In a similar way, the Jewish people wrote extensive midrashim (Singular: midrash). A midrash is at once, and in varying degrees, depending on which one, sermon, commentary, and story.
Some of them perform a similar function to our novels: adding details we crave but are not included in Scripture.
i bring up the midrashim because, of my six novels, two of them, Lois T. Henderson's Ruth and Gladys Malvern's The Foreigner, seem to follow midrashim more closely than others.
i haven't looked up the midrashim themselves, simply read about them.* My reading has shown me story paths that seem directly taken from them.
For example, most of novels describe scenes in which Naomi attempts to dissuade her daughters in law from accompanying her. In these two, the tone definitely becomes a discouragement to their conversion.
The midrashim explain that when someone wishes to convert to Judaism, the person must be discouraged. Details of what is involved in being a Jew are explained in harshest terms, to prevent the halfhearted from converting.
Malvern draws on a tradition that Ruth and Orpah were sisters. The girls are not stated to be daughters of Moab's King Eglon, but descendants of his father/ancestor King Balak.
In one of these novels, i saw a harsher Naomi, perhaps paralleling the midrash in which Naomi disliked, distrusted, and was embarrassed by her Moabite daughters in law.
A take by a Christian scholar on Orpah;s destiny. He also carefully explains his logic for accepting the value, though not inspiration, of the Talmud: http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2017/04/word-study-a-man-inbetween/
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*there's lots of others. A quick search will turn up a lot.
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