Judges and Ruth

The book of Judges presents Israel's human frailty, the nation's need for both spiritual and political deliverance, and God's use of flawed human leaders to guide and preserve his chosen people through a dark period of their history. The book of Ruth tells a smaller story within this larger narrative, showing God quietly at work in the lives of a few pious individuals, remaining true to his covenant and his people. Arthur Cundall and Leon Morris join forces in this introduction and commentary to the books of Judges and Ruth. Cundall expounds and comments on Judges in a clear, straightforward style, giving a good overall perspective to the book's varied contents. In the introduction he discusses the place of the book in the canon, its composition structure and date, taking into account pertinent archaeological evidence. He also discusses briefly the political, religious and moral questions raised by the book. Morris follows the same pattern for Ruth. His introduction and commentary will appeal to both specialist and general reader as he discusses the problems of the book, showing the light shed on it by recent archaeological research. In particular he forcibly brings out the book's present relevance. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series.