Ruth

Ruth

from Praying with the Women of the 

Bible

by Bridget Mary Meehan

The Book of Ruth tells the story of the relationship

between two women from their own perspective. It is the only biblical text where the Hebrew word hesed, or “steadfast love,” is used to define the relationship between two women. It is the story of female bonding between a daughter-in-law, Ruth, and her mother-





in-law, Naomi. Naomi and her husband Elimelech and their two sons Mahlon and Chilon moved from their Israelite home in Bethlehem to Moab because of famine. Elimelech died, and the sons married Moabite women. Mahlon married Ruth and Chilon married Orpah. After ten years, the sons died, leaving their wives childless. Ruth decided to return to Israel with Naomi. In the first chapter of the book, Ruth expresses her profound commitment to stay with Naomi in one of the most beautiful passages in the scriptures: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ru 1:16). After returning to Bethlehem, Ruth met Boaz, a relative of Naomi in whose fields Ruth worked in order to support her mother-in-law and herself. Boaz expressed admiration for Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi. (Ru

2) The remainder of the Book of Ruth describes Naomi’s plan for Ruth to marry Boaz, Ruth’s encounter with Boaz on the threshing room floor, the preparations that Boaz makes for the marriage, the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, and the birth of their son, Obed, who would become the grandfather of King David (Ru 3 and 4).

The Book of Ruth expresses the journey of Ruth and Naomi through loss, grief, and death to new life. Ruth and Naomi are two grieving widows who have come together because of their shared loss. In reading Ruth, Patricia Karlin-Neuman observes that



[T]he God Naomi repeatedly names as the source of her desolation and bitterness is the God Ruth is prepared to embrace. Although she too is a mourner, Ruth is able to turn to Naomi’s God. The feminist theologian Rachel Adler once commented that the power of the mourner standing up to say Kiddish Yatom, the prayer of the mourner in the midst of a community at prayer, is that the very person who has the right to be the angriest at God is the one uttering God’s praises. And by so doing the mourner affirms the praise of God for others in the community. Ruth by declaring “your God, my God” makes God, once again, “Naomi’s God.”1



Ruth’s vow is unique in the Bible. There is no other example of a commitment like Ruth’s promise to Naomi. Her vow is made outside family, ethnic, and cultural ties. Ruth dedicates herself to Naomi because she loves Naomi. According to rabbinic teaching, Ruth’s loving friendship with Naomi was rewarded with great blessings: “How great is the reward that accrues to those who perform kindly deeds” (Midrash Rabbah, Ru 11, 14). Mary Zimmer reflects on the close relationship between Ruth and Naomi:



Her vow is not simple loyalty to a woman who has come to mean a great deal to her. Ruth’s pledge is a commitment to another woman against and in the face of all the social structure and custom that most likely will condemn her to poverty as a foreign woman in a strange land.2

Biblical scholars Fewell and Gunn comment on the relationship from Naomi’s and Boaz’s perspective:



Perhaps she (Ruth) was recognized by Naomi as the real redeemer in this story…. Perhaps the gate of Boaz’s people did come to consider her a woman of worth—like the woman of worth in Proverbs 31, a woman subservient and thus valuable to the patriarchy. Perhaps, they only thought of her as Obed’s surrogate mother. Or perhaps, just perhaps, a few saw her as a woman of great strength and determination, a





redeemer in her own right, deserving of her own story, a woman worth more than seven sons of Israel.3



The Book of Ruth reveals a glimpse into the solid foundation upon which female friendship is built. Ruth is the kind of friend with whom every woman can relate. As Renita Weems so insightfully observes:



The story of Ruth and Naomi is about two women who saw each through a lot, two women who walked each other through the good times and the bad: marriage, the death of husbands and children, relocation to strange lands, poverty, courtship, remarriage and births…. Each woman, in her own way and at her own pace, reached out to the other, nurturing when called upon, mothering when necessary, sistering when needed. They eventually found the healing power of God in each other’s love and forbearance.4



According to scholars, The Book of Ruth is also a subversive story. Ruth is from Moab, one of Israel’s most despised enemies. After their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites encamped on the plains of Moab. The Book of Numbers tells the story of the men of Israel having sexual relations with the women of Moab and worshiping their gods (Nm 25:1–5). From that time on, Moabites were forbidden from ever becoming part of the Israelite community (Dt 23:2–6).

Hence, for Ruth, a Moabite woman, to be the hero of the story and the law of levirate applied to her, which permitted an Israelite widow without heirs to marry her deceased husband’s brother to produce an heir, was indeed outrageous. This law was intended to preserve Israelite families and property. In this biblical story, the leaders of Israel who wanted to exclude foreigners from the communities were being criticized. In contrast, Ruth, a despised foreigner, acts as faithful Israelite.5

Andre La Cocque compares the subversive way that Ruth and Tamar provide offspring for Israelite families from whom they have been severed: “Ruth is a second Tamar—foreign, childless, widowed, transplanted with the people of Israel, who like her model, goes to considerable lengths, indeed to prostituting herself, to obtain justice: the levirate marriage to which she is entitled. But Ruth is respected by the counterpart of Judah; she does not have to go through the shame of public denunciation and condemnation.”6

In her reflection on Wisdom, the feminine personification of God in the Hebrew scriptures, Claudia Camp considers Ruth and Tamar “examples of the aggressive use of female sexuality in public places, which can meet with approval—indeed even canonical approval when done in the interest of preserving a valued and life-serving social order.”7

Mieke Bal analyzes the story of Ruth from another perspective. She views Boaz as a wealthy, childless widower who fears old age and Ruth as a beautiful, young woman who transforms his life. Examining the seduction scene in Ruth 3:6–16, Bal concludes: “Ruth’s approach is a stroke of luck that he (Boaz) would not have dared to hope for and, indeed, he is most grateful to her for she will help him out of his misery…. While Boaz gave what he possessed, Ruth gives what she is.”8

Observing that Boaz’s prayer for Ruth was answered by his marriage to her and in the birth of Obed, Murray D. Gow reflects on the blessing of the elders in Ruth 4 as a reflection of the divine will: “The prayer of the elders for Ruth’s fertility is explicitly shown to have been





answered by Yahweh’s gift of conception to Ruth. The hints of a glorious future, contained in the blessings of the elders and the prayers of the women at the birth of the child, are all seen to be fulfilled in David.”9

Ruth is a heroine for all women. Marginalized women in our society can discover in her story a source for empowerment. Women have in the past—and will continue—to find strength and deep love in their relationships with one another. As a model of hesed, faithful love, Ruth reminds us that there are no limits, no conditions, no end to love’s power to give, forgive, and endure. She challenges us to embrace the growth opportunities that we encounter in our relationships with cherished companions every day of our lives. The journey of Ruth and Naomi through marriage, exile, poverty, loss of spouse and children to new life remind us to be there for one another and give of ourselves without counting the cost. When we walk hand in hand, and work side by side, amazing grace moves through us. Like Ruth, perhaps we too will promise another the ultimate gift of a God-sharing spirit— unconditional love: “Where you go, I will go and we will be together forever in our God.”







Reflection



“But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May God deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with me….’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud…. Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

“So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,



‘Do not press me to leave you

or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go;

Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die—

there will I be buried’” (Ru 1:8,9,14–17).







Discussion Starters



1. Ruth, a foreigner, is the “heroine” of the Book of Ruth. As a Moabite woman, she was the most controversial character that could be chosen to help an Israelite. Who are the marginalized women in our society and what impact do they have on our culture?

2. Ruth makes her vow to Naomi out of hesed, faithful love. She decides to follow Naomi’s God because of her relationship with her mother-in-law. How is the relationship between Ruth and Naomi like—and/or different from—relationships between daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, wives and husbands, parent and children, friend and friend today?

3. How do our relationships with our close friends and family members affect our spirituality? How does our spirituality affect our relationships with close friends and family




members?

4. What challenges and growth opportunities do you encounter in your relationships with cherished companions?







Prayer Experience



1. Take time to be still and relax. As you inhale, breathe in the saving power of God. As you breathe out, breathe out anything that keeps you from experiencing God’s love for you.

2. Become aware of God above and beyond all names and images embracing you…. Use one or more of the following metaphors for the Holy One to help you focus on God’s closeness to you…Mother, Father, Shaddai, Allah, Shekinah, Elohim.

3. Read the reflection from the Book of Ruth…. Be conscious of Ruth’s courage and commitment….

Ruth, willingly, risked her future and let go of her past by leaving her native land and accompanying Naomi to a foreign land…. Be aware of a time that you took risk in a relationship with someone…made a commitment of faithful love to another person… ventured into the unknown…. Realize the love that you experienced as holy…. As each thought, feeling, image, or insight emerges, repeat, “holy is the love I experienced.”…

4. Offer thanks for the ways you have grown as a result of this close relationship. Pray spontaneously, or make a litany of praise—statements such as “I praise you God for finding strength to go on during days we had problems….” Forgive yourself and the other person for past failures. Create a forgiveness litany such as “I forgive myself for________(name failure) when________(name situation) happened.”… “I forgive (name person) for_ (name failure).”… Celebrate your love for this person in some concrete way. Perhaps you may want to express your love for the other person in art, poetry, song, dance, or in a journal….

5. Ask God to reveal to you any challenges or invitations for growth that you may have in your close relationship now. Decide on one step you will take to bring new life, healing, and joy to this relationship now.

6. Name, affirm, and offer thanks for the marginalized women in our society who take risks and contribute much to our culture. One way to do this is to pray with your newspaper. Make a list of the women you read about, place them on your refrigerator door, and pray for them for a day, a week, or a month every time you open the door to take out or put food away. A simple prayer is all that is needed, such as “Dear God, this is your daughter, lift her up today.” Be aware of any way(s) you can help marginalized women in your community, neighborhood, or church.



7. The story of Ruth is the story of one woman’s commitment to another. If you are a woman, be aware of ways that you can celebrate your sisterhood with women you love. Invite a friend (or friends) to lunch and tell her how much you appreciate her. This may turn into a regular “sister circle” of mutual support. If you are a man, be aware of ways you can share yourself with women you love. Send a basket of fruit or flowers with a personalized message of affection.