Text for the Week: A Place for You

Scripture: Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. ² Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³ Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. ¹⁷ The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Questions

1. Why are Ruth and Naomi talking about finding a place for Ruth and what does the “a place” mean in their context?
2. What is Naomi asking Ruth to do, what will her visit signal to Boaz and what would a Jewish audience have heard when they listened to this part of the story?
3. Is the story of Ruth and Boaz nothing more than a fairytale type love story or is there something deeper at play in the narrative?
4. Why does the story go out of its way to connect David to Ruth?

Background

Related Scriptures: Genesis 19:30-38, 38:1-30; Leviticus 25; Mark 12:38-44

Ruth’s visit to the threshing floor is meant to make her appear to be a prostitute and echoes of the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38.

This story also echoes the story of the origin of the Moabites in Genesis 19:30-38 since Ruth was a Moabite.

A third echo in the passage is to Leviticus 25 where the Moabite women seduced the Israelite men and led them away from God.

Reflection

So often when I hear people speak of the book of Ruth they put it into the context of a love story, this profound treatise seems to be presented as nothing more than a Hallmark movie. The destitute woman meets the man of her dreams as she is working a menial labor job in his fields, meanwhile he is noticing her and they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. But this story not only oversimplifies the plot of the story but completely misses the hammer stroke of a moral we are supposed to recognize. We do not think about the fact that marriage was a social contract and a status symbol in ancient Israel more than a union of love. Ruth was not merely some Cinderella that needed to be seen to be loved, she was a social pariah. Ruth was a Moabite, a foreigner and worse than a foreigner, from a people that Israel despised. Israel told the story that Moab as a people descended from a man conceived during an incestuous rape, and even worse a rape where the woman was in control. It was the Moabite women who led the Israelites away from God during their time in the wilderness by seduction. The story is told in such a way that we must recognize that Ruth had been shunned, she had been completely rejected when she arrived in Bethlehem with Naomi, because of her nationality. The story is trying to tell us that Ruth had been rejected and Naomi was left without a caretaker, no one would take responsibility to help these two widows.

When Naomi sends Ruth out to the threshing floor, she does so telling Ruth to disguise herself as a prostitute; this seems like a desperate response of women who have no one looking out for them. Boaz’s response at the threshing floor is not one of a prince charming who has fallen for the beautiful woman at his side, it is a signal of his character and his commitment to being an upright person. His vow is to help the women who need justice done for them. Boaz will take this case to another man who has a right and responsibility to help these women, and it is only when he declines that Boaz then takes on the role. It is wrong to see this as a romantic play for Ruth. Boaz is doing something that is socially damaging taking on the responsibility of providing for women who are outcasts one from a nation that is despised. Boaz is described by his character throughout the book, and his actions toward Ruth are meant to demonstrate his character. This is not simply a story of  “when a man loves a woman” it is Boaz is of such high character that he will take this desperate woman into his own house and provide for her even though her background is one that hurts his reputation, even though when she expressed her need she was dressed like a prostitute. Boaz is a man of character who sees the needy and goes out of his way to help, who defies societal norms to help and elevates those in need to a place of respect in the community despite their ethnic background. The story is designed to show us the extreme level, marriage, that a person of character will go to in  order to help those who are in need within the community, even if they are from a foreign community.

The story concludes with the mention of King David as a descendant of Boaz and Ruth, precisely because it shows how what Boaz did for Ruth fully assimilated her into the life of the community. David becoming king shows that when Boaz committed to what was good and right he overcame all the ills of society and brought Ruth in to a place of love and acceptance. David’s elevation is meant to show that Boaz’s character led to his triumph, rather than Ruth’s social condition devaluing Boaz, as should have happened, Boaz elevated her to the heights of the community. A position that she was ready for because even though her people were seen as evil, she was as good and admirable as Boaz. The lesson is that though Israel saw her as worthless because of her ethnic background, she genuinely was a person who was ready to encounter God and demonstrate her character.

Jesus picks up on this theme in Mark 12 where he warns his disciples to avoid those who “devour widows’ houses”. The people of Bethlehem may not have been actively taking Ruth’s house, but they were completely unconcerned with her and her situation. Just like those Jesus was calling out, they were concerned with their own wealth and prosperity but not concerned about how the poorest of the community fared. His words to the disciples were to be like Boaz, people of outstanding character who took care of the poor foreign woman because she was the poor foreign woman who needed help. He’s telling them to extend themselves to show concern for the world around themselves, to see those in need and to avoid the rich and powerful who often benefit from mistreating such situations. To be a disciple it to see people the way Boaz saw Ruth and provide care where we can.