The Book of Ruth

Last time, we finished off Samson.  Next up -- the Book of Ruth, all four chapters of it in one entry.

CHAPTER 1

Well, time for the first short books of the Bible, and it’s one of the most beloved short books.  In “The Good Book,” David Plotz said it’s his favorite book in the entire Bible. I can see why.  The Bible is best when it is about people, and this is first and foremost a story about people; a story about highly likable, genuine people. 

That said, my own memories of the book from my previous attempts at reading the Bible are fairly hazy.  I knew the general outline that Ruth is a good woman who gets married and becomes an ancestor of David – oh, and there is farming involved – but beyond that the only things I know are what I read in Plotz’s book.  Well, let’s get to it, then.

The first line tells us that this is about life in the time of the judges, which is why it’s placed here in the Bible.  The other short story like books come later, but not Ruth.  Anyhow, the first person we meet isn’t Ruth, but Naomi.  There is a famine going on in Israel, causing Naomi, her husband, and two sons to travel to nearby Moab to survive.  While in Moab, Naomi’s husband dies, but her two sons both marry Moabite girls – Orpah and Ruth.  So we meet our main character.

Well, more tragedy follows, as Naomi’s two sons die, leaving her a widow with two widows daughter-in-laws.  This is all just in the first five verses.  Well, Naomi decides to go back home eventually and tells her daughters-in-law (who she considers to be daughters) to go back to their old homes.  After all, Naomi has no more sons and can’t help them at all.  They should go back to live their lives.  Both Orpah and Ruth refuse. Naomi has been so kind to them and say they would rather go back with her.  Naomi insists, saying her lot in life is too bitter.  There is no reason to follow her.  Oraph weeps aloud, kisses her mother-in-law goodbye, and leaves.  Ruth does not.

This is interesting, because we’re seeing very real humans dealing with choices where there is no clear right or wrong answer.  Yes it’s nice to be loyal to one’s mother-in-law, but then again what does the future hold in store if they follow the widow to a land they do not know and to a place they aren’t familiar with?  Far too much of the Bible portrays Good Guys and Bad Guys, but there are no bad guys here.  It is just people.  There are good guys, though.  Everyone here so far is a root-for-able person.  All three main characters are trying to be selfless and put others first – Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth.  Sure, Orpah does relent, but you can’t blame here, and she only did after Naomi worked hard to convince her.  The scene of Orpah’s departure is an interesting moral choice.  It’s understandable.  It’s human.

Well, I’m stalling too long because one of the best parts of the Bible is coming up now. Naomi tries once again to convince Ruth to go back to Moab, and Ruth comes back with one of my favorite Bible passages of all, telling her mother-in-law: “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.  Where you die I will die and there be buried.”

That’s beautiful.  That is simply beautiful.  It’s poetry.  (That’s literally true, as the Bible presents it in verse form).  And we see what sort of person Ruth is – a deeply loyal one.  A genuinely good person.  Ain’t many of them; not nearly enough anyway.  Oh, and most interesting of all, given that this is the Bible, is the attitude toward religion.  She isn’t going to convert due to any theology or love of God or fear of her wrath.  No.  Her beloved mother-in-law follows Yahweh so she shall, too.  That’s not how an expert theologian would write the story, but who wants to read a story by an expert theologian?  It makes Ruth more human, which is when the Bible is at its best.

Naomi sees Ruth won’t be swayed and they return together to Ruth’s hometown of Bethlehem.  Naomi says tells people she should be called Mara, because that means bitter and her actual name means sweet.  Huh, I didn’t know that.  Now I suddenly like the name Naomi a lot more.  I’ve always liked it, but this makes it better.

CHAPTER 2

Now the story starts moving toward its happy ending.  Ruth goes to work in the field.  She gleans, whatever the hell that means.  A man named Boaz sees her and takes a liking to her.  She’s a hard worker, and Boaz is related to Naomi apparently, so he tells Ruth to only glean in his fields. Apparently, gleaning in another’s fields would look bad, but since Boaz is related somehow, it isn’t as bad. 

Ruth is quickly quite happy, and lays prostate before him, wondering why she, a foreigner, should get this attention.  His answer – he’s heard what a good person she is and how she’s helping her mother-in-law.  Awwww!  That’s sweet.  Boaz has been around for barely 10 verses and we’re already rooting for him, too.  There are just so many likable characters in this book. 

Well, Ruth goes back and tells Naomi the score, and Naomi is ecstatic.  It turns out that Boaz is a possible redeemer.  Somewhere in the Torah is rules for who should remarry a widow, and the short version is that the nearest male relative should marry the widow if he can, in order to keep things inside the family.  If not him, then the next nearest.  This was a custom going all the way back to the time of the patriarchs.  It’s relevant to the plot of Chapter 38 in Genesis.

Well, now we learn that Boaz is a possible redeemer for Ruth.  Look, this story isn’t a suspense thriller.  We can see where this is headed, that’s not a big surprise.  But you get hooked because you like the damn characters and hope it’ll work out for them.  Just because you can see the happy ending coming doesn’t lessen the joy in seeing it there on the horizon.

CHAPTER 3

Well, things are moving quickly.  It is, after all, just a four chapter book.  Naomi gets Ruth all gussied up and has her go lie at the feet of Boaz’s bed.  He sees here there and she says, “Spread the wing of your cloak over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”  Well, that’s one way to ask for marriage.  (And it’s a woman doing the asking.  How progressive of the 3,000-ish year old story).

Boaz is game, but there is something that must be done in advance.  While he is a redeemer, there is a more closely related male redeemer out there.  That man has the law of first refusal before Boaz can have a crack.  So we have a brief little detour before we find out if these two crazy kids will be happy together.

CHAPTER 4

Boaz goes to the other redeemer, a guy whose name we never learn.  And it’s interesting how Boaz handles it.  He doesn’t lead with Ruth.  Instead, before a group of elders, Boaz tells Nameless Redeemer that Naomi has some land he’d like to redeem (re: acquire for himself).  But Boaz understands the other guy has dibs, so what will it be? 

Dibs!  Nameless says he’ll be redeemer of the land.

Now Boaz spring up the second part.  Oh, by the way, with the land you also get responsibility for Ruth the Moabite.  How about that?  Suddenly, Nameless is singing a different tune.  This is interesting and a little comical.  You can play this scene  several ways.  You can make Nameless a pompous greedy jerkwad.  After all, he’ll take the money but not the Moabite.  That’s one approach.  But I can feel for him as well.  He’s willing to take the land, sure – but now you’re going to stick him with a wife? Well, that’s a hell of a responsibility.  And what the heck is Boaz doing springing her on him like this on the sly?  Nameless isn’t as good at being selfless as the others in this story, but he really isn’t a bad guy.  He’s just human.

At any rate, a weird bit of Israeli custom plays out.  Nameless takes off his sandal because he won’t act as redeemer.  This particular custom is actually referred to back in Deuteronomy Chapter 25. It’s a custom that almost certainly first existed and then got written into Deuteronomy to get official sanctification.  (After all, it wasn’t opposed to any Moses beliefs, and it was a custom, so why not incorporate it in the Torah to give it that much more stature?)

Now the path is clear.  Boaz and Ruth can get what they both deserve – each other.  Naomi is bitter no more.  And Ruth gives birth to a baby boy named Obed.  He’ll be the father of Jesse, who will be the father of David – yes, that David. 

Hurrah for the happy ending!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

This is a nice, sweet story.  It’s one you want to cheer.  It’s the Bible at its best, which is to say it’s the story of humans, rather than just of the divine.  People are always easier to relate to, after all.

The intro to the book says there are arguments about when it was written.  One theory is that it’s post-Babylon Captivity.  At that time, laws were produced that were stringent against marriage with Moabites, so this story makes a Moabite woman the hero – and the ancestor of David himself.  Perhaps that’s when it was created.

The story is almost certainly an example of Biblical fan-fic.  By that I mean it’s not really a necessary story about the people of Israel.  It’s not about God at all.  It’s about people, and then there’s a bit of a tie in to the story of Israel at the end, but it’s really just a story about people not really related to the main thrust of the Bible.

But it’s in the Bible anyway.  How can they leave it out? It was written, it’s fantastic, and I’m sure it was popular back in the day. So fine – but it in the Bible.  It made the cut. 

Click here for the beginning of the next book - Samuel I.