John Chrysostom’s Interpretation of the Book of Ruth in His Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew

Abstract

This article examines John Chrysostom’s interpretation of Ruth, highlighting how he frames her as a marginal yet important figure within the late antique Christian discourse on gender, power, and ethnicity. While Chrysostom is often labelled a literalist interpreter, his reading of Ruth demonstrates a complex figurative and typological approach that aligns her with the church while associating figures like Tamar and Rahab with the synagogue. This figurative reading serves both a polemical and pedagogical function, reinforcing his broader anti-Jewish rhetoric while using Ruth’s foreignness and poverty to model Christian identity. Ironically, Chrysostom presents Ruth as an emblem of the church, despite her historical choice to embrace Judaism, showing the adaptability of biblical figures in Christian exegesis. By exploring how Chrysostom employs gendered and ethnic tropes, this article sheds light on the exegetical strategies that shaped Christian identity formation and biblical interpretation in the fourth century.