vs 1
After an indeterminate period of time. I am getting more and more convinced by this little seed of doubt that Andrew Sloane sowed about Naomi being in a godly state of mourning. Here she is wanting to make sure Naomi gets a "home" - that is, a husband really.
vs 2
This sounds like some sort of scheme is being hatched. [edit] It also should be noted that, although the hebrew is full of interrogatives, there are no questions marks here early in the TNIV. The NIV still has them. Does that matter? They were really rhetorical questions anyway.
vs 3
It is a scheme! Perfume and best clothes - those are seduction tools!
Now, whether winnowing barley was party night every night, or whether this was a specific night, who knows. I'm tempted to wonder if this isn't the last night of harvest or something, considering the last verse of chapter 2.
vs 4
I think sometimes we can picture Ruth as a young, virginal maiden who is being told to go and do this quite bizzare thing (I mean, uncover the feet?) and who perhaps doesn't realise the full extent of her situation. That's baloney. She was married for 10 years. She's not an old woman, but she's no spring chicken either. She's been around.
Also, she wants to get married. All women in this era did. Anyone who argues with me on this is being fenickity, and on your own head be it.
vs 5-6
Thank God for whoever wrote Ruth, and that it wasn't Moses. They didn't feel the need to repeat themselves.
vs 7
Very weird custom.
Now, you really have to ask why the men decide that sleeping at the threshing floor is such a better place than going home. Is it just a typical drunken thing where you just sleep where you find yourself? Were they all young men and so didn't have wives to go home to anyway? Is it because travelling at night can be quite dangerous when light is a burning piece of wood?
[edit] The accepted thing is apparently that he was guarding the grain harvest. And it doesn't say that all the men were with him. I read that into there. Interesting.
The second one is interesting, because if that is so, then it would mean that Boaz - although possibly an older man - may not be married. Perhaps he is widowed or something else happened to him.
What would be more interesting would be if he were married, but Naomi is trying to set Ruth up with him anyway. It's certainly not out of the question.
vs 8
Now that's worthy of an exclamation mark! [edit] and I translated one there too!
Note that Ruth didn't startle him or wake him. She just curled up at his feet like an obedient puppy.
vs 9
Don't think of the "Who are you?" as Boaz wondering what woman this is today. Think of it more as no natural light can't recognise woman.
Ruth's invitation is - as far as I read it - an invitation to marriage. How many marriage proposals are there in the Bible? I would say this is the only one - and it's done by a woman. So there you go. [edit] Andrew Sloane believes something saucier is going on here, and that our inability to accept that is our inability to accept the culture at the time. He makes a very convincing argument.
What is Boaz' reaction? Find out tomorrow!
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2 comments:
"fenickity"? Might I suggest "pernickety" ("persnickety" if you're British apparently)?
Of perhaps more importance is I remember once hearing that lying on your threshing floor was a security thing - you're entire harvest is lying there and highly vulnerable to theft. On the other hand, you'd have to do it every night, theoretically, and surely Boaz is rich enough to hire guards - unless trustworthy people weren't available to hire for that purpose. Certainly possible, considering the time we're in. He's a rich guy, he's got a lot of investment bound up in this harvest. You'd want to protect it.
On yet another hand, the man is clearly drunk. Would "legless" be too strong a term? How much good is he going to do as a guard if he doesn't even notice a woman uncover his feet and lie down at them? Maybe that doesn't matter - the fact that he's there acts as a deterrent, and might inspire more alertness in his own men, a few of whom I assume are around.
Not putting any of these forward as the ultimate explanation, but just ideas I've heard here and there.
A more specific idea, one pointed out by my lecturer yesterday, is that if Naomi has misjudged Boaz's character, she has risked Ruth's life. Just read Judges 19 again. This is around this time.
I've changed my mind. We've been looking at this, and Boaz isn't drunk. He's buzzed, sure, but not drunk. It's not consistent with his character and actions so far or later in the book; certainly not legless.
On the other hand, maybe that was the point of uncovering his feet - to indirectly make him wake up, as well as to set up and communicate the request to extend his covering to include Ruth.
Probably not totally important in the big scheme of things, but I didn't want my defamatory statement to stand. tzkgcfcr!
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