The Graphic Interpretation of the Story of Ruth and Naomi in M. Finch’s The Book of Ruth

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article explores a topic of great interest for biblical and cultural studies and for the understanding of the value of the Bible today. It is very interesting to see the contribution of the graphic artist to the book of Ruth and how this is explained from our contemporary context. 
The author of the article is precise and accurate in his statements, especially those referring to the theological contents provided by the graphic interpretation and its enculturation. 
I recommend its publication without any doubt, due to the object of study chosen (graphic novel) and the rigor of the analysis.

Author Response

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your interest and for your assessment of my work.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Overview:

This is a very interesting research from the perspective of reception studies. I would ask to add, if possible, the following:

Some aspects of the graphic novel are characteristic of North American conservative evangelical spirituality. It would be appropriate to point out this ideological bias in the work, in my opinion. I would like to point out three of the things with which the author is working: 1) a highly individualised spirituality, characterised by prayer and a personal relationship with God, to the detriment of the community of believers; 2) the legitimation of a patriarchal system in which the protagonists are male, which explains the suppression of the sisterhood that defines the biblical story; 3) the legitimation of the socio-economic system and the resulting lack of critical analysis of North American society.

Minor chages:

Line 85: My suggestion is for a change in the title of the section, in the form of an epigraph.

Lines 629-630: remove page break

Author Response

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your interest and for your assessment of my work.

I included this paragraph in the conclusions to highlight the theological underpinnings of American evangelicalism

All of these theological elements reveal some of the most distinctive features of American evangelicalism, particularly those that have been publicly displayed since Mr. Trump took office for his first term in the White House. These features must be understood as a religious, cultural and political identity, where everything is intertwined and impossible to separate. Evangelicalism's traditional definition was characterised by four distinctive features with a clear theological imprint: conversionism, biblicism, crucicentrism and activism. However, in the last fifty to seventy-five years, these theological distinctions have faded – particularly in the United States – into the background for most evangelicals. Instead, cultural and political interests have emerged that mark a theologically traditional and politically very conservative stance, taking a clear position on issues of gender and sexuality, accepting patriarchal authority and believing in female submission, racialisation and prosperity theology (Mez, 2020).

I corrected minor changes suggested too.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The graphic interpretation of the story of Ruth and Naomi in M. Finch's The Book of Ruth

 This submission provides an interdisciplinary approach to the interpretation of the story of Ruth and Naomi in the Bible, in dialogue with graphic novel The Book of Ruth by Meredith Finch and Colin Dyer. This intersective reading of biblical narrative and cultural studies, makes this submission scholarly engaging. The author(s) makes clear his/her aim and he/she is methodologically oriented in his/her approach.

The abstract reasonably defines its goal, and the introduction provides structural orientation. The contents of the article demonstrate a scholarly journey of a biblical narrative through graphic literature.

The language use is of scholarly standard, and the literature are representative of the study.

Repetition at line 7 of the abstract: This article This article – should be deleted 

Citation method should be revised for consistency.

The submission holds merits and thus should be accepted publication in the special issue; The Hebrew Bible: A Journey Through History and Literature, after minor revisions.

Author Response

Thank you for your interest and for the very interesting corrections.

I included the minor changes suggested

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Summary

An interesting and relevant topic for a volume devoted to The Hebrew Bible: A Journey through History and Literature, since it is analysing literature from the Hebrew Bible that has been re-interpreted in a contemporary format. The findings relating to theological impact of the GN in comparison to the HB text is the most interesting aspect of the article, but I found the author’s introduction to the world of the GN quite fascinating.

General Comments

• Having just translated the book of Ruth myself, I was intrigued to read how this GN would deal with the third chapter of the book. The first real mention of this incident on the threshing floor comes at line 657.
• Other significant characters from the HB account are Orpah and the ‘nearer kinsman’ so if these characters are not in the GN it would be worth commenting on that.
• The article reads as if a final edit had not been done, with some repeated material and overuse of a few phrases, especially ‘however’ and ‘on the other hand’

Specific Comments – content

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Specific Comments – English expression & typographical errors

• Many paragraphs begin with one of the following phrases: ‘however’, ‘On the other hand’ The author should read through the manuscript and provide some alternatives when these expressions seem unnecessarily repetitive.
• Use of hyphens where en-dash or em-dash would be preferable.

Author Response

Thank you for your interest and for the very interesting corrections.

General Comments

1. Since Finch's script ignores the theological key to levirate marriage, the graphic novel severely distorts Chapter 3. This paragraph has been added in any case: "In comparison to chapter 3 of the biblical account, the chapter in the GN is much less theologically dense. This is particularly because the threshing floor scene cannot be interpreted in light of the author suggesting that Boaz may be the kinsman acting as Goel. Thus, in the scenes of work on the threshing floor (ch.3), and unlike in the Bible, we can see Boaz praying to God for protection for Ruth. However, the sexual content of the nighttime encounter between Boaz and Ruth has been ignored".
2. Because you said "Other significant characters from the HB account are Orpah and the ‘nearer kinsman’ so if these characters are not in the GN it would be worth commenting on that", I realized that a character study was missing. For this reason, I added a character study in 4.2.3 The design of the characters. Additionally, I included the following reference "

   However, in contrast to the biblical story, since Ruth is not a foreigner in the GN, the richness of her confession of faith in the God of Israel (Ruth 1:16) is lost and remains a mere loyal adherence to her mother-in-law based on family ties. This may be why the script disregards the story of Orpah, and her return to the "house of her mother" mentioned in the biblical narrative (Ruth 1:12)" (lines 519-523).

3. I´m including a new edition of the text.

Specific Comments

I have accepted all the specific comments, and I tried to include all of them.