After reading chapter 4:
*That was fast! We are already on the last chapter of Ruth. Now we see Boaz arranging for his marriage to Ruth. He finds the kinsman-redeemer who has a closer claim than he does. In the presence of ten elders, he explains that Naomi is selling the land of their "brother" Elimelech. Does this mean Boaz and the other man are actually younger brothers of Elimelech, Boaz being the youngest? The other man is willing to redeem the land until Boaz explains that there is another piece of property that goes along with it, the dead man's widow, which technically is Naomi, not Ruth. But I suppose Ruth would be part of the package, since it appears that once a family owned a woman, she was theirs to do with what they wanted. Boaz also told the other man that if he took on all this "property," he would be responsible for maintaining the name of the dead. This would mean he was obligated to produce children for a dead man with the dead man's widow, as in the story of Tamar back in Genesis.
*The other man was unwilling to take this on because of legal implications regarding the property he already owned, probably his current wife and children. So, he took off his sandle and handed it to Boaz, which is said to have been a way of concluding legal transactions in those days. Boaz was told he could buy the "property" himself. Then Boaz reminds the ten elders that they are witnesses and that he now owns the dead men's property, including Ruth. He owns Naomi too, even though the text doesn't say so, which gives her the security of a good home for the rest of her life. The elders agreed to be witnesses of the transaction and gave Boaz a blessing saying may his offspring be famous in Bethlehem and may his family be blessed like that of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah. Judah was also much older than Tamar (He was her father-in-law and a kind of kinsman redeemer, even if reluctantly.) Of course the author of this story already knew that Boaz's descendant was claimed to be King David. That increases the likelihood that he put these words into the mouths of the witnesses. See, another prophecy conveniently came true! Funny how that works.
*Ruth and Boaz became husband and wife, and Yahweh "enabled" Ruth to concieve. She had a son, because Israelite women seem to disproportionately bear sons. The local women praised Yahweh and blessed Naomi, again prophesying Ruth's son would become famous. Naomi took care of her grandchild like she was its mother. The other women even said, "Naomi has a son." Hopefully Ruth was okay with that. The boy was named Obed, and became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
*Lastly, we are given a geneology from Perez, the Tamar connection, to David. Ten generations from Judah, a son of Israel (Jacob), in Genesis, to David, forefather of the Judahite monarchy. This appears to be problematic. A generation is approximately 22-32 years. We have been told the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years. (Exodus 12:41) David's ancestors from that era would have been Perez, Hezron, Ram, and Aminidab. That is an average generation of 107 years. The time of the judges supposedly lasted at least 350years from scriptures we have read so far. We may find out more later. David's ancestors from that period would have been from Nashon (also mentioned in Numbers 7), Salmon, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse. That is an average generation of 70 years. 780 years altogether, at normal human reproduction rate, would have produced at least 25 generations, unless they all took after Abraham and produced children at a very advanced age. What is the likelihood of that?
Showing posts with label Boaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boaz. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
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.
*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.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Ruth chapter 2
After reading chapter 2:
*Now we are introduced to Boaz. He is a relative of Naomi's dead husband Elimelech, but we are not told how close a relative. Boaz is also a well respected and affluent man in the community. He owns barley fields and has hired hands.
*Ruth has told Naomi that she is going into the fields to glean barley behind the harvesters. This would have been a necessity to provide food for Ruth and Naomi, who had little or no economic support. Ruth was gathering grain in one of Boaz's fields when Boaz came home from a trip to Bethlehem. He greeted his workers then asked them who Ruth was. They explained where she came from and said she was a hard worker. Boaz went to Ruth and told her she was welcome to keep working in his fields. Not only that, he told his hired hands not to bother her, and she was free to get water from their water jars. But first he called her "daughter," which is a little creepy if you know what will be happening next. Does it mean he is significantly older than her?
*Ruth is overwhelmed with gratitude and bows down to Boaz, asking why she has found favor with him. He tells her that he has heard about the story of her and Naomi and he is impressed. Then he "blesses" her in Yahweh's name with pretty phrases. She says she wishes to continue to have favor in his eyes. I don't think she needs to worry about that. At lunch, Boaz invites her to join him and the rest of the harvesters. Afterwards, he gives special instructions to his workers to treat her with respect and generously leave grain for her.
*Ruth worked until evening, then threshed the barley she had gathered. She brought the threshed grain to Naomi, along with leftovers from lunch. Naomi asked her where she had worked. When Ruth told Naomi it was in Boaz's fields, she was glad and said he was one of their "kinsman-redeemers," a close relative. This does not have to do with marriage rights, but property/land rights, according to Leviticus 25:25. Naomi is probably wanting back the land that her husband sold when they left during the famine. Because she is poor, and Boaz is a relative, he has the "right" to buy back Elimelech's property for her, from whomever Elimelech had sold it.
*When Ruth tells Naomi how well Boaz treated her, Naomi sees opportunity knocking. She tells Ruth to keep working in Boaz's fields. Ruth does so until the barley and wheat harvests are over. This was traditionally seven weeks, after which would be a celebration called The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or Pentecost today. Ruth continued to live with Naomi.
*In modern times, the book of Ruth is read during the celebration of Shavuot.
*Now we are introduced to Boaz. He is a relative of Naomi's dead husband Elimelech, but we are not told how close a relative. Boaz is also a well respected and affluent man in the community. He owns barley fields and has hired hands.
*Ruth has told Naomi that she is going into the fields to glean barley behind the harvesters. This would have been a necessity to provide food for Ruth and Naomi, who had little or no economic support. Ruth was gathering grain in one of Boaz's fields when Boaz came home from a trip to Bethlehem. He greeted his workers then asked them who Ruth was. They explained where she came from and said she was a hard worker. Boaz went to Ruth and told her she was welcome to keep working in his fields. Not only that, he told his hired hands not to bother her, and she was free to get water from their water jars. But first he called her "daughter," which is a little creepy if you know what will be happening next. Does it mean he is significantly older than her?
*Ruth is overwhelmed with gratitude and bows down to Boaz, asking why she has found favor with him. He tells her that he has heard about the story of her and Naomi and he is impressed. Then he "blesses" her in Yahweh's name with pretty phrases. She says she wishes to continue to have favor in his eyes. I don't think she needs to worry about that. At lunch, Boaz invites her to join him and the rest of the harvesters. Afterwards, he gives special instructions to his workers to treat her with respect and generously leave grain for her.
*Ruth worked until evening, then threshed the barley she had gathered. She brought the threshed grain to Naomi, along with leftovers from lunch. Naomi asked her where she had worked. When Ruth told Naomi it was in Boaz's fields, she was glad and said he was one of their "kinsman-redeemers," a close relative. This does not have to do with marriage rights, but property/land rights, according to Leviticus 25:25. Naomi is probably wanting back the land that her husband sold when they left during the famine. Because she is poor, and Boaz is a relative, he has the "right" to buy back Elimelech's property for her, from whomever Elimelech had sold it.
*When Ruth tells Naomi how well Boaz treated her, Naomi sees opportunity knocking. She tells Ruth to keep working in Boaz's fields. Ruth does so until the barley and wheat harvests are over. This was traditionally seven weeks, after which would be a celebration called The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or Pentecost today. Ruth continued to live with Naomi.
*In modern times, the book of Ruth is read during the celebration of Shavuot.
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