The book of Ruth is one of the Bible's most enduring and beloved stories. At first glance, the story appears to be a simple tale of hardship and good fortune, but a close reading of the short book yields wonderful new insights. Kirsten Nielsen's comments on the book of Ruth paint a rich and subtle portrait of the characters involved in the story. She carefully traces the many connections between this biblical book and the wider context of other biblical passages, including earlier stories such as the story of Judah and Tamar, and later adaptations such as the Targum to Ruth. Nielsen provides the reader an entry to this nuanced intertextual world.

Insights gained from the study of metaphorical language in other fields, particularly New Testament parable research, are here applied to the tree metaphors in Isaiah 1-39. The focus of investigation is the content of the metaphors, the intentions underlying their use, and the consequences of that use. The author suggests that (1) the informative function of the tree metaphors is to provide theological interpretations of the political situation; (2) the performative function of the metaphors is to engage the audience in such a way that they adopt the metaphors' interpretation of reality as their own; (3) the use of metaphorical language encourages continual reinterpretation of the original proclamation. The tree in the Garden, the felling of trees, new growth of felled trees and the forest fire, are among the images Isaiah uses to make his political statements. He shows himself to be an extremely competent rhetorician in using these images to instil an active response in his audience. The modes in which the metaphors can be reinterpreted and reapplied in new contexts are perceived as significant not only for the composition of Isaiah, but for that of subsequent religious literature.>

Kirsten Nielsen's commentary on the book of Ruth, now available in a new casebound edition, paints a rich and subtle portrait of its characters, carefully tracing the many connections between this story and other biblical passages, such as the stories of Judah and Tamar. This volume is a powerful addition to this critically acclaimed Old Testament Library series. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.