RUTH AND NAOMI

RUTH AND NAOMI have long enjoyed favored status in Jewish and Christian tradition. Ruth is often portrayed as a paragon of virtue and a model for religious conversion. However, feminist scholars have tended to replace idyllic interpretations with more complex understandings of the scriptural narrative that bears Ruth's name.

The Book of Ruth

Ruth, one of two Hebrew Bible books titled after women, is a beautifully crafted tale consisting of eighty-five verses divided into four chapters. More than half the verses feature dialogue among main characters. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz are leading figures in Ruth. Orpah and an unnamed relative/redeemer play key roles near the beginning and end. Bethlehem's women and (male) elders also figure importantly in the story. The narrative is framed by the death of three men and the birth of one child. The basic plot is as follows:

In chapter 1, Elimelech and Naomi, with sons Mahlon and Chilion, journey from famine-stricken Bethlehem (meaning "house of food") to Moab for survival. After Elimelech's unexplained death, the two sons marry Orpah and Ruth (both Moabite). Ten years pass. Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving the three women alone. Naomi begins a journey back to Bethlehem and instructs her daughters-in-law to return to their mothers' houses. Orpah departs with a kiss, but Ruth clings to Naomi with a pledge. The two arrive in Bethlehem at harvest. Naomi publicly laments her emptiness.

In chapter 2, at her own initiative, Ruth obtains food and protection by gleaning in the fields of Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. Boaz, an upstanding citizen, is generous with the women, and Naomi blesses him in her words to Ruth.

In chapter 3, Ruth seeks out a satiated, sleeping Boaz on the threshing floor one night. Adapting Naomi's scheme, Ruth uncovers his "legs" and lies beside him. When Boaz awakes, Ruth asks him to claim her and to act as redeemer of Naomi and Elimelech's land. Boaz praises Ruth's character and agrees to her requests, but acknowledges the existence of a closer relative/redeemer. Ruth returns secretly with food to Naomi.

In chapter 4, Boaz publicly approaches the closer relative and manipulates him into waiving his right of redemption. Boaz receives a blessing from the elders and claims Ruth as his wife. Together, they produce an heir to Elimelech's estate. Neighbor women bless the Lord, praise the boy's mother, and ascribe him to Naomi. They name the child Obed, the future grandfather of King David.

The Book of Ruth concludes with a genealogy that may be read either as integral to the story or as an external addition. The genealogy makes Ruth an ancestress of David and, therefore, of a Davidic messiah. The Christian Gospel of Matthew includes Ruth in a genealogy of Jesus (Mt. 1:5).

Origins and Implications

Some scholars have concluded from the Obed genealogy that the Book of Ruth was written to foster support for the Davidic dynasty. Others have emphasized Ruth's Moabite heritage (reiterated frequently in the text) and have suggested Ruth was written in opposition to Ezra's and Nehemiah's post-exilic policy forbidding marriage to outsiders. Both claims are speculative.

The story itself, based on a folk-tale model, offers sparse evidence about historical matters such as date and circumstance of origin. This tale (or separate Ruth and Naomi traditions) may have circulated orally before becoming written text. The most scholars have said with certainty is that the Book of Ruth achieved its final form no earlier than the time of David. Name etymologies attributed to the characters in Ruth are historically suspect at best. Ruth also provides little reliable information about actual Israelite practices concerning levirate marriage (which this technically is not), redemption of land, legal procedures, or religious acts.

God is mentioned as the agent of blessing and the source of Naomi's complaint. Many readers understand God to be a silent but active character in the story. The Book of Ruth portrays ordinary people bringing about extraordinary events. The Ruth scroll is read and celebrated annually during the Jewish festival of Shavu'ot (Pentecost).

The authorship of the Book of Ruth is unknown. Some scholars have proposed that, unlike most Hebrew scriptures, this narrative speaks with a "woman's voice." The author could be a woman, a community of women, or a man or men sensitive to and influenced by women's experience. But this is pure speculation and is more relevant to reading and interpreting than to making historical or literary claims.

The pledge of Ruth to Naomi is commonly recited at weddings, even though the original context is not marriage, but two women whose fates are joined by an oath that remains intact even when one of them marries someone else: "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. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" (Ru. 1:16–17). Naomi responds to Ruth with silence, which leads some commentators to suggest that the pledge is more of a threat (or at least an expression of determination) than a promise.

Feminist scholars have pondered the implications of the Book of Ruth. On the one hand, it may be read as a positive story of strong women who work together to obtain security in a man's world. Scholars who have taken this view have compared Ruth to Tamar in Genesis 38. Tamar is also a strong woman who obtains justice and security from her father-in-law (Judah) through extraordinary means. On the other hand, Ruth may be read as a story of assimilation where the title character gains then loses her individual identity. When Naomi arrives in Bethlehem, she speaks to the women of "emptiness," although Ruth, having pledged her presence, presumably stands nearby. Ruth gains an identity (in Naomi's eyes as well as the reader's) while interacting with Boaz. Yet in the end, Ruth's child becomes Naomi's, and neither woman is named in Obed's genealogy, where the child is attributed to Boaz. According to this reading, Ruth the independent Moabite woman is transformed into a servant of patriarchal interests concerning land and lineage.

Some feminist scholars have dismissed Ruth and found in Orpah the better role model. As Naomi's words reveal, both daughters-in-law have shown chesed, meaning "kindness" or "loyalty" (Ru. 1:8). Orpah loves Naomi and honors her by following instructions. In returning to her mother's house, Orpah remains loyal to her own family, her own national identity (Moabite), and her own gods. Whether read traditionally or nontraditionally, the Book of Ruth and its characters are rich with meaning.

Bibliography

Influential commentaries include Jack M. Sasson's Ruth: A New Translation with a Philological Commentary and a Formalist-Folklorist Interpretation (Baltimore, 1979) and Edward F. Campbell Jr.'s Ruth, vol. 7 of the Anchor Bible (Garden City, N.Y., 1975). A commentary that takes feminist critique into account is Katharine Doob Sakenfeld's Ruth, in the Interpretation Series (Louisville, Ky., 1999). Danna Nolan Fewell and David Miller Gunn offer a self-described subversive reading in Compromising Redemption: Relating Characters in the Book of Ruth (Louisville, Ky., 1990). Feminist readings are also available in works edited by Athalya Brenner: A Feminist Companion to Ruth (Sheffield, U.K., 1993) and Ruth and Esther: A Feminist Companion to the Bible, second series (Sheffield, U.K., 1999). Visual images linked to feminist commentary on Ruth are available at http://womensearlyart.net/ruth/.

Susanna W. Southard (2005)