OBEDIENCE AND FAITHFULNESS AS FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A THEOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL STUDY OF RUTH 1:16–17

Abstrak

Ruth 1:16–17 is among the most frequently cited declarations in the Hebrew Bible, yet its interpretive history remains fragmented across historical-critical, literary, feminist, postcolonial, and missiological readings, while practical theology often appropriates the passage's emotional resonance without its theological logic. The research problem is therefore interpretive dispersion rather than neglect: obedience and faithfulness in Ruth's declaration are frequently conflated, and no integrated framework connects exegetical findings to ecclesial practice. Employing a canonical and narrative-critical approach informed by Childs and Alter, supplemented by reception history, this study offers a close reading of the Hebrew syntax and discourse structure of Ruth 1:16–17, distinguishing obedience from faithfulness while demonstrating their interdependence. The analysis identifies three movements in the text: rupture with prior allegiance, transfer of ultimate loyalty, and irrevocable commitment sealed by the oath formula. The study's novelty lies in constructing the Obedience–Faithfulness–Transformation (OFT) framework, derived from the text's own syntax rather than imposed from existing conversion theories. The framework offers a textually grounded heuristic for contemporary discussions of belonging, migration, and covenant identity. As the study is exegetical and conceptual, it claims no empirical validation; the absence of field data and the selective scope of reception documents are acknowledged as limitations.