Ruth “on one foot”:
The story of Ruth is found in the Book of Ruth (in Hebrew “Megillat Rut”, literally “the Scroll of Ruth”). It is part of the Ketuvim or Writings section of the Bible. The story is chanted on Shavuot Day 2, both because of the harvest and because she accepted Judaism.
(1) In the days when the chieftains ruled, there was a famine in the land; and a man of Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the country of Moab. (2) The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were named Machlon and Chilyon—Ephratites of Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the country of Moab and remained there. (3) Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. (4) They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth, and they lived there about ten years. (5) Then those two—Machlon and Chilyon—also died; so the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband. (6) She started out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab; for in the country of Moab she had heard that the LORD had taken note of God's people and given them food. (7) Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living; and they set out on the road back to the land of Judah. (8) But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me! (9) May the LORD grant that each of you find security in the house of a husband!” And she kissed them farewell. They broke into weeping (10) and said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” (11) But Naomi replied, “Turn back, my daughters! Why should you go with me? Have I any more sons in my body who might be husbands for you? (12) Turn back, my daughters, for I am too old to be married. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I were married tonight and I also bore sons, (13) should you wait for them to grow up? Should you on their account debar yourselves from marriage? Oh no, my daughters! My lot is far more bitter than yours, for the hand of the LORD has struck out against me.” (14) They broke into weeping again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law farewell. But Ruth clung to her. (15) So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.” (16) But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (17) Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me-b if anything but death parts me from you.” (18) When [Naomi] saw how determined she was to go with her, she ceased to argue with her; (19) and the two went on until they reached Bethlehem.
When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city buzzed with excitement over them. The women said, “Can this be Naomi?” (20) “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, for Shaddai has made my lot very bitter. (21) I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. How can you call me Naomi, when the LORD has dealt harshly with-f me, when Shaddai has brought misfortune upon me!” (22) Thus Naomi returned from the country of Moab; she returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Context: This is the first chapter of the Book of Ruth. The name “Naomi” means “Pleasant”, while the name “Mara” means “Bitter”.
1. History (and stories) is not inevitable -- people (and authors) make choices. At what points in this part of the story could things have turned out differently?
2. Ruth becomes like Abraham, leaving her homeland and her family to follow Naomi to the Land of Israel. What might she have been feeling or thinking on the way?
3. Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah are all widows. How can individual members of today’s Jewish community usefully support widows and widowers?
4. First Ruth tells Naomi, “Your people will be my people”, and then she says “And your god will be my god”. When have you helped others or been helped on grounds that you were part of a Jewish community?
5. When Ruth says “Your people will be my people, and your god will be my god”, this is widely seen as accepting membership into the Jewish people and the Jewish religion. What appeals to you about being part of the Jewish people, culture, and/or religion?
(1) Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a man of substance, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. (2) Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who may show me kindness.” “Yes, daughter, go,” she replied; (3) and off she went. She came and gleaned in a field, behind the reapers; and, as luck would have it, it was the piece of land belonging to Boaz, who was of Elimelech’s family. (4) Presently Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they responded, “The LORD bless you!” (5) Boaz said to the servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose girl is that?” (6) The servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. (7) She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ She has been on her feet ever since she came this morning. She has rested but little in the hut.”-a (8) Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, daughter.-b Don’t go to glean in another field. Don’t go elsewhere, but stay here close to my girls. (9) Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow them. I have ordered the men not to molest you. And when you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of [the water] that the men have drawn.” (10) She prostrated herself with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why are you so kind as to single me out, when I am a foreigner?” (11) Boaz said in reply, “I have been told of all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before. (12) May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge!” (13) She answered, “You are most kind, my lord, to comfort me and to speak gently to your maidservant—though I am not so much as one of your maidservants.” (14) At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the reapers. He handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over. (15) When she got up again to glean, Boaz gave orders to his workers, “You are not only to let her glean among the sheaves, without interference, (16) but you must also pull some [stalks] out of the heaps and leave them for her to glean, and not scold her.” (17) She gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned—it was about an ephah of barley— (18) and carried it back with her to the town. When her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and when she also took out and gave her what she had left over after eating her fill, (19) her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be he who took such generous notice of you!” So she told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” (20) Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not failed in God's kindness to the living or to the dead! For,” Naomi explained to her daughter-in-law, “the man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen.” (21) Ruth the Moabite said, “He even told me, ‘Stay close by my workers until all my harvest is finished.’” (22) And Naomi answered her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is best, daughter, that you go out with his girls, and not be annoyed in some other field.” (23) So she stayed close to the maidservants of Boaz, and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. Then she stayed at home with her mother-in-law.
Context: This is Chapter 2 of the Book of Ruth. In this chapter, Boaz acts like Rebecca at the well, going above and beyond what is expected (and coming from the right family). A “redeeming kinsman” is somebody closely related to a husband that has died. The redeeming kinsman is supposed to marry the widow and produce a child who will be considered to be in the lineage of the dead husband. If the closest male relative didn’t want to do this, he could waive his right and the next closest male relative would need to step up (or waive his right). Also, an "ephah" is 20 dry quarts, or about 10 days worth of food.
1. At what points in this part of the story could things have turned out differently?
2. Ruth is a newcomer to the community. How can individual member’s of today’s Jewish community welcome newcomers?
3. Boaz is practicing the Torah commandments of “Leket”, letting the poor gather fallen crops, and “shichecha”, letting the poor gather forgotten crops. Presumably he is also following the third commandment of “Pe’ah”, letting the poor harvest in the corners of the field. These rules are put in place to allow those without much money to get food with dignity. What would be an equivalent system today?
4. The story of Ruth reminds us that most food starts off as harvestable crops. Who else is involved in the chain of people that get us from seeds being planted all the way to food on our plate?
5. At the end of Chapter 1, Naomi did not see the blessings G-d had given her. By the end of Chapter 2, she has. What blessings has G-d given you?
(1) Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “Daughter, I must seek a home for you, where you may be happy. (2) Now there is our kinsman Boaz, whose girls you were close to. He will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. (3) So bathe, anoint yourself, dress up, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not disclose yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. (4) When he lies down, note the place where he lies down, and go over and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you are to do.” (5) She replied, “I will do everything you tell me.” (6) She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. (7) Boaz ate and drank, and in a cheerful mood went to lie down beside the grainpile. Then she went over stealthily and uncovered his feet and lay down. (8) In the middle of the night, the man gave a start and pulled back—there was a woman lying at his feet! (9) “Who are you?” he asked. And she replied, “I am your handmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid,-a for you are a redeeming kinsman.” (10) He exclaimed, “Be blessed of the LORD, daughter! Your latest deed of loyalty is greater than the first, in that you have not turned to younger men, whether poor or rich. (11) And now, daughter, have no fear. I will do in your behalf whatever you ask, for all the elders of my town-c know what a fine woman you are. (12) But while it is true I am a redeeming kinsman, there is another redeemer closer than I. (13) Stay for the night. Then in the morning, if he will act as a redeemer, good! let him redeem. But if he does not want to act as redeemer for you, I will do so myself, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.” (14) So she lay at his feet until dawn. She rose before one person could distinguish another, for he thought, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” (15) And he said, “Hold out the shawl you are wearing.” She held it while he measured out six measures of barley, and he put it on her back.
When she got back to the town, (16) she came to her mother-in-law, who asked, “How is it with you, daughter?” She told her all that the man had done for her; (17) and she added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying to me, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” (18) And Naomi said, “Stay here, daughter, till you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”
Context: This is Chapter 3 of the Book of Ruth. Once the barley has been cut down, the grains must be removed from the husks around them. To do this, they are threshed, meaning whacked in order to loosen the husks, and then winnowed, meaning they are thrown up into the air so that the wind blows away the husks and the grains fall into a pan.
1. At what points could this part of the story have turned out differently?
2. What might Ruth have been thinking or feeling en route to the threshing floor?
3. In Chapter 1, Naomi expresses the hope that Ruth (and Orpah) find security in the house of a husband. Now Naomi takes action to ensure that Ruth does so. When have you taken action to realize a hope?
4. Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz will tell her what to do, but actually Ruth tells Boaz what to do. This contravenes the stereotype of the female being the passive character in the story. When have you seen a stereotype not born out in reality?
5. Naomi’s plan not only transitions Ruth to a home of happiness, but it transitions her from needing food from others to being in a position where she’s closer to self-sufficient. This moves her to the top of Rambam’s Ladder of Tzedakah. What are situations today where somebody could be given assistance to go from needing money from others to a point of self-sufficiency?
(יח) וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ תּוֹלְד֣וֹת פָּ֔רֶץ פֶּ֖רֶץ הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־חֶצְרֽוֹן׃ (יט) וְחֶצְרוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־רָ֔ם וְרָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־עַמִּֽינָדָֽב׃ (כ) וְעַמִּֽינָדָב֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־נַחְשׁ֔וֹן וְנַחְשׁ֖וֹן הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־שַׂלְמָֽה׃ (כא) וְשַׂלְמוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־בֹּ֔עַז וּבֹ֖עַז הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־עוֹבֵֽד׃ (כב) וְעֹבֵד֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־יִשָׁ֔י וְיִשַׁ֖י הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־דָּוִֽד׃
(1) Meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the gate and sat down there. And now the redeemer whom Boaz had mentioned passed by. He called, “Come over and sit down here, So-and-so!” And he came over and sat down. (2) Then [Boaz] took ten elders of the town and said, “Be seated here”; and they sat down. (3) He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, now returned from the country of Moab, must sell the piece of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. (4) I thought I should disclose the matter to you and say: Acquire it in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you are willing to redeem it, redeem! But if you will not redeem, tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem but you, and I come after you.” “I am willing to redeem it,” he replied. (5) Boaz continued, “When you acquire the property from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite, you must also acquire the wife of the deceased,-b so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate.” (6) The redeemer replied, “Then I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own estate. You take over my right of redemption, for I am unable to exercise it.” (7) Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange: to validate any transaction, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. Such was the practice in Israel. (8) So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Acquire for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. (9) And Boaz said to the elders and to the rest of the people, “You are witnesses today that I am acquiring from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilyon and Machlon. (10) I am also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Machlon, as my wife, so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate, that the name of the deceased may not disappear from among his kinsmen and from the gate of his home town. You are witnesses today.” (11) All the people at the gate and the elders answered, “We are. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the House of Israel! Prosper in Ephratah and perpetuate your name in Bethlehem! (12) And may your house be like the house of Peretz whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.” (13) So Boaz married Ruth; she became his wife, and he cohabited with her. The LORD let her conceive, and she bore a son. (14) And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not withheld a redeemer from you today! May his name be perpetuated in Israel! (15) He will renew your life and sustain your old age; for he is born of your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons.” (16) Naomi took the child and held it to her bosom. She became its foster mother, (17) and the women neighbors gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi!” They named him Oved; he was the father of Jesse, father of David. (18) This is the line of Peretz: Peretz begot Chetzron, (19) Chetzron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadav, (20) Amminadav begot Nachshon, Nachshon begot Salmon, (21) Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Oved, (22) Oved begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.
Context: This is Chapter 4 of the Book of Ruth. Note the importance of community in celebrating Naomi’s joy, even as she turned to the same community in her sorrow in Chapter 1.
1. At what points in this part of the story could things have turned out differently?
2. Boaz and Ruth become parents, which is a major life change even with family nearby. How can individual members of today’s Jewish community support new parents?
3. Naomi’s closer relative, Ploni Almoni (literally “So-and-so”), chooses to not marry Ruth because it will impair his own estate. This is an example of Pirkei Avot 1:14, where Hillel says “If I’m not for myself, who will be for me? But if I’m only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” How have you balanced these things in your life?
4. By the end of the story, Naomi has gained an adopted daughter and a grandson. This ensures that she has somebody to remember her after her passing. What do you remember about your birth (or adopted) parents or grandparents?
5. Ruth and Boaz have very different backgrounds that they have to merge to create a family. How have you or would you go about doing that in your life?
Context: This is "As Long As You're With Me", a 2014 song by Alicia Jo Rabins, animated as part of G-dcast.
Context: This is by Alicia Jo Rabins’ 2017 album “Girls in Trouble”, looking at the story from Ruth’s perspective. For lyrics and discussion questions, see here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/94824?lang=bi
Context: This is a Bible Raps video by Matt Barr from 2016
With appreciation to: Miki Raver’s Listen to Her Voice, Vanessa Ochs’ Sarah Laughed, Tikva Frymer-Kensky’s Reading the Women of the Bible, and Carol Newsom and Sharon Ringe’s The Women Bible Commentary.
Appendix A: Ruth as Readers’ Theatre
Act 1
Scene 1
Narrator 1: In the days when the chieftains ruled, there was a famine in the land; and a man of Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were named Machlon and Chilyon—Ephratites of Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the country of Moab and remained there.
Narrator 2: Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth, and they lived there about ten years. Then those two—Machlon and Chilyon—also died; so the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband.
Narrator 1: She started out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab; for in the country of Moab she had heard that the LORD had taken note of God's people and given them food. Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living; and they set out on the road back to the land of Judah.
Naomi: Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me! May the LORD grant that each of you find security in the house of a husband!
Narrator 2: She kissed them farewell and the daughters-in-law broke into weeping.
Orpah and Ruth: No, we will return with you to your people.
Naomi: Turn back, my daughters! Why should you go with me? Have I any more sons in my body who might be husbands for you? Turn back, my daughters, for I am too old to be married. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I were married tonight and I also bore sons, should you wait for them to grow up? Should you on their account debar yourselves from marriage? Oh no, my daughters! My lot is far more bitter than yours, for the hand of the LORD has struck out against me.
Narrator 1: They broke into weeping again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law farewell. But Ruth clung to Naomi.
Naomi: See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.
Ruth: Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your god my god. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.
Narrator 2: When Naomi saw how determined she was to go with her, she ceased to argue with her; and the two went on until they reached Bethlehem.
Scene 2
Narrator 1: When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city buzzed with excitement over them.
Women of Bethlehem: Can this be Naomi?
Naomi: Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for Shaddai has made my lot very bitter. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. How can you call me Naomi, when the LORD has dealt harshly with me, when Shaddai has brought misfortune upon me!
Narrator 2: Thus Naomi returned from the country of Moab; she returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Act 2
Scene 1
Narrator 1: Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a man of substance, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Ruth: I would like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who may show me kindness.
Naomi: Yes, daughter, go.
Narrator 2: And off Ruth went.
Scene 2
Narrator 1: She came and gleaned in a field, behind the reapers; and, as luck would have it, it was the piece of land belonging to Boaz, who was of Elimelech’s family. Presently Boaz arrived from Bethlehem.
Boaz: Reapers, the Lord be with you!
Reapers: The Lord bless you!
Boaz: Head reaper, whose girl is that?
Head Reaper: She is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ She has been on her feet ever since she came this morning. She has rested but little in the hut.
Boaz: Listen to me, daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field. Don’t go elsewhere, but stay here close to my girls. Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow them. I have ordered the men not to molest you. And when you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of the water that the men have drawn.
Narrator 2: Ruth prostrated herself with her face to the ground.
Ruth: Why are you so kind as to single me out, when I am a foreigner?
Boaz: I have been told of all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before. May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge!
Ruth: You are most kind, my lord, to comfort me and to speak gently to your maidservant—though I am not so much as one of your maidservants.”
Narrator 1: At mealtime, Boaz spoke to Ruth again.
Boaz: Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.
Narrator 2: So she sat down beside the reapers. Boaz handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over. When she got up again to glean, Boaz gave orders to his workers.
Boaz: You are not only to let her glean among the sheaves, without interference, but you must also pull some stalks out of the heaps and leave them for her to glean, and not scold her.
Scene 3
Narrator 1: Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned—it was about an ephah of barley— and carried it back with her to the town. When her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and when she also took out and gave her what she had left over after eating her fill, her mother-in-law was curious.
Naomi: Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be he who took such generous notice of you!”
Narrator 2: Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with.
Ruth: The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.
Naomi: Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not failed in God's kindness to the living or to the dead! For the man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen.
Ruth: Boaz even told me, ‘Stay close by my workers until all my harvest is finished.’
Naomi: It is best, daughter, that you go out with his girls, and not be annoyed in some other field.
Narrator 1: So Ruth stayed close to the maidservants of Boaz, and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished.
Narrator 2: Then Ruth stayed at home with her mother-in-law.
Act 3
Scene 1
Naomi: Daughter, I must seek a home for you, where you may be happy. Now there is our kinsman Boaz, whose girls you were close to. He will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. So bathe, anoint yourself, dress up, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not disclose yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he lies down, and go over and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you are to do.
Ruth: I will do everything you tell me.
Scene 2
Narrator 1: Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. Boaz ate and drank, and in a cheerful mood went to lie down beside the grainpile. Then she went over stealthily and uncovered his feet and lay down. In the middle of the night, the man gave a start and pulled back—there was a woman lying at his feet!
Boaz: Who are you?
Ruth: I am your handmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid, for you are a redeeming kinsman.
Boaz: Be blessed of the LORD, daughter! Your latest deed of loyalty is greater than the first, in that you have not turned to younger men, whether poor or rich. And now, daughter, have no fear. I will do in your behalf whatever you ask, for all the elders of my town know what a fine woman you are. But while it is true I am a redeeming kinsman, there is another redeemer closer than I. Stay for the night. Then in the morning, if he will act as a redeemer, good! let him redeem. But if he does not want to act as redeemer for you, I will do so myself, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.
Narrator 2: So she lay at his feet until dawn. She rose before one person could distinguish another, for he thought, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
Boaz: Hold out the shawl you are wearing.
Narrator 1: Ruth held it while he measured out six measures of barley, and he put it on her back.
Scene 3
Narrator 2: When Ruth got back to the town, she came to her mother-in-law.
Naomi: How is it with you, daughter?
Narrator 1: Ruth told Naomi all that the man had done for her; and she added,
Ruth: He gave me these six measures of barley, saying to me, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’
Naomi: Stay here, daughter, till you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
Act 4
Scene 1
Narrator 1: Meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the gate and sat down there. And now the redeemer whom Boaz had mentioned passed by.
Boaz: Come over and sit down here, So-and-So!
Narrator 2: So-and-So came over and sat down. Then Boaz spoke to ten elders of the town.
Boaz: Be seated here.
Narrator 1: The town elders also sat down.
Boaz: Naomi, now returned from the country of Moab, must sell the piece of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. I thought I should disclose the matter to you and say: Acquire it in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you are willing to redeem it, redeem! But if you will not redeem, tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem but you, and I come after you.
So-and-So: I am willing to redeem it.
Boaz: When you acquire the property from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite, you must also acquire the wife of the deceased, so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate.
So-and-So: Then I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own estate. You take over my right of redemption, for I am unable to exercise it.
Narrator 2: Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange: to validate any transaction, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. Such was the practice in Israel. So when the closer relative said to Boaz, “Acquire for yourself,” he drew off his sandal.
Boaz: All you elders and other townspeople are witnesses today that I am acquiring from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilyon and Machlon. I am also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Machlon, as my wife, so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate, that the name of the deceased may not disappear from among his kinsmen and from the gate of his home town. You are witnesses today.
Townspeople and Elders: We are. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the House of Israel! Prosper in Ephratah and perpetuate your name in Bethlehem! And may your house be like the house of Peretz whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
Narrator 1: So Boaz married Ruth; she became his wife, and he cohabited with her. The LORD let her conceive, and she bore a son.
Women of Bethlehem: Naomi, blessed be the LORD, who has not withheld a redeemer from you today! May the child’s name be perpetuated in Israel! He will renew your life and sustain your old age; for he is born of your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons.”
Narrator 2: Naomi took the child and held it to her bosom. She became its foster mother, and the women neighbors gave him a name.
Women of Bethlehem: A son is born to Naomi!”
Narrator 1: The women named him Oved; he was the father of Jesse, father of David.
Narrator 2: This is the line of Peretz: Peretz begot Chetzron, Chetzron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadav, Amminadav begot Nachshon, Nachshon begot Salmon, Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Oved, Oved begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.
Appendix B: "Five Things About Ruth that Nobody Talks About"
By: Rachel Friedlander
The book of Ruth is a fascinating short story from the Hebrew Scriptures. Where other biblical books tell of the dramatic history of the nation of Israel and even of humanity and creation itself, the story of Ruth zooms in on a day-in-the-life account of everyday people living in rural Israel in 1100 BC. But it’s not a merely sweet story of rural life. It’s bluntly honest about the hardships and challenges faced by women in that society, which may be familiar to women today.
As a non-Jewish person living more than 3,000 years later, I find it to be one of the most captivating and relatable of biblical stories. Like me, Ruth was a non-Jewish person who came to put her faith in the God of Israel and found blessing under the wing of His care. But Ruth’s story also resonates with and even closely mirrors some of my personal experiences. Ruth was a young, single woman who traveled across a barren desert to find a new home in a small town, where she met and married a farmer. In 1988, my young, single mother packed me and all of our belongings into a Volkswagen Beetle and drove us from the sprawling metropolises of Southern California across the barren deserts of western America to make a new life for us in a tiny mountain town where she met and married a local rancher.
Ruth’s story challenges society’s prejudices with subtle, yet powerful narrative turns.
That might sound like a formula for a charming and romantic story, but it’s actually the story of a courageous woman’s harrowing journey across unforgiving country to settle among a new community. I see a lot of this same courage and gumption in so many women, from my own mother to many of the great heroes of the Bible. Like Tamar, Deborah, Esther, and others, Ruth’s is an ancient story about a woman who challenges their society’s prejudices with subtle, yet powerful narrative turns. And it demonstrates how the God of Israel works within the everyday lives of normal people to bring about personal, national, and universal redemption.
So, let’s take a look at five things in this book that don’t get talked about enough.
1. Ruth was disadvantaged in every way that mattered.
Most people know that Ruth was a foreigner in Israel, but being a foreigner was only part of her challenge. In fact, she was marginal in just about every way that mattered in the ancient Near East.
She was the ancient equivalent of an undocumented alien, hailing from an enemy foreign power. Her arrival would have aroused the same kind of unease that the arrival of Syrian refugees in European and American cities does today. And everything from her accent to her hair to her dress would have broadcast to everyone in Bethlehem, “This girl ain’t from around here.”
On top of that, she was a religious outsider. She came from a land where people worshipped hideous idols and practiced human sacrifice (2 Kings 3:27). She had renounced her people’s gods, but many of the good people of Bethlehem would be more than a little wary of her.
She was also a husbandless and sonless woman. In ancient Near Eastern society, where the value of women was largely based on their relationship to male relatives, that was a problem. Seeing as she had already been married for some time—perhaps even 10 years (Ruth 1:4)—and failed to produce a son, her prospects of finding another husband were not great, to put it mildly.
Without a male relative, Naomi and Ruth also had limited legal ability to manage their own affairs. Naomi moved back to her late husband’s estate in Bethlehem, but she could do little to work the land and had no right to sell it.1 She needed a husband or a son in order to gain access to that potential wealth.
Modern readers often don’t see the heart of the struggle that Naomi and Ruth had. They weren’t merely bereft of loved ones. The ancient listener would see a much bigger, all-too-familiar problem in their story—the lopsided lack of power and independence for women in the Near East world at that time.
When Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, she was the epitome of an outsider.
Considered all together, we can see that when Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, she was the epitome of an outsider—wrong heritage, wrong religion, wrong gender, wrong marital status. The only thing she could offer Naomi beyond mere companionship was her ability to glean—the ancient equivalent of gathering social welfare.
2. Ruth lived in constant fear of assault.
Travel in remote, sparsely populated regions of the world has never been without its dangers. On my own trip across the desert with my mother, we were taken advantage of by predatory mechanics who managed to squeeze a thousand dollars out of us. I remember my mother calling a family friend in tears from a tiny mechanic’s office, asking for a wire transfer loan while this crew of mechanics stood around leering at her.
The world that Ruth and Naomi faced had far worse dangers. There was very little government, and the only law enforcement was handled by regular townspeople. Travelers on the road between cities were always in danger, and cities themselves could be terrifying places (Judges 20:22, 25). Two lone women, traipsing through the desert for several days and then wandering into Bethlehem uninvited could only pray that they wouldn’t fall into the hands of people who would take advantage of their situation.
What’s more, Ruth’s status as an enemy foreigner made her more vulnerable still. Boaz has to tell his hired hands “not to touch” her (Ruth 2:9). Then he warns Ruth not to glean in another farm because, even in the idyllic fields of Bethlehem, she might be assaulted. Beyond the inherent danger of assault, she also faced an additional unfair risk: for young, single women, even a hint of impropriety with a man could lead to ostracism or worse.
3. Ruth broke nearly every social norm of her time.
Teaching about Ruth too often overlooks one of her most striking character traits: Ruth was a mold breaker. Ruth’s society was full of boxes, especially for young women, and she broke pretty much every box that can be broken without engaging in immorality. That’s an accomplishment!
Ruth lived in a culture where you were expected to stick with your particular ethnic group, and you’re born into worship of your people’s gods. Ruth abandons both of those to follow Naomi. Ruth lived in a culture where younger people were expected to obey older people, but Ruth refused to obey Naomi when she bid her to go back home. Later, she boldly told Boaz, an older man, what to do (Ruth 3:9)!
Ruth lived in a culture where young women were supposed to commit their lives to men. But Ruth committed her life to an elderly woman who had no access to resources and power. She chose caring for her mother-in-law over potential opportunities for romance, status, security, and children in her homeland.2
And her rebel spirit was apparently catching. Young women in Ruth’s day were expected to stay home and avoid the appearance of scandal at all costs, passively waiting upon a suitor to pursue them. But at the direction of Naomi, Ruth blew all of that up by approaching Boaz in the middle of the night at the all-male threshing floor party/camp out. She threw Boaz’s blanket over herself and said the 1100 BC equivalent of, “You better marry me!” This was a very savvy but also a very risky gambit. “Let it not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor,” Boaz told her (Ruth 3:14). But Ruth and Naomi leveraged the potential scandal of their actions to inspire Boaz to take decisive action on their behalf.
Then Boaz caught her spirit. To him, her integrity made up for her status (Ruth 2:11). He welcomed her. He ate with her. And he saw her love for her mother-in-law as a virtue worthy of high esteem. Then he carried the torch of revolution to the legal situation at the city gate. There, he shook things up when he assumed Naomi’s right to sell her dead husband’s family property (Ruth 4:3). That was unprecedented.3 And he insisted to the nearer kinsman that if he bought the land, he’d have to marry the owner’s widow. That was not a requirement of the law for anyone but a brother-in-law (Deuteronomy 25:5–10). In making those two assumptions, Boaz risked his own cultural capital in order to gain cultural capital for Ruth and Naomi.
In the conclusion of the story, we see the impact that Ruth’s quiet rebellion had on changing minds in the community. The women of Bethlehem declared Ruth’s value to Naomi to be “better … than seven sons” (Ruth 4:15). Seven being the biblical number of totality, this is essentially saying that Ruth’s bravery and love make her inestimably more valuable than the average son. That was a deeply counter-cultural statement.
4. The connection between Ruth and David is about more than ancestry.
The resolution of Ruth’s story has a sort of postscript which tells us that Ruth is a close and direct ancestor of King David. Every time I’ve heard this talked about, the takeaway is always something like: “Isn’t it neat that God could use Ruth to make babies that would become kings?” But if that’s all we can see of her legacy, we miss the point.
In patriarchal societies, bearing a son was one of the only ways that a woman could take part in the future of her people. She would bear and raise up the men who would become her community’s future leaders. As mothers in King David’s line, Ruth and Naomi shaped and influenced the character of the man who would rule the nation, thus leaving a lasting legacy on their people’s history. Can we not see a reflection of Ruth’s character in King David’s courage, daring spirit, and commitment to God?
Thankfully, we now live in a world where women have more avenues for influence on their communities beyond child-rearing. But Ruth and Naomi didn’t live in that kind of world. They were forced to navigate an unfair society through sheer gumption, emotional honesty, shrewd risk-taking, and a fierce commitment to each other.
5. Ruth’s story of conversion to Jewish faith is unlike any other.
Whereas other foreigners mentioned in Scripture came to faith by seeing God’s saving and healing power, Ruth was motivated to abandon her pagan religion and put her faith in God out of a deep, loving commitment to her Jewish mother-in-law. In desperation to keep Naomi from setting out alone, Ruth swore an oath to her saying,
“Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do this to me and more so if even death separates me from you.” (Ruth 1:16–17)
In this moment, we see this foreign woman display a kind of love that is usually attributed to God Himself in the Scriptures: hesed (Psalm 103:8). This Hebrew word has no parallel in English. It denotes a passionate commitment to bless another. And it’s the word used twice in this story to describe Ruth’s actions (1:8 and 3:10) and once to describe the love of God for His people (2:20). Ruth demonstrated her conversion, not only in an outward show of solidarity, but in an inner expression of the same love expressed by the God of Israel.
God’s own hesed was shining through this marginalized, foreign woman to bless Naomi and Boaz. What’s more, we see that this blessing from God overflows to the whole nation through David and beyond.
That’s why it makes so much sense to me that this is the story from Scripture that accompanies the celebration of Shavuot. In celebrating the harvest of God’s provision and the giving of the Law at Sinai, Jewish people remember a Gentile woman who was brought to faith in Israel’s God and written into the story of Israel’s kings through her sheer, unrelenting love for her Jewish family members. That hesed love is the very heart of God that we see throughout the Tanakh—which might be why this Gentile woman became the namesake of a book in the Hebrew Scriptures.
In Ruth’s bold risk-taking for the sake of love, I can’t help but be inspired and reminded of the courage of other biblical women and of my own mother. I can only pray that God would give me the grace to follow their great example.
Endnotes
- Women did buy and sell land in the ancient Near East and ancient Israel. But family land in Israel was supposed to stay within the succession of the male heirs. If Ruth had been Elimelech’s daughter, she would have had the right to inherit if her brothers were dead per the Mosaic Law (Num 27:1-11), but Ruth and Naomi, as widows of the family, did not have inheritance rights apart from their husbands.
- Phyllis Tribble’s article on Ruth in the Jewish Women’s Archive eloquently highlights the same reality.
- Carolyn Custis James, and Craig G Bartholomew. 2018. Finding God in the Margins : The Book of Ruth. Bellingham, Wa: Lexham Press, chapter 7.
https://inheritmag.com/articles/five-things-about-ruth-that-nobody-talks-about
Appendix C: The Full Story
(יח) וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ תּוֹלְד֣וֹת פָּ֔רֶץ פֶּ֖רֶץ הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־חֶצְרֽוֹן׃ (יט) וְחֶצְרוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־רָ֔ם וְרָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־עַמִּֽינָדָֽב׃ (כ) וְעַמִּֽינָדָב֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־נַחְשׁ֔וֹן וְנַחְשׁ֖וֹן הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־שַׂלְמָֽה׃ (כא) וְשַׂלְמוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־בֹּ֔עַז וּבֹ֖עַז הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־עוֹבֵֽד׃ (כב) וְעֹבֵד֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־יִשָׁ֔י וְיִשַׁ֖י הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־דָּוִֽד׃
(1) In the days when the chieftains ruled, there was a famine in the land; and a man of Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the country of Moab. (2) The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were named Machlon and Chilyon—Ephratites of Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the country of Moab and remained there. (3) Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. (4) They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth, and they lived there about ten years. (5) Then those two—Machlon and Chilyon—also died; so the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband. (6) She started out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab; for in the country of Moab she had heard that the LORD had taken note of God's people and given them food. (7) Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living; and they set out on the road back to the land of Judah. (8) But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me! (9) May the LORD grant that each of you find security in the house of a husband!” And she kissed them farewell. They broke into weeping (10) and said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” (11) But Naomi replied, “Turn back, my daughters! Why should you go with me? Have I any more sons in my body who might be husbands for you? (12) Turn back, my daughters, for I am too old to be married. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I were married tonight and I also bore sons, (13) should you wait for them to grow up? Should you on their account debar yourselves from marriage? Oh no, my daughters! My lot is far more bitter than yours, for the hand of the LORD has struck out against me.” (14) They broke into weeping again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law farewell. But Ruth clung to her. (15) So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.” (16) But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (17) Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me-b if anything but death parts me from you.” (18) When [Naomi] saw how determined she was to go with her, she ceased to argue with her; (19) and the two went on until they reached Bethlehem.
When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city buzzed with excitement over them. The women said, “Can this be Naomi?” (20) “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, for Shaddai has made my lot very bitter. (21) I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. How can you call me Naomi, when the LORD has dealt harshly with-f me, when Shaddai has brought misfortune upon me!” (22) Thus Naomi returned from the country of Moab; she returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. (1) Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a man of substance, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. (2) Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who may show me kindness.” “Yes, daughter, go,” she replied; (3) and off she went. She came and gleaned in a field, behind the reapers; and, as luck would have it, it was the piece of land belonging to Boaz, who was of Elimelech’s family. (4) Presently Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they responded, “The LORD bless you!” (5) Boaz said to the servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose girl is that?” (6) The servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. (7) She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ She has been on her feet ever since she came this morning. She has rested but little in the hut.”-a (8) Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, daughter.-b Don’t go to glean in another field. Don’t go elsewhere, but stay here close to my girls. (9) Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow them. I have ordered the men not to molest you. And when you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of [the water] that the men have drawn.” (10) She prostrated herself with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why are you so kind as to single me out, when I am a foreigner?” (11) Boaz said in reply, “I have been told of all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before. (12) May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge!” (13) She answered, “You are most kind, my lord, to comfort me and to speak gently to your maidservant—though I am not so much as one of your maidservants.” (14) At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the reapers. He handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over. (15) When she got up again to glean, Boaz gave orders to his workers, “You are not only to let her glean among the sheaves, without interference, (16) but you must also pull some [stalks] out of the heaps and leave them for her to glean, and not scold her.” (17) She gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned—it was about an ephah of barley— (18) and carried it back with her to the town. When her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and when she also took out and gave her what she had left over after eating her fill, (19) her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be he who took such generous notice of you!” So she told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” (20) Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not failed in Divine kindness to the living or to the dead! For,” Naomi explained to her daughter-in-law, “the man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen.” (21) Ruth the Moabite said, “He even told me, ‘Stay close by my workers until all my harvest is finished.’” (22) And Naomi answered her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is best, daughter, that you go out with his girls, and not be annoyed in some other field.” (23) So she stayed close to the maidservants of Boaz, and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. Then she stayed at home with her mother-in-law. (1) Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “Daughter, I must seek a home for you, where you may be happy. (2) Now there is our kinsman Boaz, whose girls you were close to. He will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. (3) So bathe, anoint yourself, dress up, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not disclose yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. (4) When he lies down, note the place where he lies down, and go over and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you are to do.” (5) She replied, “I will do everything you tell me.” (6) She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. (7) Boaz ate and drank, and in a cheerful mood went to lie down beside the grainpile. Then she went over stealthily and uncovered his feet and lay down. (8) In the middle of the night, the man gave a start and pulled back—there was a woman lying at his feet! (9) “Who are you?” he asked. And she replied, “I am your handmaid Ruth. Spread your robe over your handmaid,-a for you are a redeeming kinsman.” (10) He exclaimed, “Be blessed of the LORD, daughter! Your latest deed of loyalty is greater than the first, in that you have not turned to younger men, whether poor or rich. (11) And now, daughter, have no fear. I will do in your behalf whatever you ask, for all the elders of my town-c know what a fine woman you are. (12) But while it is true I am a redeeming kinsman, there is another redeemer closer than I. (13) Stay for the night. Then in the morning, if he will act as a redeemer, good! let him redeem. But if he does not want to act as redeemer for you, I will do so myself, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.” (14) So she lay at his feet until dawn. She rose before one person could distinguish another, for he thought, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” (15) And he said, “Hold out the shawl you are wearing.” She held it while he measured out six measures of barley, and he put it on her back.
When she got back to the town, (16) she came to her mother-in-law, who asked, “How is it with you, daughter?” She told her all that the man had done for her; (17) and she added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying to me, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” (18) And Naomi said, “Stay here, daughter, till you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.” (1) Meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the gate and sat down there. And now the redeemer whom Boaz had mentioned passed by. He called, “Come over and sit down here, So-and-so!” And he came over and sat down. (2) Then [Boaz] took ten elders of the town and said, “Be seated here”; and they sat down. (3) He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, now returned from the country of Moab, must sell the piece of land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. (4) I thought I should disclose the matter to you and say: Acquire it in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you are willing to redeem it, redeem! But if you will not redeem, tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem but you, and I come after you.” “I am willing to redeem it,” he replied. (5) Boaz continued, “When you acquire the property from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite, you must also acquire the wife of the deceased,-b so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate.” (6) The redeemer replied, “Then I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own estate. You take over my right of redemption, for I am unable to exercise it.” (7) Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange: to validate any transaction, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. Such was the practice in Israel. (8) So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Acquire for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. (9) And Boaz said to the elders and to the rest of the people, “You are witnesses today that I am acquiring from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilyon and Machlon. (10) I am also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Machlon, as my wife, so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate, that the name of the deceased may not disappear from among his kinsmen and from the gate of his home town. You are witnesses today.” (11) All the people at the gate and the elders answered, “We are. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the House of Israel! Prosper in Ephratah and perpetuate your name in Bethlehem! (12) And may your house be like the house of Peretz whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.” (13) So Boaz married Ruth; she became his wife, and he cohabited with her. The LORD let her conceive, and she bore a son. (14) And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not withheld a redeemer from you today! May his name be perpetuated in Israel! (15) He will renew your life and sustain your old age; for he is born of your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons.” (16) Naomi took the child and held it to her bosom. She became its foster mother, (17) and the women neighbors gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi!” They named him Oved; he was the father of Jesse, father of David. (18) This is the line of Peretz: Peretz begot Chetzron, (19) Chetzron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadav, (20) Amminadav begot Nachshon, Nachshon begot Salmon, (21) Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Oved, (22) Oved begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.