Biblical Theology VIII: Ruth

Theology: The Book of Ruth is a literary work that is designed to teach a singular concept, namely, the concept of חֶ֣סֶד ḥesed. This word is usually translated in English texts as “kindness” (KJV, NIV, etc.), “lovingkindness” (NASB), “steadfast love” (ESV), “faithful love” (NJB). None of the translations quite capture the concept. The idea, instead, is conveyed well through the literary development of the story, which begins with Naomi’s family, which includes a couple of Moabites. Naomi loses her husband and two sons. She then makes the statement to her two daughter-in-laws, “May YHWH do ḥesed to you both just as you have done with the dead” (1:8), as she tells them to return home. Ruth, of course, stays with her and swears an oath to take care of her and to worship the God she worships (Chapter 1). 

She then meets Boaz, in Chapter 2, who tells her that she can pick whatever wheat she needs from his field without needing to go from field to field. He tells her that she is free to also drink the water of his workers whenever she is thirsty. He even lets her have her fill of the food at lunch and instructs his workers to give to her even from the sheaves they have harvested, and that they are not to touch her, giving her protection. When Naomi hears of it, she exclaims, “May YHWH bless him! He has not stopped showing his ḥesed to the living and the dead” (2:20).

In Chapter 3, Ruth offers herself to Boaz instead of seeking a younger man as her kinsman redeemer. Boaz replies to her,  “The Lord bless you, my daughter. “Your ḥesed is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor” (v. 10). Boaz agrees to redeem her if the man next in line to redeem will not do it. He then sends her away with a shawl full of barley.

Finally, in Chapter 4, Boaz marries Ruth and YHWH gives to her a son. At the beginning of the story, Naomi, whose name means “bitter,” views herself as cursed by God and declares, “It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!” (1:13). However, in the end, the young women of the community proclaim, ““Praise be to the YHWH, who this day has not left you without a kinsmen-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!  He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth” (4:14-15) and “Naomi has a son!” (v. 16). The son, of course, is the grandfather of David, and through Naomi, God will eventually bring His Messianic King, Jesus Christ into the world to redeem all who are united to Him.

In each instance, the individuals involved go beyond what is required of them to do. The daughters don’t have to stay with Naomi as long as they do. Ruth does not have to stay and take care of her even after that. She does not have to glean in the fields for her. Boaz is only required to let the poor and resident foreigners glean in his field. He does not have to give to her so much of his food and let her pick her fill, eat with them, give her the drink of his workers, or protect her from the workers. She does not have to offer herself to him as an older man. He does not have to redeem her, as there is another in front of him. In all of this, the narrative is meant to convey the idea that YHWH, who is the one who has really done all of this ḥesed is not required by the covenant to do it; but because of His great love and mercy toward His people, He does it. The book is also meant to teach that even when one thinks that he or she has been cursed because of his or her circumstances in life, that God may be using it instead as a great act of ḥesed toward the individual and toward God’s people. What looks like a cursed life may, in fact, be a blessing that God is working out toward the individual and His people. Through Naomi, God ultimately saves both Naomi and all of His people by bringing the king needed to unify Israel under the law (as the Book of Judges argued), and the Savior, the ultimate Kinsmen Redeemer, into the world. The genealogy at the end is meant to convey the idea that every birth among God’s people is an act of ḥesed by which he has blessed and not forsaken them. And all of this through a Gentile He does not have to include in His work.

Ethics: Every main character in the book displays God’s ḥesed in their actions toward one another. As such, the people of God, who represent Him, should also go above and beyond what is required by God in the Bible in their loving and caring acts toward one another.