and the preceding early modern Ruth commentators. The introduction details how the commentators have great difficulty in expounding Ruth’s approach to her kinsman Boaz on the threshing floor alone at night and request to him to marry her according to the levirate law. They find that this conduct is contrary to the voluminous women’s conduct literature of their own society. The introduction also addresses such issues as Bernard’s anti-Catholicism and surveys the interpretation of the book of Ruth prior to and in the early modern period. Ruths Recompence is further set in context by the annotations in this book. The annotations also illustrate how Bernard differs from or develops the discussions of preceding commentators.

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9781433149054

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Reviews

“Brief, modest, subversive, and subtly radical, the book of Ruth is one of the Bible’s most quietly provocative stories. How Christian commentators shaped its unsettling notions of gender and ethnicity, and how they were shaped by it, is a subject of enduring interest. In this exemplary scholarly edition, Arlene McAlister shows us those processes at work in one of the early modern period’s most important commentators, torn between his doctrinal inheritance and the book’s own gravitational tug.” —Alec Ryrie, Professor at Durham University “Richard Bernard—best known for The Isle of Man (1626), an allegory that anticipated Pilgrim’s Progress—was a prolific writer on religious themes who deserves more attention. Arlene McAlister’s edition of Ruths Recompence (1628) shows how Bernard tackled the challenging question of how to read Ruth’s behaviour. McAlister provides a valuable introduction and notes. She shines a light on 17th-century biblical interpretation and perceptions of proper conduct for women.” —Susan Hardman Moore, Professor of Early Modern Religion at the University of Edinburgh

Brief, modest, subversive, and subtly radical, the book of Ruth is one of the Bible's most quietly provocative stories. How Christian commentators shaped its unsettling notions of gender and ethnicity, and how they were shaped by it, is a subject of enduring interest. In this exemplary scholarly edition, Arlene McAlister shows us those processes at work in one of the early modern period's most important commentators, torn between his doctrinal inheritance and the book's own gravitational tug. -Alec Ryrie, Professor at Durham University Richard Bernard-best known for The Isle of Man (1626), an allegory that anticipated Pilgrim's Progress-was a prolific writer on religious themes who deserves more attention. Arlene McAlister's edition of Ruths Recompence (1628) shows how Bernard tackled the challenging question of how to read Ruth's behaviour. McAlister provides a valuable introduction and notes. She shines a light on 17th-century biblical interpretation and perceptions of proper conduct for women. -Susan Hardman Moore, Professor of Early Modern Religion at the University of Edinburgh

Author Information

Arlene McAlister holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Edinburgh (2012). She is currently an independent researcher based in Edinburgh. Her latest publication is an article in the journal The Seventeenth Century on Ruths Recompence.

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