Canter Bridge

One almost feels a wry heavenly smile hovering over the proceedings as the short story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz ambles towards its contented dénoument. The wily grandmother-to-be joins the submissive and diligent protagonist and the sturdy, good-hearted male rescuer to produce an unlikely ending that is full of YHWH’s blessing. Events bring the wish that YHWH might bless into the concrete reality of Bethlehem’s space and time. A child is born and an old lady gets her name back.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

The wry smile must have come down and shaped itself upon the lips of Israelite generations, for the last words of this little story end with David’s name. Who could have guessed that an indigent Moabite should become the monarch’s ancestress?

One wonders what else can be accomplished when little men and women, unobserved by those who make and write history, act mercifully in time of need. Perhaps YHWH’s favorite among his repertoire of means is found in this scenario.

The text has a name for it. It is called blessing.

The narrator of the book of Ruth is exact about his setting. He places his moving story in ‘the days when the judges were judging Israel’. What is more, he gives his merciful and strong hero a pedigree that links it to the Book of Judges. Boaz is of the family of a certain Elimelech.

Mere assonance and historical proximity remind one of Abimelech, born to Gideon and his concubine, a bloody-handed figure of ill repute. A very good man finds his place among the roster of bad men who populate the pages of the Book of Judges. Not all flowed crimson, not all was dark, not all turned violent and craven in the tribal confederacy of the conquest years, it would seem. Continue Reading »