Ruth chapter 3

After reading chapter 3:

*One day, Naomi decides to take matters into her own hands and find Ruth a permanent home. She thinks Boaz is a good prospect because he is a relative of her husband's. Lots of sources assume this has to do with Levirate marriage, where a brother of a widow's deceased husband is obligated to marry the widow and produce heirs for his older brother. But it doesn't seem to fit the circumstances of this story. Naomi does call him a kinsman, which suggests that the kinsman-redeemer tradition may have included more than land. Women were property as well, after all.

*Anyway, Naomi tells Ruth to wash her self, put on perfume, and dress in her best clothes. Then she is to go to the threshing floor, where Boaz is, and secretly watch him eating and drinking until he goes to sleep. Then she is to creep up to him, uncover his feet, and lie down. This is obviously a proposal of some kind. There are lots of opinions about this floating around. Some people have suggested that "feet" is a euphamism for genitals. Others say that it just means Ruth got under the covers with him, which is risky/risqué enough. There is the natural tendency to think this could have gone very wrong. A jewish perspective is found here.

*Ruth did what Nomi told her. In the middle of the night, Boaz was startle and discovered Ruth. He naturally wanted to know who she was. She told him and them requested that he spread the corner of his garment over her, because he qualified as a kinsman redeemer. It seems to imply that she is proposing that he take her as a wife and possibly may imply that she is offering to give him the right to redeem the family lands in exchange for her body. I don't know how else to put it.  This would be in Boaz's benefit as well. He would become richer in fact, if not in verbal technicality. Traditional semantics would say any children or profits would be in Ruth's dead husband's name. It seems Boaz was willing to live with that, and with Ruth. Boaz was flattered that she chose him, an obviously older man. Plus, she has a very good reputation as a hard worker.

*However, Boaz tells Ruth that someone else has a closer family relationship, with the right of first refusal. He will go see if that man wants Ruth. If he doesn't, then Boaz will take her. Ruth has become a commodity. Meanwhile, she is to remain sleeping near him. Early in the morning, she got up to go and Boaz told her not to let anyone know she had been there. I can see why. It certainly looks like something was going on. I'm sure neither one of them wanted to be stoned to death. Then Boaz sent Ruth home to Naomi with a shawl full of barley. Down payment on a bride price? Next Naomi assured Ruth that she just needed to wait, Boaz would not rest until the matter was settled that day. Boaz wanted Ruth.