Graybill & Guillaume/Ruth, 1. Ruth or Routh? Introduction to the Textual Analysis of the Book of Ruth

This chapter discusses the numerous textual variants in Ruth attested by four Dead Sea scrolls, the Septuagint and the ketiv-qere notes in the Masoretic Hebrew text edited in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartiensis and now in the Biblia Hebraica Quinta . The aim is to warn that decisions regarding which reading is preferable reflect a venerable reading tradition that often stands at loggerheads with actual textual witnesses. The variants confirm the existence of alternative plots and author characterizations that modern translations of Ruth tend to erase.