RUTH 3
Read Ruth 3:1-18
In this chapter, we see the relationship between Boaz and Ruth developing. Naomi is conscious that she and Ruth are in a vulnerable position having no-one to provide for them or protect them, and so, having observed Boaz’s kindness towards them in the previous chapter, she seeks to do a bit of matchmaking.
Naomi’s plan is for Ruth to approach Boaz at night at the threshing floor during the harvest. Now this is a risky plan. This would be an exclusively male environment where the reapers would be spending the night together, partly to protect the harvest they have been working so hard to bring in from theft, and partly to be ready on-site to continue their work. There would probably have been some partying to celebrate a good hard day’s work. This would not be the right sort of environment for a decent woman like Ruth, but Naomi knew that Boaz was an honourable man and if Ruth went to Boaz he would not let any harm come to her; we saw that in chapter 2.
What happens next may seem very strange to us, the customs of the Middle East more than three thousand years ago are a world away from contemporary Scotland. But, in effect, Naomi, by approaching Boaz in such an intimate manner under these circumstances is asking Boaz for his protection, asking to be his wife. Boaz responds positively to Ruth’s advances. It seems that he is considerably older than Ruth and is surprised and pleased that she has not approached one of the younger men rather than him.
Another point to note is that Boaz is a relative of Naomi and Ruth. In Hebrew law there is a provision for a widow to marry a close relative (usually a brother of the deceased) in order to preserve the name of the dead brother for the next generation (see Deuteronomy 25:5). This is not an absolute obligation and there is a process (outlined in the following verses in Deuteronomy) for the male relative to avoid such a marriage. Boaz was not such a close relative for this marriage obligation to be applicable, but it seems that he wanted to do the decent thing and to take on the responsibility for the widow Ruth (and her mother-in-law Naomi) by marrying Ruth. However, there was a complication. There was in Bethlehem a man who was a closer relative to Naomi and Ruth and by law he had first option on marrying Ruth.
Chapter 3 leaves us on a cliff-hanger like a soap opera. It is clear that Boaz wants to marry Ruth. He wants to support Naomi as well, and he sends Ruth back to Naomi with plenty of barley to make bread. But what about this mysterious closer relative? Will he take up his rights in law and demand that he marry Ruth? We must wait for Chapter 4 to find out.