The story goes like this: there is a famine in Judah so Elimelech and his family (Naomi and two sons) go to nearby Moab so they won’t starve. While there, Elimelech dies, leaving his wife and sons on their own. The sons marry Moabite women and after ten years, both sons, Malon and Kilion, also die. This leaves Naomi with no husband, no sons, and two foreign daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah.
It is important to note that in the patriarchal context of the time, a woman’s value was linked to the
males in the culture, be it a father, a husband, or sons. Without any attachment to a man, a woman was nothing, what Carolyn Custis James call "a zero." A woman on her own (or with another woman) had no means of income, no home, no apparent value.
Back to our story. Naomi hears that the famine is over in Judah, so she decides to return home with the remnants of her family. On the way there, she realizes that living in Judah will be difficult for her daughters-in-law who will be considered outsiders. In addition, both Orpah and Ruth have no sons after ten years of marriage and Naomi is
past the child-bearing years. The outlook is bleak for this rag-tag group of barren women, so Naomi urges Ruth and Orpah to return to Moab. It is an act of
compassion. Back in their homeland, her daughters-in-law will have some hope for a future. At first, both young women refuse to leave Naomi, but finally, Orpah sees the logic in what her mother-in-law suggests and begins her journey back to Moab. She does the reasonable thing. Ruth, however, refuses to
leave Naomi. She even adopts Naomi’s God, YHWH. Right there on the road, she converts to Judaism. an indication that she is all in with Naomi.
Naomi and Ruth show up in Bethlehem and people hardly recognize the older woman. She has had a hard life and it shows. She says, "Don’t call me Naomi
(pleasant), call me Mara (bitter). I went away full but the Lord has brought
me back empty” (Ruth 1:20-21). Now two women, unattached to any males, have to figure out how to
survive. Ruth takes the initiative and does what the poor and destitute do: she goes to the harvest field to pick up the scraps. They basically go on a version of welfare,
relying on the kindness of strangers. The harvest field is not the safest place for a young
widow to be, out all day with the hired hands, the harvesters, but she has no other choice.
Ruth ends up in the fields of Boaz. At this point, we can be tempted to turn the story into a Cinderella-type fairy tale, a romance. Boaz, the rich landowner, finds
true love in Ruth and rescues the poor, destitute women. No doubt Ruth is a
ravishing and shapely beauty and Boaz is strong and virile. But no. This is not a romance. This is not a happily
ever after story. This story
is about hesed, about loyalty and
commitment that go beyond the bounds of law or duty.
Hesed is usually translated lovingkindness, but it is much more than that. It speaks of kindness, loyalty, faithfulness, mercy, grace, and love. It is heartfelt benevolence toward someone within the context of
relationship. The thing about hesed is that it is meant to be self-perpetuating. Once you have experienced hesed, you are compelled to pass it on. Hesed creates community.
Remember what Naomi said: "I went away full but the Lord has
brought me back empty." Some scholars have noted that Naomi is a female version of Job. Like Job, she wonders: "God, why have you not taken care
of me? Why is everything of value stripped from my life? Where is the flourishing?
The fullness?" The famine may be over in Judah but the famine has not ended for Naomi. Everyone around her is rebuilding and rejoicing, but Naomi is bitter because, through no fault of her own, she
is on "the hungry side of the law" and of life [1].
No one can blame Naomi for her despair. It is a reasonable response to her circumstances. But Ruth is a surprise. There are many strikes against her: she is a widow. a foreigner, barren, saddled with taking care of her mother-in-law, and brand new to the religion
of YHWH. And yet, she steps up. She goes above and beyond. She becomes the embodiment of hesed to Naomi. She walks to the harvest field to pick up the scraps. And then she asks
the overseer if she can position herself right behind the harvesters so she can pick up the best bits of grain instead of just scrounging at the edges. Why this audacious request? Because it’s for Naomi! Boaz hears of Ruth's kindness to Naomi
and is compelled to action (hesed does that), giving her food to take home and telling his workers to pull out grain from their sheaves
for the young widow to gather.
This strange arrangement continues for weeks and when the harvest comes to an end, Naomi emerges from her cave of bitterness. Now, instead of focusing on her own hopeless plight, she turns her attention to securing Ruth's future. Boaz, who turns out to be a distant relative of Naomi's husband, has been kind to Ruth, so Naomi sees an opportunity. She instructs the young widow to
approach the landowner and let him know that she is available for marriage. Ruth goes to
the threshing floor, now dressed in “available for marriage” clothing instead of
widow’s garb. It should be noted that the threshing floor is where the men drink and party after the harvest (again,
not a safe place for a young widow). Ruth waits till Boaz is sleeping, uncovers
his feet, and lies down. The act is forward, inappropriate, and has sexual overtones. Ruth is definitely putting herself in a vulnerable position.
When Boaz awakes, stunned to find himself partially unclothed and a woman at his feet, Ruth does not remain silent (even though Naomi instructed her to wait for Boaz to speak first). Ruth gets right to the point
and tells Boaz that she wants him to redeem Elimelech’s property (Naomi
could not lay claim to it without any sons) and marry her (Ruth), thus
providing for both widows. This is a very creative interpretation of the law. By linking marriage (levirate) and redeemer laws, Ruth is asking Boaz to go above and beyond what is legally required. She is asking for hesed.
Impressed by Ruth's character and her forthrightness, Boaz indicates that he is willing to do as she requests, but there
is the matter of another relative who has prior claim to the land. Boaz takes immediate action and informs the relative that Elimelech's land is available for redemption. The relative appears interested in the proposal, but when Boaz
stipulates that marriage to Elimelech's daughter-in-law is part of the package, the relative passes on the opportunity. Understandably so. Had he agreed to the arrangement, the first son born to Ruth would have become the heir to the land. Therefore, the relative stood to risk losing his rights to the property while saddling himself with two more mouths to feed. The relative does what is reasonable. But Boaz, an established landowner likely already married and with sons of his own, does the unreasonable. He goes above and beyond. He compromises his own estate in order to help the family of
Elimelech.
Though Naomi initiated the idea of marriage between Boaz and Ruth, it was the young widow who expanded the idea to include caring for Naomi as well. Not only that, Ruth sought to uphold the posterity of the household of Elimelech. Ruth's creative, above and beyond, interpretation of the law reminds me
of Jesus and his teachings: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" (Matthew 5:46-47, NRSV).
Ruth is a Gentile, a pagan, an outsider. She is expected to do no more than required, to love only her own kind, to do what is reasonable. But Ruth goes beyond the letter of the law to the heart of
the law. She lives out hesed. She shows love. She demonstrates kindness. She helps others to flourish. She encourages people to do the right thing. Ruth, an outsider, reflects the nature of YHWH to those who claim to be insiders, the chosen people of YHWH. How ironic!
The story ends with Boaz taking Ruth as his wife and she conceives and bears a son. He is named Obed and he becomes the grandfather of David, Israel's great king, and the ancestor of Jesus the Messiah. Naomi is now blessed with a son in her household, but the women of the town say something interesting; they tell Naomi that Ruth is better than having seven sons. That's quite a statement. Sons, who have all the value in that culture, have nothing on Ruth. Ruth did
more for her mother-in-law than any sons ever would have. She put her life, her future, her reputation, her well-being, and her own interests on the line time after time because
somewhere, somehow, she had learned hesed. A foreigner, a
women raised as a pagan, a widow, a zero, an immigrant on welfare: this is
where hesed, the loyalty and commitment and abundant kindness of YHWH, was on display. Totally unexpected.
When we are in need of some gracious gift of kindness, we tend to look to the powerful, to those who have access to political or legal systems, to the wealthy and influential who can mobilize resources. We might also appeal to friends and family or those we consider part of our community. But hesed operates outside of familial, communal, political, religious, and economic loyalties and ties. The story of Ruth reveals that the hesed of YHWH is not found in places of power but on the margins. The pagan outsider on the
brink of poverty schools the entire town on how to live in the above and beyond world of hesed.
Richard Rohr states: “Only a personal experience of unconditional, unearned, and infinite love and forgiveness can move you from the normal worldview of scarcity to the divine world of infinite abundance. That’s when the doors of mercy blow wide open! That’s when we begin to understand the scale-breaking nature of grace.”[2] So where did Ruth learn hesed? We don't really know, but it seems that hesed is formed in the midst of difficult, desperate, wounding situations. In other words, hesed has scars. That is how we recognize it.
Richard Rohr states: “Only a personal experience of unconditional, unearned, and infinite love and forgiveness can move you from the normal worldview of scarcity to the divine world of infinite abundance. That’s when the doors of mercy blow wide open! That’s when we begin to understand the scale-breaking nature of grace.”[2] So where did Ruth learn hesed? We don't really know, but it seems that hesed is formed in the midst of difficult, desperate, wounding situations. In other words, hesed has scars. That is how we recognize it.
Ruth is hesed personified. Her name means "companion or friend." Like Ruth, Jesus says, "Where you
go, I will go. If you are suffering and in pain, I am there. If you are struggling through a rough patch in your journey, I am on the road with you. If you are lost and alone and without hope, I am with you. I will never turn back. I will never, ever leave you. If you need reassurance, just look at my scars."
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[1] Carolyn Custis James. Finding God in the Margins: The Book of Ruth (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 4. I am indebted to Custis James for many of the insights in this piece.
[2] Richard Rohr, "Worldview of Abundance," cac.org, May 24, 2017. https://cac.org/worldview-of-abundance-2017-05-24/
Image: "Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return to the land of Moab" by William Blake. commons.wikimedia.org.
[2] Richard Rohr, "Worldview of Abundance," cac.org, May 24, 2017. https://cac.org/worldview-of-abundance-2017-05-24/
Image: "Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return to the land of Moab" by William Blake. commons.wikimedia.org.
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