Ruth Pt. 3
Introduction
Scene 1: Naomi’s Plan- vs 1-5
A. Problem and Solution Introduced vs 1-2
The wait is short-lived indeed. Naomi, having come back to life, now takes charge, as Ruth did at the beginning of the previous act (2:2). This first scene begins with neither a digression (cf. 2:1) nor further narrative statement but rather with surprising words from Naomi—words that constitute a signal indication that Ruth’s loving commitment to Naomi (1:16–17) is matched by Naomi’s equal concern for Ruth.
Naomi hopes that Boaz’s past kindness and generosity mean that he can be prompted to act upon whatever family responsibilities this relationship entails. But Boaz, though he has been magnanimous almost to an extreme in providing them sustenance during the harvest season, has thus far not acted any further upon whatever obligations these may be.
B. Where Boaz will be - vs 2b
In the more general circumstances of the case, Boaz is clearly much older than Ruth, possibly of Naomi’s own generation (see Comment on 2:1) and so has little reason to expect that such a marriage would be acceptable to Ruth, as his own words in 3:10 make clear (see Comment thereto). More to the point, the need for Naomi’s scheme only makes sense if Boaz’s family relationship to Naomi and Ruth is sufficiently distant that it would not naturally occur to him to act and that no social opprobrium would attach to his failure to do so (see Comment on 2:20). Naomi clearly hopes that the prospect of marriage to the young and obviously attractive Ruth will provide the motivation needed to prompt Boaz to act.
B. Instructions vs 3-4
B. Instructions vs 3-4
So Naomi concocts a dangerous and delicate scheme.
Naomi’s instructions clearly imply that Boaz will understand the meaning of Ruth’s actions, i.e., of her uncovering his legs and lying down there. As we have noted, v 1 clearly shows that Naomi understands that her instructions to Ruth constitute a course of action designed to acquire for Ruth a home and a husband
D. What Boaz will Do - vs 4b
C. Ruth’s response - vs 5
And what of Ruth? The course of action outlined by Naomi entails the greatest risk to both her reputation (cf. v 14) and her person.
(1) Since Ruth has not contracted a new marriage, she is still the wife of Mahlon (cf. 4:5, 10), so Boaz could charge her with failing in her family responsibilities and possibly even brand her an adulteress. (2) He could use the night’s opportunity for his sexual pleasure and then with male bravado malign her character and perhaps even charge her with prostitution. (3) He could deride her request for marriage to him, the wealthy and powerful landowner, as delusions of grandeur. Yet, Ruth raises neither question nor objection but simply responds, “All that you say I will do,” demonstrating once again the radical extent of her commitment to and trust in Naomi
Scene 2: Boaz’s Response - vs 6-15
Naomi seems certain of Boaz indeed, and we the audience have every warrant from his actions in the previous scene to concur in her trust. Nonetheless, we wait in suspense. Will it all turn out as Naomi has planned? What indeed does she suppose that Boaz will tell Ruth to do?
Scene 2: Boaz’s Response - vs 6-15
Scene 2: Boaz’s Response - vs 6-15
Chiastic structure
The first section (vv 6–7) and the last (vv 14–15) consist of narrative: in the first, Ruth puts Naomi’s plan into action, and in the second, Boaz responds to Ruth with deeds. These narrative sections form the frame for the central sections of dialogue.
A. Ruth Execute’s Naomi’s Plan (vs 6-9)
1. In Actions (vs 6-7)
The scene is framed by the striking contrastive opening and closing two-word clauses, ותרד דגרן, “she went down to the threshing floor,” and ויבא העיר, “he went to the city,” signaling that the initiative for progress in the story has passed from Ruth and Naomi to Boaz.
(1) “When Boaz had eaten and drunk,” we are told, “he felt at peace with the world.” This surely hints that he will be receptive to the request that Ruth’s actions will symbolize. (2) “Then,” we are told, “he went and lay down to sleep at the end of the heap of grain.” In the words of Trible (183),
“At the end of the heap of grain”: a minor detail yet important for the execution of the plan. The phrase suggests an area separate from the other sleepers and accessible to the waiting woman. Is this detail another hint of that blessed chance which aids these women in their struggles for life? Earlier Ruth happened to come to the field of Boaz (2:3). Does Boaz happen now to lie at the corner of the threshing floor? We cannot be sure
our narrator wished to stress that Ruth carried out Naomi’s instructions to the letter. Such repetition slows the pace of the account and heightens our suspense. Ruth has placed herself in a most delicate and risky situation—asleep with Boaz on an isolated corner of the threshing floor
2. In Words (vs 8-9)
Clearly, the center of his interest is the words that pass between Ruth and Boaz in the darkness of the threshing floor in the middle of the night; i.e., once again he moves his story forward principally through dialogue.
Now she uses the spoken idiom that both constitutes the natural and necessary complement to that action, “Spread the skirt of your robe [Heb. kānāp̄] over your handmaid,” and bears the same meaning, i.e., “marry me” (see Comment). Both action and idiom lack nothing in clarity, and Boaz instantly comprehends, as v 10 makes clear.
her words do not simply invite Boaz to the pleasures of sexual embrace. Indeed, on the contrary, she, a foreign woman, calls an Israelite man to responsibility (Trible, 184). That Boaz would act in a responsible and caring way must surely have been what Naomi had in mind when she concluded her description of the symbolic action of uncovering Boaz’s legs and lying down with the statement that “he will tell you what to do.” However, under the exigencies of this moment, lying there beside Boaz on the threshing floor in the middle of the night, Ruth very understandably did not leave the meaning of that moment to Boaz’s interpretation of mute metaphors and the inarticulate implications of symbolic action! Rather, she put the meaning of the moment into words and told Boaz what to do. Then, doubtless again under the exigencies of her situation, she grounded her request in Boaz’s position as a גאל, a “redeemer.” In so doing, as the story will quickly make clear, she opened to Boaz the possibility of a resolution of their plight that neither she nor Naomi envisaged for a moment!
B. Boaz Responds to Naomi’s Plan (vs 10-15)
B. Boaz Responds to Naomi’s Plan (vs 10-15)
1. In Words (vs 10-13)
In Boaz’s mind this triggers a memory, recalls to him his previous words, “And a full reward be given thee of the Lord GOD of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Once this correspondence has been made, the full meaning and implications of his previous words flood in upon him.… In a moment the process of understanding is completed. Everything culminates and merges in this image of ingathering: the wings of the LORD sweeping in to himself the people, the arms of Boaz gathering in to himself the maiden Ruth, the arms of the young men drawing into the barns the grain. It is a moment of imaginative splendor and depth.
She who came to find shelter under Yahweh’s “wing” will find her full reward from Yahweh when the man who himself voiced such a blessing spreads his “wing” over her in marriage!
2. In Actions (vs 14-15)
The author of Ruth is relying upon ambiguity of language to depict the tension of emotion, enabling him to convey the atmospherics of the scene without digressing from his narrative to describe them
(1) “When Boaz had eaten and drunk,” we are told, “he felt at peace with the world.” This surely hints that he will be receptive to the request that Ruth’s actions will symbolize. (2) “Then,” we are told, “he went and lay down to sleep at the end of the heap of grain.” In the words of Trible (183),
“At the end of the heap of grain”: a minor detail yet important for the execution of the plan. The phrase suggests an area separate from the other sleepers and accessible to the waiting woman. Is this detail another hint of that blessed chance which aids these women in their struggles for life? Earlier Ruth happened to come to the field of Boaz (2:3). Does Boaz happen now to lie at the corner of the threshing floor? We cannot be sure