Dr. Sarah Derck, associate professor of Old Testament and chair of the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology and Philosophy, recently published a book titled “Ruth, Song of Songs, Esther: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition.” The volume is the newest release in the New Beacon Bible Commentary series published by The Foundry Publishing. 

Derck wrote the commentary on Ruth and coauthored the commentary on Song of Songs with her father, Dr. Joseph E. Coleson. These two commentaries appear together in a volume with a commentary on Esther written by Indiana Wesleyan’s Dr. Elaine Bernius.  

“This is likely the only commentary on the Song ever to be written by a father-daughter team of biblical scholars,” says Derck. “Our unusual choice to coauthor is indicative of our approach to this enigmatic poetry: The people of God must pay attention to the plain meaning of that text, without shame, if we are to proclaim a balanced theology of human sexuality. It is a pleasure now to share my love of these texts with readers.” 

Derck says that these three “little” books of the Bible have long enriched her own faith. “Translating Ruth as a brand-new Hebrew student almost 20 years ago was what originally decided my academic focus on the Old Testament. Having taught an advanced course on Ruth for several years now, I owe many of my conclusions to my work with the wonderful students at Houghton.” 

The book is on order to be sold in the Highlanders Shop and is currently available on Amazon and wherever books are sold online.