Ruth wrap up

The book of Ruth has no known author and no definitely known date. It must have been written after the establishment of the Davidic monarchy because one of its purposes seems to be to establish David's lineage from Judah. Another purpose could be to show that Yahweh can approve of marriages with women from other nations, and even bless them and the Israelites through them, in spite of his previous adamant commands against them. Plus, descendants of Moabites are not supposed to be allowed to enter the assembly of  Yahweh for 10 generations. (Deuteronomy 23:3) Jewish commentaries get around that by saying the nationality of the father is what mattered, not the mother.

 The book does not claim to be the word of Yahweh or to be inspired by Yahweh or his Holy Spirit. There is no mention of angels, demons, or other supernatural beings besides Yahweh. There is no heaven, hell, or messaiah mentioned. There are no descriptions of religious rituals or commands, in spite of the fact that the story must have taken place from the time of passover to Pentecost, because those dates are tied to the harvesting of grain. The only hint of religion is the kinsman-redeemer tradition depicted, and that is more cultural. There is no mention of the ark of the covenant, Shiloh, priests, or sacrifices.

There is a conspicuous lack of violence and  prejudice against other people groups. Ruth, a Moabite, is given the highest praise. She is said to be better than seven sons to Naomi, high praise indeed. Everyone else behaves admirably as well. I have an atheist friend who says this is her favorite story in the bible.

A hint that the story may have been fabricated is found in the names of people in the story. Naomi means "pleasant" but she asks to be called Mara which means "bitter." Ruth means "friendship." Ruth's dead husband Mahlon's name means "weakling" and Boaz's name means "strength." Coincidence?

Job will be our next book, because its events also seem to take place before there was a monarchy. Then we will continue on to 1 Samuel. 

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.

Ruth chapter 1

After reading chapter 1:

*The story starts off in a once-upon-a-time way: "In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land." Right away, this tells us the story was not written when the judges ruled, which would mean it was written  some time after the institution of the monarchy. Then we are told about a family of Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. There was Elimelek the father, Naomi the mother, and their sons, Mahlon and Kilion. The family was living in Moab, presumably to escape the famine. The father died there, and the sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. After10 years, the sons both died, leaving the three women alone, which probably was not a good thing in those days. They had no children.

*Deuteronomy 23:3-6 forbids alliances with Moabites and their descendants. In the book of Ruth, Yahweh seems to have no problem with the marriage of an Israelite to a Moabite. I've seen suggestions that that is really the whole point of the story. Now, I wonder if some contradictions in the various bible books are done on purpose, like a duel of different Israelite ideologies.

*An interesting feature of this story, and many of the Old Testament stories is that the names of the main characters have Hebrew meanings that give the story added dimension. According to my study bible, Elimelek means "God (El) is king." Naomi is "pleasant." Mahlon may mean "weakling." Ruth is similar to the Hebrew word for "friendship." Kilion and Orpah are not defined, and other sources seem doubtful about definite meanings.

*Because her husband and sons were dead, and she had heard that Yahweh was finally providing food for his people,Naomi decided to go back to Judah. She told her daughters-in-law to go back to their families of origin and get new husbands. She said a tearful goodbye, but they said they would go with her. She wondered why they would do that when she didn't have any more sons to give them as husbands. (See Levirate marriage) Then she says her lot is a bitter one and Yahweh is against her. Orpah kissed her and left, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi urge Ruth to return to her family. Then Ruth said those famous lines, "Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my god." Then Ruth made an oath that Yahweh could punish her if she should ever leave Naomi. So Naomi stopped telling her to leave.

*They traveled on to Bethlehem. When they got there, they caused quite a stir. Naomi told her old friends to call her "Mara" (meaning bitter) because her life was so bitter. She also told them Yahweh brought misfortune upon her. No fake praise in the face of disaster for her.

*When Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning. This would make it early spring, around the time of Passover.