Tools
Tools
Esler, Philip F 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4889-4889
(2018)
“All that you have done … has been fully told to me”:
the power of gossip and the story of Ruth.
Journal of Biblical Literature, 137 (3).
pp. 645-666.
doi:10.15699/jbl.1373.2018.348544
Preview |
Text (Peer reviewed version)
All that you have done.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (393kB) | Preview |
Abstract
The literary qualities of the Book of Ruth are a focus of considerable scholarly attention. The aim of this article is to contribute to this research with particular reference to what Boaz says to Ruth, “All that you have done … has been fully told to me” (2:11), where what he has learned has clearly been in Ruth’s favor. Boaz can only have gained such information through what we call gossip. I will first outline social-scientific research into gossip, which has already been fruitfully applied to various parts of the New Testament. Secondly, I will discuss informal networks among ancient Israelite women that feature in the way gossip functions in the narrative. Thirdly, I will apply these perspectives to the passages in the text that depend upon gossip’s occurrence. This exercise will substantiate the dictum of anthropologist Robert Paine that “gossip is a catalyst of social process,” by uncovering the remarkable extent to which character is developed, and the plot of the book propelled to its resolution, by gossip.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Article Type: | Article |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Gossip; Jewish women; Bethlehem; Bible; Ruth; Boaz (Biblical figure); REF2021 |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BS The Bible |
| Divisions: | Schools and Research Institutes > School of Arts, Culture and Environment |
| Research Priority Areas: | Culture, Continuity, and Transformation |
| Depositing User: | Anne Pengelly |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Sep 2017 15:29 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Oct 2025 11:15 |
| URI: | https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/4955 |
University Staff: Request a correction | Repository Editors: Update this record
