Abstract:
This article investigates interpretations of the Book of Ruth from the point of view of some
African scholars. Firstly, an attempt is made to understand what is meant by African biblical
hermeneutics (ABH). An overview of the emergence of ABH is given, and the question why
reading the Bible from an African perspective was necessary, is addressed. It appears that
African biblical scholars and an African Christian community could not relate to Western
European interpretations of the Bible that reflect western experiences and concerns that were
vastly different from their own postcolonial experiences and concerns since the latter part of
the 20th century.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The engagement between Western
and ABH is discussed, and ABH as a necessary and viable means of biblical interpretation is
recognised, but a point of critique is also raised at the end of this section. Thereafter an
overview of ABH as appropriated to the Book of Ruth is given, and finally, some evaluative
conclusions are drawn.
