Ruth Redux
“Now there is our kinsman Boaz, whose girls you were close to. He will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. So, bathe, anoint yourself, dress up and go to the threshing floor . . .” Ruth 3:2-3 NJPS
Kinsman – Once again English fails us. If you thought that Naomi spoke of Boaz as the go’el, the kinsman redeemer, you would have missed something. Naomi deliberately avoids the standard, and expected, word go’el. Instead she uses the term moda’at. Something is happening here that can only be seen in the subtleties of Hebrew, something important!
As we know, the kinsman-redeemer is the one who is supposed to restore the land and the name of the impoverished relative. In Naomi’s case, the name of her husband has been lost because he is dead and so are his sons. In order to resurrect his name and continue the family line, a child must be produced. This is to be accomplished through a levirate marriage. In fact, the statements of the women of Bethlehem at the end of this story make it quite clear that the child of Boaz and Ruth is Naomi’s redeemer. Everything seems to be in proper order.
But under the covers, something else is happening.
First, the end of the story does not say the child Obed carries on the name of Elimelech. The child carries the lineage of Boaz, son of Judah. Elimelech’s name does disappear, swallowed up in the line of Judah. That is very strange considering what the village women say. Things aren’t quite what they seem.
Just as strange is Naomi’s use of moda’at. This is a variation of the verb yada’, a verb that is clearly linked to sexual involvement. Eskenazi and Frymer-Kensky write, “Naomi conspicuously does not refer to Boaz as a go’el (‘redeemer’) as she did earlier (2:20) or evoke levirate relation (which she had used previously in reference to Orpah in 1:15). Given her unusual designation for Boaz here, it is reasonable to conclude that she has something other than redemption or levirate marriage in mind for this rendezvous.”[1] As these commentators note, it is difficult to overlook the obvious sexual connotations in Naomi’s instructions and in the events that take place on the threshing floor. Naomi seems to be instructing her daughter-in-law in the fine art of seduction. Yes, things aren’t quite what they seem to be.
Finally, we should pay very close attention to Ruth’s actions on the threshing floor. Naomi specifically instructs Ruth not to speak but rather to allow Boaz to determine the course of action after he becomes aware of her. But even this is changed. Ruth takes the initiative, suggesting how Boaz should respond to her. Not exactly how women were expected to act, is it? Ruth actually employs the verb yada’ in a host of unexpected ways. The text never precisely tells us what happens on the threshing floor but we aren’t left in the dark about what Ruth wants. She knows what she needs. She knows Boaz. She knows her predicament among Israelites. She knows her covenant commitment to Naomi. She does what no woman would ever imagine doing, just as Tamar and Rahab did what no woman would ever do, in order to bring to fruition the results of hesed.
Oh, yes, and by the way, YHWH approved. At the end of the story, a story that is recounted with the conspicuous absence of God, only one verse actually mentions God’s active involvement. That verse says “YHWH let her conceive.” The child is the direct result of YHWH’s decision.
We have a lot to learn from Ruth’s story – a story of kindness, commitment, risk, reconciliation and restoration. It is a story about a woman who demonstrates God’s redeeming actions in the most unlikely of places and ways. Maybe it’s a story for us too.
Topical Index: moda’at, yada’, know, kinsman, Ruth 3:2
[1] Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Ruth: The JPS Commentary, p. 50.
I believe the real story of Ruth exposes the sexual situation of the world I grew up in. I will try to explain.
Which is worse in our culture; rampant sexual perversion or repressive fears of human sexuality? Both seem to be equally paralyzing and leading a community to be socially impotent. Further, the practice of one will eventually lead to the expression of the other. The guilt associated with immoral living doesn’t necessarily go away because someone prays the sinner’s prayer, goes to church, and gets wet in the baptismal pool. Too often that feeling, “I owe more than I can repay”, morphs into a more complex set of fear-influenced emotions. Likewise, years of living in denial that the Creator made men and women to be sexual is not only a lie, but it’s a lie that many cannot sustain. The idea of “just say no” lacks the clarity necessary to bring self-discipline and teach effective behaviors for personal and community development. The children of these parental practices become the nightmares of schools, work places, and anywhere else where men and women find themselves thrown together.
The story of Ruth is not what so many prudish church-goers have believed. It’s just not that “clean”. It is sexual, sensual, and seductive. At the same time this story is not about eroticism, lasciviousness, or wantonness. Rather, Ruth is a story of several women and men; it’s a story of differing world views coming together; and, it’s the story of a people who live in a most difficult time and those within that work to remain faithful to the Beloved Creator despite the hardships and set backs. Ruth is a timeless classic if we dare to be honest with ourselves.
Perhaps what we most often overlook in the motivation in the story of Ruth. Naomi withholds critical information from Ruth on more than one occasion, portraying herself as more helpless than she actually is and keeping Ruth at a distance (as a Moabite) in spite of Ruth’s consistent demonstration of hesed. Ruth is the faithful one (the representation of God). Naomi uses this depiction to solve HER problem – lack of a consistent source of well-being for a widow. Ruth becomes the vehicle of Naomi’s concern. You can see this in the fact that the son born to Ruth is described as NAOMI’s go-el.
Ruth is motivated by hesed and emeth. Naomi is motived by something else. Examination of the motives reveals the source of the behavior.
“Examination of the motives reveals the source of the behavior.”
This, I believe, is a most accurate statement. As I may have mentioned here before, among the questions I ask my clients are: 1) What do you believe?; 2) What motivates you?; and 3) What do you want or desire? My objective is not only to discover the source of the ineffective and sometimes destructive behavior, but more importantly to lead them to that discovery. One of my goals for my client is a healthy self-awareness (not self-esteem or self-love). Only when we are open and willing to investigate and deeply dig into our true motivations (often with the help of someone we trust and who loves us) will we find where change really needs to begin. Of course, as with the story of Ruth, life becomes complex due to mixed motivations within the people we live among and who influence us.
“Naomi seems to be instructing her daughter in law in the fine art of seduction. Yes, things aren’t quite what they seem to be.”
Skip,
Are you saying that Naomi’s motives (and Ruth’s complicit behavior) were less than noble, yet, in spite of her manipulating strategy, God used the end for His own purposes?
Read between the lines. That is the usual approach to Hebrew discussions that are a little less than proper. Hebrew never comes right out and says what would be questionable. It just hints at it. In this case, the hints are strong, but since it never actually says what happens, we are left to interpret the passages. There is considerable discussion on BOTH sides of this issue.
Isn’t the discussion the point? Unless we wrestle with these issues, in community, we never quite get to the deeper issues. Not engaging also blunts our ability to get even an inkling about how our individual actions might affect the community as a whole. Not forming a better view due to avoidance of the issue, however, does not give us an excuse to sin, by actively ignoring G_d’s instruction to critically think through issues and to “wrestle” with them as a community.
When we decide, without contemplation or discussion, that the issue is too complex or that we are not “educated enough” to be in community, we defaut to the very popular and most convenient place, our “own indivdual opinion”.
Once there, we can convince ourselves that this is what G_d wants us to do; make our own individual decisions, because it is too hard to understand and we don’t know who to trust. Many times, I hear people say, “well, the Holy Spirit will teach me”! Wow! it become all about ME and not about my obligation to make a contribution to the “body” G_d ordained His people to be. Discussion, regardless of the ‘right or wrong’ answer allows us to integrate principles on a much deeper heart level, and brings up issues that just looking for the “right answer” doesn’t touch.
WOW–so many things just on this one topic— I am recalling again, one of the “jewels” of Oswald Chambers’
-Devotional July 28, using Mark v1(6) 45-52– “We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success as God’s purpose for us. We must never put our dreams of success as God’s purpose for us. His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. WHAT WE CALL THE PROCESS, GOD CALLS THE END.”
Thanks LaVaye, I often think that G_d is laughing most of the time…at our attempts to “fix” things…
It’s the journey that makes arriving worthwhile. It’s the process of working through the problem that validates the discovery of what “x” equals. If we had at our disposal a “one-stop” source for all the “right” answers, then the purpose of community is diminished; beside the fact that I make the author of that source responsible for my behavior. The joy of being right should never come at the price of living life alone.
And how boring life would be….down the drain with creativity!!!
Hi Skip,
Thanks for postings like this one. Things I could never really grasp in spite of my theological studies – like Calvins predestination: what alternative is there? Untill now I only could think of a soft version of it to explain the world as it is: We may think we chose, but God is the One really pulling the strings. But now the picture is starting to be reshaped. It’s my choice that makes God adapting His plan untill His goal is reached. This takes human responsibility much more serious! It also gives much more weight to my personal choices. It becomes ever better, the longer you think about it! Finally an answer to this monstrous teaching of being predestined in whatever direction! Thanks!