ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes versions of neighbors in the book of Ruth, a story in which Bethlehem and Moab become interconnected by migration, death, intermarriages, and procreation. A Bethlehemite family is received in the fields of Moab while fleeing famine, and the townswomen, the harvesters, and the people at the gate of Bethlehem meet the Moabite Ruth when she enters the fields and the town, seeking sustenance for her Bethlehemite mother-in-law and herself. While the Bethlehem fields have good connotations for many readers, and memories of Moab as an enemy of Israel are frequently evoked as part of a broader context, a closer examination will show that in this story the picture is more complicated. The analysis will elaborate on both the concept of cultural imagination, stressing the interconnectedness between self and others, as well as the complexity of hospitality which comes to expression in the encounters of neighbors in this story.
