Identifying the genre of the narrative is a more difficult task. Scholars have characterized Ruth as an “idyllic” narrative and “a poetic popular sage,”25 comparable to an ancient nursery tale in poetic form.26 While Jacob Myers’ analysis relies too much on a simplistic distinction between poetry and prose that few accept today, awareness of the book’s elevated poetic style has recently revived.27 Applying the conclusions of the folklorist V. Propp regarding the characteristics of personae