Revisiting Ruth's Character
The Book of Ruth is frequently studied in churches. It is short, its narrative is engaging, and the themes it addresses are remarkably varied. Women's fellowship groups, in particular, often turn to this book to examine the qualities of women portrayed in Scripture. Church studies may focus on poverty, levirate marriage, obedience, loyalty, and other related themes. Ruth herself is sometimes held up as a model for women to emulate.
In such readings, Naomi is generally understood to have devised the plan, whilst Ruth dutifully carried it out in obedience to her mother-in-law. Yet, as an adult with her own life experience, did Ruth really have no reservations of her own? Or might Ruth and Naomi each have been acting according to their own plans? This essay attempts to reconsider Ruth's familiar image as an obedient woman, and to reread the book from a different perspective.
Readers of Ruth will remember that the gleaning of grain in Chapter 2 provides the setting for the events that eventually lead to the marriage of Boaz and Ruth. From the beginning of the gleaning episode, we may form the impression that Naomi is something of a master strategist, able to plan the course of events without ever being present at the scene, whilst Ruth appears more like a pawn carrying out Naomi's instructions.
Yet one question remains puzzling: why do both Ruth and Naomi seem to regard the extraordinary course of action in Chapter 3 as something quite natural? Is this simply a matter of Ruth's obedience? This essay will examine the question from two perspectives: (1) Naomi's reasoning before devising her plan, and (2) Ruth's subsequent execution of that plan.
Naomi Misled
We begin by considering the information available to Naomi. According to Chapter 2, everything Naomi knew about Ruth's encounter with Boaz came from Ruth's own account. Let us first examine three passages concerning the gleaning episode and what Ruth communicated to Naomi.
Two details deserve particular attention.
First, the term translated as 'young men' or 'servants' is distinct from the word for 'young women' or 'female servants'. The former is grammatically masculine and may be understood as referring to male servants. This distinction is already reflected in the Chinese Union Version, which employs two different expressions.
Secondly, the expressions 'stay close to' in 2:8 and 'keep close by' in 2:21 are not identical in the Hebrew. The latter appears to suggest a particularly close form of following or remaining alongside someone.
On the basis of these details, we may infer that Naomi, relying on Ruth's account, came to believe that Ruth was regularly gleaning in the company of men, namely Boaz's male servants. Perhaps this led Naomi to conclude that Ruth's marriage ought to be arranged without delay.
Yet the narrative subsequently tells us in 2:23 that Ruth continued to glean alongside Boaz's young women, rather than his male servants. Given Ruth's willingness to follow Boaz's instructions, what Boaz had already told her would have been sufficient reason for her to remain with the young women. It is therefore unlikely that her conduct in 2:23 resulted primarily from Naomi's further reminder. Rather, Ruth was probably already following Boaz's original instructions.
If so, the reference to keeping close to the male servants appears only in Ruth's report to Naomi and in the language of their conversation.
This raises an important question. If Boaz had not instructed Ruth to follow the male servants, and Ruth herself did not do so, why did she report his words to Naomi in precisely this manner in 2:21?
Perhaps the answer lies in Naomi's subsequent reasoning. The suggestion that Ruth was keeping close to male servants may have led Naomi to imagine that Ruth was spending her days amongst men. Knowing the relatives of her late husband and sons, Naomi would naturally have wondered whether Boaz intended to fulfil his obligations as a kinsman by marrying Ruth.
She might therefore have felt compelled to act before the opportunity was lost, devising an unusual plan that required Ruth to take considerable risks in order to bring about the desired outcome.
If this was indeed how Naomi received and interpreted Ruth's account, her subsequent plan becomes more intelligible within the narrative.
If the preceding reconstruction is plausible, Ruth may deliberately have chosen her words so as to make Naomi concerned about her frequent contact with men. In that case, behind Naomi's plan lay another plan: Ruth's own.
This would also explain why Ruth immediately agreed when Naomi instructed her in Chapter 3 to approach Boaz secretly at his sleeping place. Naomi's instructions may have been precisely what Ruth had anticipated. Yet whilst Ruth allowed Naomi's plan to proceed, she had a more carefully considered plan of her own, as becomes apparent in 3:9.
Such a reading adds a distinctly human dimension to Ruth's character, beyond the familiar virtues of loyalty and obedience. After all, Ruth had experienced marriage, bereavement, and migration. She was hardly without experience of life, and her loyalty need not imply that she allowed Naomi to determine her every action.
This essay does not seek to portray Ruth as deceitful or unscrupulous. Her loyalty throughout the narrative is beyond doubt. The apparent paradox, however, is that her loyalty to her husband's family may have required her to exercise her own wisdom and judgement. This becomes clearer when we examine Ruth's actions in Chapter 3.
Wisdom: A Loyalty Greater Than Obedience
Ruth's actions in Chapter 3 constitute perhaps the most suspenseful part of the entire book.
The scene is one that we can scarcely imagine taking place in ordinary life: a woman secretly approaches a man's sleeping place in the middle of the night, even uncovering him and lying down beside him. Readers can readily appreciate the considerable danger involved.
Moreover, since Boaz was asleep and unaware of what was happening, it may be more natural to understand the proposed action as an attempt at sexual enticement rather than merely an unconventional way of making a marriage proposal.
Although we do not know what Naomi expected Boaz to instruct Ruth to do, we may reasonably suspect that Naomi's plan involved more than simply presenting a proposal. It appears to have relied, at least in part, upon enticement.
If we relate this to the information Naomi had received from Ruth, it becomes possible to imagine Naomi acting out of urgency, believing that she must seize the initiative before it was too late. Her plan was therefore a hazardous gamble.
Ruth, however, although fully aware of Naomi's plan, knew Boaz to be an honourable and trustworthy man. She nevertheless went along with Naomi's scheme, initially approaching Boaz's sleeping place as instructed.
Yet because Ruth already understood Boaz's character and intentions, she had no need to risk testing his response through seduction.
When Boaz awoke, Ruth immediately departed from Naomi's plan (compare 3:4 with 3:9). She spoke directly, identifying him as a close kinsman and invoking his responsibility towards her. In doing so, she transformed a morally questionable plan, carried out in a compromising setting, into an explicit and legitimate appeal for marriage.
It is in this light that we may understand Boaz's extended commendation of Ruth. Her actions also help explain how the story could reach its ultimately satisfying conclusion.
An Openness to Interpretation
If the preceding interpretation is reasonable, Ruth was certainly a woman of loyalty, but she was not necessarily a naïve person who simply allowed Naomi to direct her actions.
Having experienced marriage, the death of her husband, and migration to another land, Ruth would presumably have acquired considerable experience of life and practical wisdom. We need not, therefore, be too eager to turn her into an idealised model of feminine virtue. Instead, we may allow Ruth, as she is portrayed in the narrative, to lead us towards a fuller understanding of the book's message.
Through her wisdom, Ruth discerned how she might remain most faithful both to Naomi and to herself, and she demonstrated that loyalty through action despite the dangers involved.
There is undoubtedly a tension between obedience, loyalty, strategy, and wisdom in Ruth's character. Yet we need not hasten to select merely one or two qualities by which to define her.
It is precisely such a fully human character, with all her complexity, who is able to demonstrate loyalty, resourcefulness, wisdom, and obedience amid the turmoil of the period of the Judges.
Through her actions, a family that had become 'empty' was once again made 'full' (cf. 4:17), and the course of events would eventually lead an entire nation towards the flourishing of the Davidic kingdom (4:21–23).
One distinctive feature of Hebrew literature is the interpretative openness it affords, leaving room for readers to reflect upon the narrative.
The interpretation proposed in this essay may be regarded as unconventional. Nevertheless, rather than seeking only the single correct interpretation, we may also engage thoughtfully with the author through the process of interpretation, allowing the act of reading Scripture itself to become an occasion for learning.