Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context

In Africa, the whole are religious and the dead are believed to be actively involved in the daily affairs of the people. Such a worldview, in which the Sacred Other, the living and the (living) dead formed an integral whole, can also be observed at critical points in Naomi’s life: when Naomi bid fa...

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Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2016-12-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2787
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description In Africa, the whole are religious and the dead are believed to be actively involved in the daily affairs of the people. Such a worldview, in which the Sacred Other, the living and the (living) dead formed an integral whole, can also be observed at critical points in Naomi’s life: when Naomi bid farewell to her daughters-in-law (Rt 1:8-9); Naomi’s confession about Yahweh’s faithfulness to both the living and the dead (Rt 2:20); Naomi’s plan to seek security for Ruth through “levirate” marriage (Rt 3:1), and when she acted as a nurse to Mahlon’s son (Rt 4:5, 16). Basing one’s arguments on the apparent resemblances between the world view in which the narrative of Ruth is embedded and the African (Northern Sotho) world view, how may it be far-fetched to argue that the dead (males) called the shots in Naomi’s life?
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spelling doaj-art-f2f8ddcdf8d9492e89cc809a35e2882f2025-02-11T09:52:06ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892016-12-012410.38140/at.v0i24.2787Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context In Africa, the whole are religious and the dead are believed to be actively involved in the daily affairs of the people. Such a worldview, in which the Sacred Other, the living and the (living) dead formed an integral whole, can also be observed at critical points in Naomi’s life: when Naomi bid farewell to her daughters-in-law (Rt 1:8-9); Naomi’s confession about Yahweh’s faithfulness to both the living and the dead (Rt 2:20); Naomi’s plan to seek security for Ruth through “levirate” marriage (Rt 3:1), and when she acted as a nurse to Mahlon’s son (Rt 4:5, 16). Basing one’s arguments on the apparent resemblances between the world view in which the narrative of Ruth is embedded and the African (Northern Sotho) world view, how may it be far-fetched to argue that the dead (males) called the shots in Naomi’s life? https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2787
spellingShingle Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
Acta Theologica
title Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
title_full Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
title_fullStr Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
title_full_unstemmed Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
title_short Who calls the shots in Naomi's life? Reading the Naomi-Ruth story within the African religio-cultural context
title_sort who calls the shots in naomi s life reading the naomi ruth story within the african religio cultural context
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/2787