Redeemer laws applied only to brothers from the same household, but the practice of redeeming widows of extended family members was clearly in place and considered honorable (an idea that gets reinforced in chapter 4). But despite Naomi’s declaration that Boaz was one of their redeemers, it’s important to keep in mind that Boaz didn’t legally have to redeem Ruth. In her mind, he owed this marriage to Elimelech, to Elimelech’s dead sons, to Ruth, and to Naomi, herself. The way Naomi saw it, Boaz owed his dead male cousins a marriage and an heir. This was not an issue of life or death for our two women, but it was most definitely an issue of family honor, social standing, and deliverance from their hand-to-mouth level of absolute dependence on the charity of others. It’s a potentially ridiculous and comedic scenario, but marriage for a foreign widow (Ruth) living with an elderly widow (Naomi) without money or property or men of their own was no laughing matter. How many scenes like this have we seen play out in movies or novels? Older women with nothing else to do have a stereotypical habit of trying to marry off the young women in their sphere. I sort of grinned during this part of the story. In short, Naomi teaches Ruth how to propose to Boaz in a way that would obligate his duty and honor without publicly humiliating him or absolutely forcing his hand. She gives Ruth a very specific set of instructions for approaching Boaz, and these instructions were designed to tell him in very certain and unmistakeable terms that Ruth wanted to marry him. Not willing to wait and see if Boaz would slowly come around on his own, Naomi encourages Ruth to be bold.

In verse 1, Naomi tells Ruth it’s high time she got a new husband, and Boaz is to be the man. The possibility of restored honor and position pulled her right out of her melancholy and into the role of an excited, albeit somewhat manipulative, matchmaker. Ruth has been working in Boaz’ fields, and his extraordinary kindness to her gave rise to Naomi’s matriarchal instincts. Now that Naomi has really experienced her daughter-in-law’s loyalty and been reminded of the kindness and justice among her own people, her bitterness seems to be thawing a little. They’re very short chapters, and the context is pretty important. If you haven’t read chapters 1 & 2, go do that so you can catch up. It is marvelous.Ĭhapter 3 of the book of Ruth dives right into the point. If you know the painter (or ARE the painter), please contact me so I can properly attribute this work. It’s beautiful, is it not? The artist’s name, based on what I can make of the signature, is C. I tried so hard to find the original source for this painting.

Meant To Be Married by Ruth Wind