CHAPTER 1
1. Now it came about in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a man from Beyth Lechem [in the tribal lands] of Yehudah went to dwell temporarily in the fields of Moav—he, his wife, and his two sons.
When the judges ruled: essentially an age of warlords, shortly after Yehoshua’s conquest of Kanaan. The Book of Judges details these times when “there was no king in the Land”. Based on Judges 6:3, some date this famine to the time of Gid’on. Beyth Lechem means “House of Bread”, yet it too was now empty. Moav: the land of one of Lot’s sons, meaning “from father” or “away from Father”. It is east of the Dead Sea between Mt. Nevo and the Arnon River canyon. 4:11 tells us that this was Beyth Lechem Efrathah (where the Messiah would also be born, Micha 5:2), and Judges 12 identifies Efrathites with Efrayimites, so the allegorical level of this story refers to the Northern Kingdom, which had left the Land because they had left the covenant. They had plenty, but when King Yarav’am set up alternative worship sites, there was a famine for hearing YHWH’s words. (Amos 8:11) These are the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. (Yirmiyahu 50:6; Mat. 15:24) People often leave their homelands during a famine; this is what brought most Irish immigrants to America. But to leave the Land of Israel is always a “descent” in Hebrew terms. (Compare Gen. 26:1.)
2. And the man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilyon, and they went to the fields of Moav and settled there.
Elimelech means “My Elohim is a king”. (Some took issue with this soon after this--1 Shmuel 8:7.) He represents the House of Yehudah (v. 1). Naomi means “pleasant”. Mahlon (pronounce the “h”) means an invalid, weakling, or sickly one; Kilyon means “pining away, failing, or spent”. They had left Israel; one would expect their grandchildren to be Moavite. So their inheritance was indeed ailing and approaching its end.
3. But Naomi's husband died, and she was left with her two sons,
4. And they took wives for themselves from the women of Moav. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second was Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.
Orpah is from a root meaning stiff-necked or simply the back of the neck—which one only sees if someone is walking away; Ruth means friendship. Watch how the meanings of their names play out. The number ten often symbolizes completeness; here it indeed represents the filling up of the “times of the Gentiles”.
5. Then both of them (Mahlon and Kilyon) also died, so the woman was bereaved of both her two sons as well as her husband.
Tradition says Elimelekh was wealthy and was the only one who had much bread left, but refused to stay and share what they did have, but opted rather to take what they had elsewhere. In so doing, they extended the famine, and YHWH killed them because of their selfishness. Naomi’s statement in verse 21 that she went out full seems to support this. Naomi was now a true widow, having no one to care for her. She was alone in the world, so, like the prodigal son, remembered that when the world failed her and its resources dried up, she had a home to go back to. Those from Israel who went after foreign ways perished. YHWH says only a remnant would return—yet a remnant would!
6. So she got up and, along with her daughters-in-law, returned from the fields of Moav, because she had heard while in the fields of Moav that YHWH had visited His people in order to give them bread.
Ruth herself had never literally been in Yehudah before, but is now turning away from the “fields” (which symbolize the world, Matt. 13:38) and rejecting Moav (being away from the Father). Tradition even says Ruth came from the royal family of Moav, which might have descended from Yehudah’s son Shelah (1 Chron. 4:21-22), so she may have indeed been returning to her own ancestral land. Visited His people: This means some had remained in the Land to wait out the famine.
7. So she left the place where she had been staying along with her two daughters-in-law, and they set out on their way to return to the land of Yehudah.
8. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Each of you go back to the house of her mother. May YHWH deal kindly with you, as you have done with the deceased men and with me.
House of her mother: This suggests that the Moavites had a matriarchal society, which would not be surprising since it was not even the will of their male ancestor that they be begotten, but that of his daughter. Naomi may not have expected to receive a warm welcome because her family had fled the famine, while others had stayed in Beyth Lekhem to ride it out. After ten years, she had no possessions, and was completely at the mercy of those who had stayed. She could hardly demand that anyone marry her son’s foreign widow. She had little power in a patriarchal society, and could not buy her way back into anything.
9. "May YHWH grant that you find comfort, each in the household of her husband." And she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept.
Her husband: i.e., a new husband.
10. But they replied to her, "No! We'll go back with you to your people!"
11. But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters! Do I still have more sons inside of me who can be your husbands?
12. "Turn back, my daughters! Go, because I am too old to get married again, and even if I thought there was still hope for me, and even if I should be given to a husband tonight, and could still bear sons,
13. "would you wait for them to grow up? Would you really shut yourselves off from belonging to a husband and reserve yourselves until then? No, my daughters, because it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of YHWH has come out against me."
Than for you: they still had prospects for marriage. The Aggadah even says Ruth was the daughter of Eglon, King of Moav, and could have her choice of a husband, thus adding to the weight of her response.
14. Then they raised their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law in [parting] greeting, but Ruth clung to her tightly.
15. And Naomi said, "See, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people and to her gods; follow your sister-in-law's example and return, too!"
16. But Ruth said, "Don't press me to leave you, to turn back from following you, for wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people are now my people, and your Elohim is my Elohim.
She does not even specify that it is YHWH she wants to serve; the connection to Naomi is her point. Is she converting or returning? For us there is no difference; we must convert—not to Judaism as it is today, but to being Israelites—in order to be who we are supposed to be. This requires us to get in touch with our heritage.
17. "Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. My YHWH do thus to me, and more so, if anything but death separate you from me."
She truly did want to go to the “household of her husband” (v. 9). Not even her bones would be returned to the land of her birth—the opposite of what Yaaqov and Yoseyf asked for themselves (Gen. 49:29; 50:25), because, though exiled, they identified with the Land of their inheritance. Ruth forsook hers for something more valuable.
18. When she saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
19. And both of them kept traveling until they reached Beyth Lechem. And when they arrived in Beyth Lechem, the whole city was in an uproar because of them. They said, "Is this Naomi?"
She must have dramatically changed in appearance from what they remembered.
20. But she told them, "Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
Naomi means pleasant, but Mara means bitter. I.e., “I’m back, but please don’t expect anything from me, because there is nothing left of me.”
21. "I left here full, but YHWH has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since YHWH has brought me low, and the Almighty has brought calamity on me?"
The Jews returned bitterly weakened right after the Holocaust which decimated them. Many forgot that this was the Holy Land, seeking only a safe haven where they could live in peace.
22. Thus it was that Naomi returned along with her daughter-in-law Ruth, the woman from Moav, who turned away from the fields of Moav. Now the time when they arrived in Beyth-Lechem was at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Wheat can be mistaken for tares or darnel (Mat. 13:25ff), but barley is unmistakable crop. It thus corresponds with the altar that is built prior to the rest of the Temple, and of uncut stones—those not shaped by human standards, but only by a river, i.e., the water of the Word. Barley is the first crop in Israel, and thus corresponds to Efrayim, whom YHWH calls His firstborn (the same word as firstfruits in Hebrew). The barley harvest is just after Passover, in the spring, the time grafting (Romans 11:17ff) is most successful. Passover is the time when more supposed Gentiles (who turn out to be really Efrayim) take an interest in YHWH’s festivals than any other time, so it is a season of ripeness. This is the first of two feasts of Firstfruits, the second of which we will encounter later in this story. Y’shua was resurrected on the first day of the Barley Harvest (1 Cor. 15:23), and indeed people began returning to YHWH from among the Gentiles right away. (Acts 3:26) But “among the Gentiles” is exactly where YHWH had scattered Efrayim. (Hos. 8:8)
CHAPTER 2
1. But Naomi did have a relative through marriage, a wealthy man from the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
Boaz means “swiftness of movement”. Matithyahu 1:5 identifies him as the son or descendant of Rahav, the prostitute from Yerikho who also joined the people of Israel during Yehoshua’s conquest. He was wealthy or mighty because his grandfather Nakhshon (4:18) was a “prince of the tribe of Yehudah” while they were still in the wilderness. (Numbers 2:3)
2. Now Ruth of Moav said to Naomi, "Please let me go out to the countryside and glean among the grainfields after whomever will look on me with favor." And she told her, "Go ahead, my daughter."
The immediate task at hand was the harvest—getting in touch with the fruit of this Land. Though poor, she was not lazy. She diligently made use of a privilege Elohim had granted to the poor in His command that harvesters should leave the corners of their fields unharvested for the needy to gather and leave what dropped for the poor to glean (Lev. 19:9, 10). The more one left for the poor, the more generous he was considered to be, and the more respected. (This corresponds with a Gentile's grasping the corners of a Jew's garment, Zkh. 8:23; Matt. 9:21.) As soon as she came to the Elohim of Israel, she began to receive provision and protection from His Torah (instruction). Ruth was both a stranger and a widow. YHWH offers special protection to both, partly out of jealousy for the Land that the ten spies said would devour its inhabitants. On the contrary, He shows that this Land is generous even to foreigners.
3. So she went out and came into the field, and gleaned behind the reapers. And she "just happened” at random to come upon the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from Elimelech's family.
The rabbis say, “Coincidence is not a kosher word!”
4. And, lo and behold, Boaz came from Beyth-Lechem and greeted his workers: "YHWH be with you!" And they answered him, "YHWH bless you!"
In that age, YHWH’s name was used for everyday greetings. Though wealthy, he was not haughty, and indeed his wealth seems to have come from the fact that he knew what to do with wealth--seek the welfare of his people. He can handle being wealthy, unlike many who become wealthy by hoarding.
5. "But", said Boaz to the young servant he had appointed to oversee the reapers, "to whom does this young woman belong?"
Every woman was expected to be under someone’s covering for safety as well as to have a place in society.
6. And the young man who had been appointed overseer over the reapers answered, "She is a young woman from Moav who came with Naomi from the fields of Moav.
7. "And she said, 'Please let me glean, and I will gather from the sheaves after the harvesters have finished.' So she came, and has remained since the morning until now, except that she sat down in the house for a little while."
After hearing that she is under his relative Naomi’s care, he knew she was someone he was responsible for.
8. So Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter, don't go to another field to glean, do you hear? Don't leave [the protective boundaries of] this field, but stay close to my servant-girls.
She, being a foreigner, might be in a precarious position in some fields. (Recall the story of Dinah in Gen. 34.)
9. "Keep your eyes on which field they reap, and follow along behind them. Don't you understand that I've commanded the young men not to harass you? When you get thirsty, just go to the containers [holding the water] that the young men will draw, and drink from them!"
Though she had none of the responsibilities of the employees, she was given all the same privileges they had. “The sons of the Kingdom (Efrayim) are free.” (Matt. 17:26; 20:1-16) Ephesians 2:11-19 explains this story. Yeshayahu/Isaiah 55:1 opens this invitation for those who cannot pay to drink freely. (Compare Yochanan/John 7:37) Harass: At a time when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”, female foreigners probably suffered from catcalls and worse; she would be in danger were he not to have given this special order.
10. Ruth fell on her face and bowed down to the ground, and asked him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should notice me, when I am a foreigner?"
A foreigner: or is she? He is very business-like, but she asks an emotion-based question, essentially saying, “Why do you like me?”
11. And Boaz answered her, "I have been told about everything that you have done with your mother-in-law since your husband's death—how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to live among a people of whom you had no previous knowledge.
Naomi had apparently raved about Ruth, and apparently compared her to Avraham himself, who was known for leaving his homeland and family to go to a place he knew nothing about, and she was not even asked to do so. This reassured him that the spirit of Avraham was still alive, and it revived him as well.
12. "May YHWH reward you for your deeds, and may your wages be paid [completely, in peace] by YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, under whose wings you have come to find refuge!"
What stood out to him was that she had chosen to be part of Israel and no longer be part of her former family. Find refuge: compare 3:9; Psalm 91; Mal. 4:2; Mat. 9:21.
13. And she said, "Let me find favor in your eyes, my master, because you have brought me consolation, and because you have spoken to the heart of your maidservant—though I am certainly not to be compared to one of your maidservants!"
14. But Boaz said to her, "Come here at mealtimes, and you can eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar." So she sat at the side of the reapers, and he [reached over and] served her roasted grain, and she ate it, and was satisfied, and had some left over.
Dip your morsel: A symbol of friendship (Rev. 3:20)--the meaning of Ruth's name. Because she was family, she got to dip from a common cup, unlike the rest of the reapers. This privilege was also given to Yehudah/Judas as Y’shua’s “friend” (Mark 14:20). She was being welcomed as a guest, and given far more than the basic sustenance required to be provided to widows. Roasted: or parched; Heb., qali, related in Ruth Rabbah to qalil (slight), since though it was only a little, she had some left over. (Since David’s kingdom will be restored, cf. 2 Shmu’el 18) Notice the parallels to the feeding of the 5,000 with barley loaves, and the allusion in the harvest to the inclusion of some Gentiles in the restoration of the estranged House of Israel (Gen. 48:16; Mat. 14:20; Yochanan/John 6:4-11). Roasted grain is ready to be ground into flour, and is even edible as it is, but Boaz even beautified the gift by giving her something to dip it in.
15. Then she rose up to glean. And Boaz instructed his young servants, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, but don't do it in a way that causes her embarrassment;
Glean: compare Y’shua’s order to gather up the leftovers after the children had eaten, and there was enough left for all twelve tribes. (Yochanan 6:12).
16. but rather pull some out from the bundles on purpose, and let it fall so she can glean it, and don't restrain her."
They were to allow her more than the usual “charity” (the crumbs that fell to the dogs, Matt. 15:27), giving her some of the grain from the heart of the field itself. If they made it too obvious, she would be ashamed, so they gave her the dignity of having picked it up herself. Likewise, YHWH is letting us “eleventh hour” hired hands have the dignity of at least working for an hour. (Mat. 20:6ff)
17. So she gleaned in the field until evening, and threshed out what she had gathered, and it came to about an eyfah of barley.
Eyfah: a little over a bushel, according to Josephus—no petty amount! It is the equivalent of ten omers. (Ex. 16:36) An omer is the amount of grain derived from one sheaf. Since an omer of manna was considered enough for one person, she gleaned enough for five days for both of them.
18. And she carried it back into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she took some out and gave her what was left over after she had eaten her fill.
The benefits Messiah brings to the Gentiles brought into fellowship with Elohim spill back over to the House of Israel, whose assimilation with the nations gave those nations the occasion to hear about YHWH in the first place. (cf. Rom. 11:15)
19. And her mother-in-law asked her, "Where have you gleaned today? Wherever you worked, may whomever gave you such consideration be blessed!" So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz."
It was easy for her to see from the amount Ruth gleaned that someone had been extremely generous to her. As it becomes obvious from whom these engrafted Gentiles are receiving their spiritual bounty, the Jews are meant to be provoked to jealousy. (Rom. 11:11; Deut. 32:21), and recognize that Y’shua is indeed their kinsman as well.
20. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by YHWH, Who has not forsaken His lovingkindness to either the living or the dead!" And Naomi told her, "The man is closely related to us; in fact, he is one of those qualified to be our kinsman-redeemer!"
The dead: Her late husband would not be left without an inheritance, and she realized now that if Boaz fulfilled his obligation, he would not be without an heir either. (Matt. 23:39) A kinsman-redeemer was designated by the laws of lineage as one who could purchase land an impoverished relative had lost in order to keep it in the family (Lev. 25:25-26). He would also marry the childless widow of one not survived by a brother, to bring him an heir (Deut. 25:5-6; Num. 27:8-11). The southern kingdom of Yehudah (whose punishment was for a specific failure, Luk. 19:44) has returned to the land of its rightful heritage, but the northern Kingdom, which forfeited any rights by forsaking the covenant, must have their place in YHWH’s economy purchased back. This is the clearest picture of the true nature and job of Y’shua, who said he came for the "lost sheep of the House of Israel", being the only one willing to make her fully a part of Israel. One of those: Others might also have been in a position to do so, but no one else took up the challenge. Y'shua noticed early in life that the Kingdom which he was qualified to lead could not come until the other ten tribes came back; he decided that if no one else would go get them, he would do it himself.
21. And Ruth the Moavitess said, "He also told me, 'Stay close to the servants that are mine until they have finished reaping all of my harvest.'"
Throughout Scripture, harvest symbolizes both redemption and retribution. Y’shua offers asylum until YHWH's wrath has passed. Even now, an arrangement is made whereby we can benefit from association with him while his kingdom is not yet in place. (Matt. 13:30) Most Jews, who sowed, do not recognize the magnitude of the harvest, but most reapers know little about the seed of Torah. (Yochanan 4:37ff.)
22. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, "It would be better for you to go out with his maidservants, so that men will not attack you in another field."
Attack you: She may have been afraid they would rape her and then wish to marry her, closing off Naomi’s last recourse to redemption.
23. So she stayed close to the young women who gleaned for Boaz until the ends of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. But she still resided with her mother-in-law.
The end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest both occur at the Festival of Shavuoth, which foreshadows the ingathering from among all nations--symbolized by leavened bread--between Messiah's first and second comings. It comes after 49 days of counting, paralleling Y’shua’s command to stay in Yerushalayim until this day, when they would be empowered from on high. (Acts 1:4-8) The leaven may represent the mixture of ritually unclean Gentiles with Israel in this harvest of souls from which the hard-to-distinguish tares must be removed (Mat. 9:37) in contrast to the earlier, unleavened harvest. The end of the wheat harvest is not until Sukkoth, at the end of the summer. Did she wait until Sukkoth—through the whole summer? No, for in the next chapter he is still dealing with the barley harvest. The key is that the word “ends” here is the same as “brides” in Hebrew; it is like Yaaqov’s experience: his first bride came at the end of one “harvest” period, but his next came right afterward, at the beginning of his next “harvest”, i.e., where the two overlap—at Shavuoth. Boaz obtains his bride right between the two:
CHAPTER 3
1. Then her mother-in-law Naomi asked her, "My daughter, shall I not indeed look into arranging a settlement for you?
2. "So now, isn't Boaz, with whose young women you have been, our relative? Look here! He is winnowing barley at his threshing floor tonight.
Winnowing barley is easier in the evening when there is more breeze. A threshing floor was often on a hilltop so the wind could more easily separate away the useless chaff from the heavier grain. But he is winnowing (which gently separates the hull first) at the place of threshing. The two steps are intricately connected, and so are done at the same place.
3. "So take a bath and anoint yourself [with perfume], and put your garments on yourself, and go down to the threshing floor. But don't let the man take notice of you until after he has finished eating and drinking.
4. "But when he lies down, be sure that you pay attention to where he lies down, then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. And he will tell you what you are to do."
In the darkness she could not have distinguished him from those who were with him if she had not marked the spot in daylight.
5. And Ruth told her, "Whatever you say, I will do."
This is what Israel said when accepting the Torah at Sinai. Naomi is willing to give the instruction when she senses this readiness in Ruth.
6. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.
Naomi (representing the Jews who know the Torah) knew the procedures, but Ruth “reaped” the benefits by simply obeying, though she had been a foreigner to Israel’s ways.
7. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was cheerful, and he went to lie down at the end of the grain pile. And she sneaked in, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
Feet are symbolic of the Pilgrimage Festivals (Passover/Unleavened Bread, Shavuoth, and Sukkoth), since they are actually called “three feet” or “three paces” in Ex.23:14. So this act parallels the Northern Kingdom coming back and finding rest in the appointed times YHWH had commanded.
8. But in the middle of the night, the man was startled, and he turned over to see what had awakened him, and, lo and behold, there was a woman lying at his feet!
9. And he said, "Who are you?!" And she said, "I am your maidservant Ruth, so spread your skirt over your maidservant, because you are [qualified to be] a kinsman-redeemer."
Spread your skirt over: symbolizing the request that he fulfill his levirate duty (Deut. 25:5-9) by extending his protection to his relatives’ family. (Compare note on 2:12 and Zecharyah 8:23.) The House of Israel are Y’shua’s kinsmen. The covering also bespeaks his authority. But she is also using the skills of her Moavite ancestresses to persuade him, even to the point of sneaking up while he was tipsy. (Gen. 19:31-37; Num. 25:1) The word for “skirt” is the same as the word “wings” in 2:12, so she is essentially saying, “The deliverance of YHWH that you have wished me is to come through you yourself!”
10. So he said, "May you be blessed by YHWH, my daughter! You have dealt more kindly at the latter end than at the beginning, in not going after young men, whether poor or rich.
He is thrilled because she has shown that she is serious about loyalty to the one the redemption comes through. She chose the old man—the ancient Adam, whom Y’shua is reconstructing—over the young (the less-established ideas that came lately), and this brought her YHWH’s added blessing.
11. "So now, my daughter, do not be afraid. All that you have mentioned I will do for you, because all who are in the gate of my people realize that you are a worthy woman.
A worthy woman: eyshet chayil, the same phrase used in Prov. 31:10—a capable woman, a survivor who also helped her mother-in-law stay alive; she had what it takes to get things done. His great-great grandson Shlomoh may have had this particular ancestress of his in mind when he wrote that, for her husband would in fact "be known in the gates", and he would put her in a position to invest in fields and vineyards. He asks, "Who can find one?" Boaz could, and he parallels Y’shua, who found the spark of value in the dirtied Northern Kingdom. Kilyon was a poor representation of Yehudah, much like the “Jesus” that the Northern Kingdom first married. This connection was enough to give her a right to come back to YHWH, but to live in His holy Land, they must turn all the way back to the Torah. Since they have done so, the true Y’shua is offered to them, for they have proven willing to leave their own context to truly follow him into his.
12. "Now indeed it is true that I am one qualified to be a kinsmen-redeemer. However, there is another kinsman who is more closely related than I.
The plot thickens! Another man legally had the first option on fulfilling this role. He wanted to make sure everything was in place before he let his guard down. The sin of our nearer kinsmen stands legally in the way of YHWH's love, but if the elder brother loses his rights, as Esau and Re’uven did, certain relatives can buy them back for him or his descendants (as Moshe did in the latter case).
13. "Stay here tonight, and in the morning it will be like this: if he wants redeem you, fine; he can redeem you. But if he has no wish to do so, then, as surely as YHWH lives, I will redeem you. So lie down until morning."
14. So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could tell who was who. And he said, "Don't let anyone know a woman has come to the threshing floor."
This parallels Yosef waiting for the right moment to reveal his identity to his brothers.
15. But he said, "Bring me the cloak that is spread over you, and hold it out." So she held onto it, and he measured six [measures] of barley into it and set it upon her, and she went into the city.
Six measures: se’irim in Heb., and this is double the amount Avraham told Sarah to make bread from (Gen. 18:6); “two loaves” is the theme of Shavuoth, when this book is traditionally read. Three se’im make one eyfah (a dry measure equal to ten omers, each omer representing a person, Ex. 16:16, and ten of them making a full congregation, based on Gen. 18:32). So this is two complete congregations--both the House of Yehudah and the “fullness of the Gentiles”, the Northern Kingdom as it returns from exile.
16. And she came to her mother-in-law, who then said, "Who are you, my daughter?" And she told her all that the man had done for her.
Who are you? Has she been redeemed yet? Has she yet realized that she too is now Israel?
17. And she added, "He gave me these six [measures] of barley, 'because', he said, 'you should not go back to your mother-in-law with empty hands!'"
Boaz did not say this, according to the text, but Ruth adds it to give her mother-in-law hope, so that she will grasp that she is still part of the family.
18. So she said, "Sit still, my daughter, until you find out how the thing falls out, because the man will not rest today until he has settled the matter!"
Compare Yeshayahu 62:7. Naomi knew he would not rest because he had given her a message through the six measures of barley. The word “measures” is not in the text, though it is implied. Six is one short of perfection—like a down payment on her dowry. After “six”, the Sabbath of rest must come soon, but he has an important job to complete first, so he must act quickly, for no one may harvest on the Sabbath. (Ex. 16:27; Numbers 15) Like Y’shua in Gath Shmaney, he will not sleep until he gets the work done.
CHAPTER 4
1. So Boaz went up to the gate and sat there. And, lo and behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken passed by. So he said, "Most distinguished personage! Step aside for a moment and have a seat here." So he turned aside and sat down.
Most distinguished personage: the King of Tyre, or Heylel (Yeshayahu 14), was once the highest of YHWH’s creations. This title relates to “going to and fro”, which describes haSatan. (Gen. 8:7; Iyov/Job 1:7; 1 Kefa/Peter 5:8) But the root meaning is “forsaken one”, which could mean a divorcee or a widower, so a new wife should seem an attractive offer.
2. Then Boaz gathered ten men from the city and said, "Have a seat here." So they sat down.
Ten men: a minyan, or quorum needed for legal business or public prayer; cf. Gen. 18:32; Yirmiyahu/Jeremiah 15:1; Zech. 8:23.
3. And he said to the near kinsman, "Naomi, who returned from the fields of Moav, wants to sell a parcel of the land which belonged to our brother, Elimelech.
Brother: or simply, relative. Naomi's poverty was severe enough that she needed to sell some of her husband’s inheritance in order to subsist. It was critical that she sell it to someone in the family so she could still be sustained by it. An unnamed contender arrives like an opportunist just at the time Naomi is in dire straits. Present-day Israel is has come to the point of willingness to surrender part of its land for false prospects of peace. Will we, the brother, come to his rescue?
4. "So I thought I should let you hear about it, and ask you, in the presence of the elders of my people, to buy it. If you want to redeem it, do so, but if you do not wish to redeem it, tell me, so that I may know, because there is no one qualified to redeem it except you—and I am next in line after you." And he said, "I want to redeem it!"
I should let you hear about it: as the one having the first right. Everything, even something so clearly blessed by YHWH, must be done according to legal procedure to have the utmost of integrity. So Boaz makes sure he sets it up properly, weighing his words and not saying too much at first:
5. Then Boaz added, "Now in the day when you buy the field, you will have bought from Ruth the Moavitess, the wife of the dead heir, [the responsibility] to raise up the name of the deceased upon his inheritance."
Ruth would have no legal recourse to any inheritance should Naomi die, so she needed a more potent guarantee than mere association. So Boaz providentially uses the threat of calamity for the nearer kinsman to finalize the matter. To redeem the land, he must also raise up a son for a relative, so his name can continue. He puts it in terms designed to discourage the other man—a foreigner! The wife of the dead! What has he gotten himself into? The land cannot be redeemed until the one “away from the Father” is embraced, and the same holds true for the Land of Israel as a whole today. Even in Lev. 25:23ff, where the kinsman-redeemer is first introduced, it seems that a person can only be redeemed as part of a land deal. We are not redeemed so we can remain in exile; that is not Torah.
6. Then the near kinsman said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, because I don't want to jeopardize my own inheritance. You redeem for yourself what it is my right to redeem, because I am not able to redeem it."
“My own inheritance” would have to be divided between his previous children and Ruth's, the first of whom would legally be Mahlon's heir. The land was valuable to him, but he would also need to be responsible for another. So the land he would buy would not benefit his own existing children in any way. It would actually decrease his wealth. Adam could not be our redeemer, as he had his own sin to pay for. The Counterfeit Messiah, though initially appearing benevolent, shows himself to be selfish when put to the test. Therefore, Y’shua, who IS able to pay our debt and has an inheritance to spare, becomes our Bridegroom as well as our Kinsman Redeemer (Ephesians 5:23). Naomi represents Yehudah, which means “praise”. HaSatan is more than willing to have praise for himself again, just as before creation. But this Northern Kingdom was another story: the wife of a dead man, without covenant, corrupted, unclean, it would besmirch his reputation. Yet Yehudah cannot be redeemed alone; all Israel must be bought back by one Redeemer, and Y’shua willingly went after the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel as well as those who had stayed close to the covenant.
7. Now this is what used to be done in Israel in regard to redemption and transactions, to confirm each matter: a man would take off his sandal and give it to his fellow citizen, and this counted as a contract in Israel.
This procedure is based on Deut. 25:5-10, where the response to one unwilling to raise up his brother’s house is to spit in his face. Here the issue is framed more in relation to the Land rather than Levirate justice as such, so the procedure has been adapted somewhat.
8. So the near kinsman told Boaz, "Buy it for yourself", and took off his sandal.
HaSatan and his incarnation the Counterfeit Messiah are the “fowler” of Psalm 91 who tries to snare us. Thus they are like Esau, the hunter, the older brother of Yaaqov (the heel-grabber), who nonetheless obtained what he had first right to, being more worthy of it. By being bruised on His heel, Y’shua crushed haSatan’s head. (Gen. 3:15) The evil inclination affected the way Y’shua had to walk, for death had no right to Him, but He had to deal with our sin, but he eventually took haSatan’s crown because He sued haSatan for His wrongful death. HaSatan had to hand it over, according to the Judge, and now Y’shua has the keys to sin and death which haSatan once had.
9. Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the townspeople, "You are witnesses today that I have bought all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that was Machlon's and Kilyon's, from the hand of Naomi.
"All authority in heaven and earth" was given to Y'shua (Matt. 28:18), who redeemed the cursed earth from Satan, who had gained it by Adam's forfeiture.
10. "Moreover, I have bought Ruth of Moav, the wife of Machlon, for myself as a wife, to raise up a name for the dead man as regards his inheritance. So the name of the dead man shall not be cut off from among his brothers, nor from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today."
Not be cut off: The importance of this particular line being continued is that it guaranteed the advent of the Messianic throne. Since Boaz was even concerned that his relative's name be considered in judgment and his family not cut off, he merited the immense blessing of his own descendant, born right here, ruling every gate in the Land. On a larger scale, once a descendant of Yaaqov is cut off from his inheritance, he cannot reclaim it on his own; only an immediate relative who still has rights can choose to provide a foot back in the door. Since the Northern Kingdom forfeited its rights in the Land by willfully departing from the covenant, they could not reclaim that connection without someone from Yehudah, the tribe that remained generally faithful to the Torah, and He in particular having obeyed it completely, could make it possible for the descendants of the apostates to return. The Renewed Covenant is YHWH’s amazing, roundabout solution to the restoration of the scattered tribes to their original inheritance, and like Ruth, the nations with whom the House of Israel mixed also benefit from this redemption if they choose to take the option of joining themselves to Israel’s Elohim. (Yeshayahu 55:5; Eph. 2:12ff) So Ruth represents the fulfillment of YHWH’s promise to graft all nations into Avraham’s seed. (Gen. 22:18) Gate: the law court, hence his legal rights. Machlon: While his brother had indeed “reached his end” and had no Levirate heir, the “sick one” was made well again.
11. And all the people who were in the gate along with the elders said, "We are witnesses. May YHWH make the woman who is coming into your household like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the House of Israel. May you yourself also do worthily in Efrathah, and make a name for yourself in Beyth Lechem.
“May Elohim make you like Rachel and Leah” is a blessing still conferred on Israelite daughters today as each Sabbath begins. Make a name: The "name above every name" was conferred on Yahshua at Beyth-Lechem, the town of His birth! Efrathah means “fruitfulness”.
12. "And may your household be like the House of Paretz, whom Thamar bore to Yehudah, of the seed which YHWH shall give to you from this young woman."
Like the House of Paretz: a seemingly unflattering blessing, considering the circumstances of Thamar's bearing Paretz (Gen. 38), though she used nearly the identical technique to ensure the continuation of the very line Boaz came from. But, as in the case of Boaz, it was a roundabout means by which YHWH established the continuation of the Messianic line, which had been threatened by Yehudah's failure to allow his son's widow the proper levirate redemption. The "seed" refers not only to the immediate redemption, but also to the descendant of hers who would fulfill the prophecy of the “Seed of the Woman” (Gen. 3:15).
13. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; when he had relations with her, YHWH granted her conception, and she bore a son.
He probably already had other wives, as he was older than she. (3:10) So she therefore represents the “other sheep” Y’shua had “which are not of [Yehudah’s] flock.” (Yochanan 10:16)
14. And the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be YHWH, who has not left you this day without a redeemer! And may his name become well-known in Israel.
15. "May he be to you a restorer of life, and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has borne him, who is better to you than seven sons!"
A restorer of life: a dead man’s lineage was resurrected.
16. So Naomi took the child, and laid him on her lap, and became his nurse.
She sustained this graft into her line, as the fruitfulness of the branch later sustains the olive tree that sustains the branch! Some women, however old, do begin producing milk when a baby is laid on their breast. Notice that the milk (a picture of the Torah) comes from Yehudah, not the Moavites.
17. And the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "This is a descendant born to Naomi!" So they called him Oved. He was the father of Yishai, the father of David.
To Naomi: The redemption was not complete until a son was raised up for Machlon, but it even extended to his father as well, because though Elimelekh did not die childless, his sons did, effectively leaving Elimelekh without an heir as well, so the baby would inherit all of Elimelekh and Naomi’s land, not Boaz’s. Oved: "one who serves". The last words spoken in the book are from women, and this whole book has indeed been generally seen from the perspective of the women. Even the men mention three women in their blessings. This is a pattern in the Torah: the women (Sarah, Rivqah, Rakhel and Leah, and Tamar) are always concerned that the father’s name is carried on through the right son. It was important that this line in particular continue. But while Ruth is loyal, and Naomi rallies at the end, the real hero is Boaz, the redeemer, who moved things around to reach the proper outcome. Yehudah was in a bitter state at the time of Y'shua, but the fruit of Y'shua is servants who make the world better for Yehudah as well. This story is confirmation that Y'shua's legacy has not been lost, though he seemed to have failed in restoring the lost tribes to our inheritance, a process that began the Shavuoth after his death, because after a long and circuitous route, here we are!
18. Now these are the generations of Paretz:
This discourse pattern signals the continuity of the Messianic genealogy, which is reiterated several times throughout Genesis. Herein also lies the key to the strange blessing in v. 12: after Adam's fall, this word "generations" is spelled "defectively", with one letter missing (though pronounced the same way) in every case until this one, where the full spelling is restored. Oved's birth sealed the guarantee that the throne of his grandson David, and thus Messiah's throne, would be established. The missing letter has the numeric value of 6, the number of man. Through this recombining of the Two Houses of Israel, one new man was formed. (Eph. 2:15). And Boaz had given her “six” in 3:17, so this, too, was the missing “vav”.
Paretz fathered Hetzron;
19. Hetzron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadav;
20. Amminadav fathered Nachshon, and Nachshon, Salmon;
21. Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz, Oved;
22. Oved fathered Yishai, and Yishai, [King] David.
The “one who serves” begat “I exist/I possess” (paralleling the return of the one who seemed to no longer exist to dispossess the Land again), who begat “the beloved”. The greatest in the Kingdom is the servant of all. (Mark 9:35) A large part of who David was came from the righteousness of his ancestor Boaz. Of course, Y’shua also came from the lineage of David.
THE STORY OF
Ruth
INTRODUCTION: Background: Besides being a love story in its own right and a true historical account of the rescue of the lineage of King David and the Messiah, the book of Ruth is also an allegory of Messiah's benefits to those “returning to Elohim from among the Gentiles” (cf. Acts 15:19), made possible only by our Kinsman Redeemer from the tribe of Yehudah. The book is an epic recounted each year at Shavuoth (Pentecost), which is the first day of the wheat harvest and the end of the barley harvest. Some think the prophet Shmu’el wrote this chronicle.
The Arnon Canyon with Moav on the far side
Beyth-Lechem
“Thick Clouds and a Thickened Plot”
When YHWH spoke to Israel on Mt. Sinai, His words initially sounded great to our ancestors. (Ex. 19:4-6) They agreed to do anything He might say, without having heard the rest. (19:8) But He knew He had to add, not exactly mirrors, but at least smoke (19:9) to keep these people impressed. He knew that the inclination of their hearts might prove stronger than the memory of His words, no matter how pleasant they were. So He made the event as memorable as safety would allow. He even told Moshe also to add a fence (19:12) to ensure the people’s compliance—and safety--when emotions might run stronger. And he added a fence of another type: where YHWH had given a general instruction (19:11), Moshe made it more specific (19:15).
By tradition, this took place at the time that would later be designated as Shavuoth. We can’t prove this, but it has to be within a week at the very most, and it is reasonable because YHWH has often done big things at the same time of year. The reason we read the book of Ruth at Shavuoth, too, is that it takes place during the barley harvest (Ruth 1:22), which leads up to Shavuoth.
Like the people at Sinai, Ruth initially agreed to do whatever Naomi told her to do. (3:5) And at first everything finally seemed to be working fine after a hard life and just after she took what had to be the biggest risk she had ever taken. She should have been able to relax after such a harrying experience. Boaz was doing his Torah duty, and it revived his own heart as well. But then there was another glitch/hitch/snag: there was a nearer kinsman who had “first dibs” on the property Naomi needed to recover. (3:12) So Boaz presented him with a package deal, for which he could not exercise “line-item veto”; he had to take all or nothing.
Thankfully it was too formidable a proposal for the challenger, and our protagonists got what they deserved, but not without many bumps in the road.
And so it often is in the process of following YHWH’s calling: we encounter twists in the plot that even grow to the point of being existential threats. But the fact is, such suspense is what keeps any story interesting. That’s what makes it memorable—and brings great honor to YHWH.
We see this pattern in YHWH’s dealings with the patriarchs, Moshe, and others throughout history. Bill Gothard called it “Birth of a Vision, Death of a Vision, and the Supernatural Fulfillment of the Vision”, because YHWH was doing something too big for it to be chalked up to mere coincidence.
Thus the bigger snag—one that they could not even see from their point in history—was also resolved: the line that would merit the throne of not only Yehudah but all of Israel came into existence! It would see more snags: Hizqiyahu’s impending death while he had no heir, the unfaithfulness of some kings that ended the overt throne, the untimely death of the one who was trying to reclaim the throne and retrieve the lost tribes. But YHWH’s promise was not vanquished, and resurrections of one kind or another came about just as they did here.
And that gives us hope while we are still in the midst of the “death of the vision”.
