A Reputation Worth Redeeming

Scripture: Ruth 4:1-12

 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. ² Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here,” so they sat down. ³ He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought I would tell you of it and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.” ⁶ At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm a transaction: the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸ So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; ¹² and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

Questions

1. What are the elements of the community in this story that I would want to see my community emulate?
2. Why is the man Boaz talks to about redeeming Ruth not named?
3. Why would the other man not want to gain Naomi’s property when he found out that it meant marrying Ruth?

Background

Related Scriptures: Genesis 38:6–30; Isaiah 54:4–8; Ephesians 1:1-10: Philippians 2:1-8

Neither Boaz nor the other potential redeemer fills the role of levirate written out in Deuteronomy 25, where the role is restricted to a brother.  Yet Boaz seems to be using both Deuteronomy 25 and Leviticus 25 as the grounds for his argument (or some now lost source).  This drives at the heart of how we understand “law” in the Bible as a guideline rather than a rigid command.

The other man is unnamed showing that he disobeyed God’s desires and is forgotten.

Reflection

Ruth and Boaz are truly great characters. First, we have Ruth who accepts social isolation and extreme poverty to be devoted to the family that she has chosen. Imagine leaving your homeland because you felt you could not leave a mother-in-law in need, even though this meant you would be despised as an immigrant. Then upon arriving in the new land Ruth takes on all of the responsibility for the household, providing food for them both. All the while they are impoverished and outsiders from the community. Then there is Boaz, and while depictions often paint him as falling for Ruth’s beauty this is never mentioned. In fact, I think we like talking up the romanticized love story because it is easier than the reality of the story. We like the idea that Boaz would find this “diamond in the rough” beautiful outsider and fall for her. But the story does not say anything about that. Rather the story presents Boaz as doing a duty to his community and family. In the story Boaz and Ruth are called “great man” and “great woman” respectively. The reason is that they show dedication to people that others would say they did not have to love. No one, not even Naomi, faulted Orpah for going back to her family instead of joining her mother-in-law. And no one would have chided Boaz for not accepting Ruth. What makes them great is that they did not create boundaries, they loved the people who needed them.

I wonder how the community leaders felt about Boaz calling them together to discuss redeeming Naomi’s property and marrying Ruth. Were they shocked, dismayed, unsure? It does not seem the community was thrilled with the idea of including Ruth. Boaz offers the right of redemption to another man who initially agrees but then declines when he has to take on Ruth. The man claims that his own inheritance would be impacted by marrying Ruth but this seems unlikely. Rather, it seems the man was simply trying to dodge out of marrying a foreigner and potentially loosing status in the community. It certainly appears that people in the community were unwilling to accept Ruth and fully integrate Naomi. And while this man would seemingly buy Naomi’s field to give her some money (and increase is own prestige) he did not want the baggage of the Moabite. Just as Ruth was the only one who initially helped Naomi in her poverty and distress, so at the end of the book Boaz is the only one who will step in to provide for Ruth.

What the other redeemer seemed to fear is that his name in the community would lose status. And what happened is that in rejecting Ruth he lost his name. His name is intentionally omitted from the text. He refused to raise up a name for the community because it meant including the foreign woman, and in turn lost his name. Boaz, by contrast, stuck his own reputation on the line for this woman in need and far from falling from grace his family was raised to prominence. This acting of naming is a subtle technique to remind us of the importance of helping others. Ruth and Boaz helped when they did not need to, they went out of their way to include others in and provide for them. Because they did this their names and family are remembered and honored. Those who looked at the one in need and did nothing are forgotten. The Book of Ruth has no real villain, no one did anything wrong per se. But in many ways focusing on “right and wrong” is being concerned with the bare minimum of decency. Laws are required where people fail to show love but they do not push people to love others. Loving others goes beyond what is required by a law and is concerned with what the other person needs to be whole. The story of Ruth is meant to get us to look beyond the bare minimum of decency while we focus on being truly great and Godlike people. The story of Ruth is about people living to their fullest potential. And when did the characters in the story reach their fullest potential, when they sacrificed something to provide resources and family for a person truly in need. The story of Ruth reminds us that when we have resources and positions of influence in the community we should be using those to help include others in the community.