Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

RUTH

The book of Ruth has no named author, no named date of origin, and there is modern debate as whether or not the purpose of the story was to settle the issues of universalism versus exclusivism, matriarchy versus patriarchy, the status of the levirate marriage, the status of the poor, land rights, or the Davidic genealogy. The book, therefore, appears in various orders in the predecessors to the Hebrew Bible and the LXX. Ruth is assigned to be read in the synagogue for the Festival of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), which celebrates the spring grain harvest as well as the giving of the Torah. The story of Ruth is a perfectly crafted Hebrew folktale, in that it incorporates complex social and religious issues into an entertaining and romantic narrative.

Ruth is a story of relationships between family members, between nations, between God and Israel. The story begins with Elimelech and Naomi, along with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, journeying to the foreign country of Moab because their own city of Bethlehem in Judah is famine stricken. During the 10 years that the family lives in Moab, the sons marry women named Ruth and Orpah. Eventually, all three men in the family die, leaving Naomi alone with her two daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to her native Judah when she hears that the Lord has visited the people there and provided them with food. As the three women set out, Naomi tells Ruth and Orpah to return to their own mothers’ homes. Both of the young widows at first refuse to leave Naomi, but eventually Orpah kisses her mother-in-law goodbye; Ruth continues with Naomi to Bethlehem.

Ruth and Orpah are not ordinary daughters-in-law to the Israelite Naomi: they are Moabites, i.e., traditional enemies, temptresses and corrupters of Israel. Moabites serve other gods, and the Israelites are often in trouble for mingling with the foreigners (Judg. 10:6; cf. Num. 22–25; Deut. 23:2-6; Ezra 9:1-2; Neh. 13:1-2; Ps. 83; Zeph. 2:9).

Orpah returns to her own people and gods, but Ruth clings to Naomi and Naomi’s God. Naomi makes one more plea to which Ruth replies with what has become a familiar phrase, “entreat me not to leave thee.” Naomi finally accepts Ruth’s resolve to stay with her, and the two journey in search for a more prosperous land.

The rabbis of the 1st century were so impressed with this story of friendship and commitment that they used it to explain how the enemies of Israel would become part of the house of Israel even though certain laws prohibited it. The story became a paradigm for conversion in the faith. Naomi’s requests and Ruth’s rejections constitute a rabbinic form for a prospective proselyte to follow in order to become a Jew:

1.Request: But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to the house of her mother.” (1:8a)

Rejection: And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” (1:10)

2.Request: But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me?” (1:11a)

Rejection (anticipated): “Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?” (1:11b)

3.Request: “Turn back, my daughters, go your way.” (1:12)

Rejection: Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. (1:14)

4.Request: And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” (1:15)

Response: But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (1:16)

Accceptance: When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (1:18)

Noting that Naomi told Ruth three different times to “turn” or “return,” early rabbis correspondingly stated that a would-be proselyte was to be repulsed three times; if the proselyte persists after that, he or she would be accepted. Prospective converts were to be discouraged in order to determine their sincerity, as well as to let them know that it is not easy to be a Jew. But the discouragement was not to be for too long, because when Naomi saw that Ruth was steadfastly minded to go with her, “she said no more.” The Moabite Ruth is, therefore, the model convert because of her declaration of fidelity to Naomi.

Boaz, a wealthy kinsman of Naomi’s husband Elimelech whom Ruth eventually marries, recounts the ways in which Ruth has been faithful (2:11). According to Boaz, Ruth demonstrates her faithfulness by staying with Naomi and by leaving her own parents and homeland and going into a foreign country. In that same speech to Ruth, Boaz concludes: “The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (2:12).

The phrase “under whose wings you have come to take refuge” is also a formal metaphor for proselytism meaning “in your protective care.” The image is suggested by the watchful care of a mother bird (cf. Deut. 32:11; Ps. 57:1[MT 2]). It is in the interpretation of the book of Ruth that the phrase first appears with the meaning of “to be converted to Judaism.” As in the case of other foreign-born women (e.g., Tamar the Canaanite, Gen. 28; ; Rahab the Canaanite, Josh. 2–6; Bathsheba the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11), God chooses Ruth the Moabite to properly fulfill the obligations of the Jewish community.

The community in Bethlehem prays a benediction for Boaz as he tells the people and elders of his plans to marry Ruth (4:11-12). In spite of the fact that Ruth is of a people who are considered to be noted enemies of Israel, her commitment and friendship with Naomi win God’s favor, and God uses her to “build up the house of Israel.”

Ruth and Boaz do build up the house of Israel and are the great-grandparents of King David, but the house is also built by Naomi. Even though she is old and cannot bear more children and her sons are dead, the Lord has blessed her with a child through her daughter-in-law Ruth (4:14-15). The compliment cannot be overlooked or overrated. Ruth demonstrates her friendship and devotion to Naomi by sharing her child with her mother-in-law (4:16-17a). The son’s name was Obed and he became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of the future King David.

The beautifully artistic book of Ruth serves many purposes in the Jewish tradition, including the importance of women in Israel’s history: Naomi and Ruth; Leah, Rachel, and Tamar before them. That purpose moves forward in history as the writer of the Gospel of Matthew capitalizes on the tradition and includes in the genealogy as forebears of Jesus both Tamar and Ruth, as well as two other enemy women, Rahab and Bathsheba (Matt. 1:3, 5, 6b).

Bibliography. D. R. G. Beattie, Jewish Exegesis of the Book of Ruth. JSOTSup 2 (Sheffield, 1977); A. Brenner, ed., A Feminist Companion to Ruth (Sheffield, 1993); D. N. Fewell and D. M. Gunn, Compromising Redemption: Relating Characters in the Book of Ruth (Louisville, 1990); J. A. Kates and G. T. Reimer, eds., Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story (New York, 1994); J. Neusner, The Mother of the Messiah in Judaism: The Book of Ruth (Valley Forge, 1993); I. Pardes, “The Book of Ruth: Idyllic Revisionism,” in Countertraditions in the Bible (Cambridge, Mass., 1992), 98-117; J. M. Sasson, Ruth: A New Translation with a Philological Commentary and a Formalist-Folklorist Interpretation, 2nd ed. (Sheffield, 1989).

Glenna S. Jackson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

RUTH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)