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Ruth |
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Introduction |
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Ruth is a Moabite
woman who married into the Israelites
through the influential Boaz of Bethlehem.
The book contains a beautiful example of
filial piety the demonstrates the
connection between Jesus and King David.
This story demonstrate the
divine reward for such piety even when
practiced even by a stranger. Ruth's piety
(Ruth 2:11), her spirit of self-sacrifice,
and her moral integrity were favored by
God with the gift of faith and an
illustrious marriage whereby she became
the ancestress of David and of Christ. In
this, the universality of the messianic
salvation is foreshadowed. |
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Naomi
Loses Her Family
There is a famine in the land during the time of
the judges. Elimelech an Ephrathite from
Bethlehem of Judah departs with his wife Naomi
and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to live
on the plateau of Moab. Some time after they
arrive on the plateau of Moab Elimelech dies,
leaving Naomi with her two sons, who marry
Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth.
Then about ten years after they arrive at the
plateau of Moab both Mahlon and Chilion also
die. Naomi is now left alone.
she then
prepares to leave the plateau of Moab because
word reaches her there that the LORD had visited
his people and given them food. She and her two
daughters-in-law leave the plateau of Moab.
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However, on the
road back to the land of Judah, Naomi tells to her
two daughters-in-law to go back to their mother's
house, praying that the LORD grant each of them a
husband and a home. She kisses them good-bye, but
they weep with loud sobs, and tell her they will
return with her to her people. |
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Naomi
Returns To Bethlehem |
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Naomi
implores for them to go back since she does not
see any future for them with her. She wants to
spare them from the bitter lot that she thinks
the LORD is giving her. Again they sob aloud and
weep; and Orpah kisses her mother-in-law
good-bye, but Ruth stays with her. Naomi
implores with Ruth to go back to her people.
But Ruth tells Naomi that she will not abandon
nor forsake her. She promises that for wherever
Naomi goes she will go, wherever Naomi lodges
she will lodge, Naomi’s people shall be her
people, and Naomi’s God her God. Ruth promises
that wherever Naomi dies she will die, and that
death will have to separate her from Naomi.
Seeing her sincerity, Naomi then ceases to urge |
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her, for
she sees she is determined to go with her.
So they go
on together till they reach Bethlehem from the
plateau of Moab at the beginning of the barley
harvest. When they arrive the whole city becomes
aware that Naomi is back. The women ask if she
is Naomi, but she tells them not to call her
Naomi, but to call her Mara, for the Almighty
has made it very bitter for her. Naomi tells
them that she went away with abundance, but the
LORD has brought her back destitute. She says
that the LORD has pronounced against her and the
Almighty has brought evil upon her.
Ruth Meets
Boaz
Naomi has a prominent kinsman named Boaz, of the
clan of her husband Elimelech. Ruth asks
permission from Naomi so she can go and glean grain
leftover by |
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the reapers in the field of anyone who will let
her. Naomi tells her to go
and Ruth entered a field to glean after the
harvesters, which happened to belong to Boaz.
Boaz notices and asks the overseer who she is.
The overseer answers that she is Ruth the
Moabite girl who returned from the plateau of
Moab with Naomi. He continues to say that she
asked to gather the gleanings into sheaves after
the harvesters; and ever since she came this
morning she has remained here, with scarcely a
moment's rest.
Boaz says to Ruth that she can stay in his field
to glean and for her not go to glean in anyone
else's field. Boaz also tells Ruth that she can
stay here with his women servants. Boaz orders
the young men to do her |
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no
harm. He tells her that if she is thirsty, she may
go and drink from the vessels the young men have
filled.
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Ruth casts herself prostrate upon the ground and
she asks him why she, a foreigner, found favor
with him. Boaz answers that he knows she stayed
with her mother-in-law when her husband died,
and that she left her father and her mother and
the land of her birth, and come to a people whom
she did not know.
Ever thankful, Ruth says that she will try to
prove worthy of his kindness, and she tells him
that he has comforted her, his servant, with his
consoling words. At mealtime Boaz invites her to
have some food and dip her bread in the sauce.
Then as she sits near the reapers, he hands her
some roasted grain. She eats her fill and had
some left over. |
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Afterwards, she rises to glean, and Boaz instructs
his servants to let her glean among the sheaves
themselves without scolding her, and even to let
drop some handfuls and leave them for her to glean
without being rebuked. She gleans in the field until
evening, and the grains from which comes up to about
a bushel of barley. She takes this into the city and
shows to her mother-in-law. Next she brings out and
gives her what she had left over from lunch.
Ruth then tells Naomi what happened and Naomi
tells Ruth that Boaz is one of their relatives.
Naomi tells Ruth to follow Boaz’s orders and she
stays gleaning with the servants of Boaz until
the end of the barley and wheat harvests.
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Naomi's
Plan
When she
goes back to her mother-in-law, Naomi tells to
Ruth that she will seek a home for her. Naomi
tells Ruth that this evening Boaz will be
winnowing barley at the threshing floor. She
then tells Ruth to bathe and anoint herself;
then to put on her best attire and go down to
the threshing floor. She tells Ruth not make
herself known to the man before he has finished
eating and drinking. Confident of the virtue of
Ruth and Boaz, she tells Ruth to follow where he
lies down and uncover a place at his feet, and
lie down also.
Ruth goes
down to the threshing floor and does just as her
mother-in-law had instructed her. Ruth sees Boaz
eat and drink and then when he goes and lays
down at the edge of the sheaves, she secretly
follows, uncovers a place at his feet and |
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lays down.
In the middle of the night, however, the Boaz
wakes to find a woman lying at his feet.
Ruth
tells him who she was and then asks him to
spread the corner of his cloak over her - to be
her protector by marrying her according to the
duty of a near kinsman, for he is her next of
kin. Boaz tells her that she has been even more
loyal now than before in not going after the
young men, whether poor or rich. He tells her
that his townspeople know her as a worthy woman,
but there is another relative closer still.
Hebrew tradition dictates that next of kin of a
widow has a right and duty to marry her.
He tells Ruth to stay for the night and if that
relative claims her, then that is good.
Otherwise Boaz will claim her for himself. Just
before morning, Boaz lets it known that Ruth
came to the threshing floor. He then gives Ruth
six measures of barley, helps her lift the
bundle, and she leaves for the city.
When Ruth comes home to her mother-in-law, she
tells Naomi everything that happened and shows
her the six measures of barley. Naomi tells her
to wait until she learns what happens, for Boaz
will not rest, but will settle the matter today. |
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Boaz Claims Ruth |
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Boaz goes and takes a seat at the gate of
the city where business affairs are
settled. With Boaz are ten of the elders
of the city that he picked out, whom he
asks to witness. When he sees the closer
relative of whom he
mentioned to Ruth,
Boaz
calls him to sit beside him and he does
so.
Boaz then proceeds to tell the near
relative that Naomi, who has come back
from the Moabite plateau, is putting up
for sale the piece of land that belongs
to our kinsman Elimelech. Since the law
permits the nearest kinsman to redeem the
land and thus preserve the family
patrimony Boaz tells him that if the near
relative wishes he can put a claim to that
land. If he does not, Boaz will put a
claim himself. |
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Boaz also tells him that once he acquires the
field from Naomi, he must also take Ruth the
Moabite, the widow of the late heir, and raise
up a family for her late husband on his estate.
The near relative tells Boaz that he will not
put a claim. Then he draws off his sandal to
make binding his pledge, which is a customary
form of attestation in Israel.
Boaz then declares to the elders and to all
the people with them as witnesses that today
he acquires from Naomi all the holdings of
Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. He also
declares that he takes Ruth the Moabite, the
widow of Mahlon, as his wife, in order to
raise up a family for her late husband on his
estate, so that the name of the departed may
not perish among his kinsmen and fellow
citizens. |
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The
Descendants of David |
Boaz takes Ruth as his wife and she bears him
a son whom Naomi takes as her own. They called
the child Obed. He becomes the father of Jesse,
who will be the father of David.
These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was
the father of Hezron, Hezron was the father of
Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon
was the father of Salmon, Salmon was the
father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,
Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse became
the father of David.
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Judges and Ruth (New Cambridge Bible Commentary)
by Victor H. Matthews Bringing to life the world portrayed in the stories in
Judges and Ruth, this commentary offers readers an "insider" perspective on the
narratives. After establishing a cultural and literary context, Victor Matthews
analyzes each episode separately and as a whole. |
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Samson and Delilah and Other Old Testament Stories (Discovering the Bible) (Hardcover)
by Victoria Parker (Author), Retold by Victoria Parker (Author)
This
book provides known Bible stories from Israel in the Promised land to the Story
of Ruth. It has the stories we grew up with but it adds historical and religious
facts to each story. It tells the stories gearing them toward elementary school
children. |
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Moses
Great Lives Series: Volume 4 ,
by Charles R. Swindoll. This book presents the Bible's real Moses-the
Moses who tried to decline his assignment from God; the Moses who dazzled Pharoh;
the Moses who received the Ten Commandments; the Moses who was disobedient and
weak; the Moses who was the greatest leader of God's people in all of history.
Through his faith and selfless dedication, Moses continually chose to follow
God's will through difficult and seemingly impossible situations. |
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Jacob and Esau
by Harriette Augusta Curtiss and F. Homer
Curtiss (Paperback - Dec 30, 2005) |
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The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary
by J. A. Motyer
Recipient of a Christianity Today 1994 Critics
Choice Award! Among Old Testament prophetic books no other equals Isaiah's
brilliance of style and metaphor, its arresting vision of the Holy One of Israel
and its kaleidoscopic vision of God's future restoration of Israel and the
world. Now, after over three decades of studying and teaching Isaiah, Alec
Motyer presents a wealth of commentary and perspective on this book. |
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Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons, and Feasts
(Paperback)
by Leonard Foley (Editor), Pat McCloskey (Editor) |
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Lives of the
Saints You Should Know by Margaret R. Bunson,
Matthew E. Bunson It provides a brief, but
personal, summary of the lives of 21 famous and
not-so-famous saints. However, it appears to
have been written with a children to teenage
audience in mind, and so was a bit simplistic
for me, as an adult, in places. By the same
token, for me, as a non-Catholic, the book was
easy to understand and provided useful and
thought-provoking insights into |
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sainthood and
Catholic beliefs. I would recommend this book
mainly to an early-teen audience, but it can
also provide a good introduction to sainthood
and Catholic beliefs to people of all ages and
religious persuasions. |
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New Illustrated Book of Saints
Author: Catholic Book Publishing Company |
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One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses
Drawn from Butler's
This is a coffee-table collection of 100
popular saints illustrated with art works taken
from international galleries. The saints are
listed alphabetically in a valuable table of
contents, with a larger list of patron saints
following the text. Inclusion is based on
popularity within the Christian world and the
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availability of
atypical art works. Entries are generally based
on the 1926-38 edition of Butler's Lives of the
Saints, with the length of each entry varying
from one-half page to several pages. Short
entries giving written insight into the lives of
pious individuals are combined with depictions
rendered by artists such as Raphael and El
Greco. An inexpensive tribute to art and faith
more appropriate for gift-giving than for
libraries. |
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