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You're listening to Tim Bulkeley's
5 minute Bible
Ruth is from Moab but Boaz is from Bethlehem
in recent posts about Ruth we've looked at the use of direct speech
and that the question of whether Ruth arriving at Boaz' field was
blind chance or povidence
in this podcast
i'd like to look a bit closer at how
Ruth and Boaz interact in chapter two
You see, the traditional reading with
a humble and grateful Ruth
who rather mouseily
thanks and admires the great man
doesn't ring true to me somehow
and then i came across a reading by
a Swiss arabist
Crapon di Caprona
the book which he didn't complete because he died
that suggests that we think about the cultures involved
you see as a culture clash between Ruth and Boaz as well as an age gap
Boaz
is a bethlehemite peasant
a rich peasant bu still a peasant farmer and
peasant culture
is rigidly stratified and everyone knows th\ier place
and roles and responsibilities are
clearly defined
and everyone knows their place
Ruth
is from Moab
the moabites were semi-nomads
semi-nomadic society is very different
there's far less clear division of labor and roles
and responsibility are often
confused or changing
and hierarchies are much less rigid
So, now take Ruth
the moabite semi-nomad and place her in
provincial Bethlehem
put her in the field with Boaz, a local notable,
and see how the two of them interact
this
is where it starts to get interesting
Boaz, the notable peasant fuddy-duddy
and who want to know why I characterize him that way see my previous post
says to Ruth
"Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field, or leave this one
but keep close to my young women
keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them,
I've ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and
drink what the young men have drawn."
then, verse ten, "She fell prostrate with her face to the ground
and said to him: 'Why have I found favoring your sight that you should take
notice of me when I am a foreigner.'"
Now, how do you read that?
You see already I read it
with a somewhat stroppy and abrasive Ruth
but the traditional reading
has Ruth the ever so humble
she falls prostrate with her face to the ground and says to him
"Why have I found favor in your sight
that you should take notice of me when I am a foreigner..."
Hmm... the text goes on
Verse eleven Boaz answers her
"All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your
husband has been fully told me
and how you left your father and mother and your native land
and came to a people that you did not know before
may the Lord reward you for your deeds and may you have a full reward from
the Lord, the God of Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge!"
Ruth replies in verse thirteen
"May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me
and spoken kindly to your servant
even though I am not one of your servants."
Here, how do you read? I've read it as Ruth being slightly stroppy
I'm not actually one of your servants, I'm not part of your household. I'm not a dependant.
but is she saying that, or is she saying
I am not even worthy to be your servant
rather like the Prodigal Son in Jesus' parable
How did you read Ruth?
is
Crapon di Caprona right
in his reading
of semi-nomadic and somewhat feisty Ruth?
Or, is most european tradition right
to read Ruth as the ever so humble?
That's the fun of biblical narrative I don't know :)
and neither do you but we both have our opinions
*** your opinion out, try it both ways and see which reading convinces you the most
especially when you try to imagine
the social and cultural
overtones and background of the story
You see,
reading carefully really does enrich our understanding of biblical narrative
Till next time then
God bless!