RUTH 3 and 4

Ruth 3 is a really strange chapter, because this is where Naomi supposedly tells Ruth Go where Boaz is, uncover his feet, and lie down with him. I have always had a hard time with that. Scholars have said It was okay, given the customs of the time. However, given the customs of the time, that story would be even WORSE.

One of my favorite playwrights is Jean Racine, a French classical dramatist who gathered much of his material from the Orient. He wrote a famous play "Athalie", based on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which referred to women who were in the court system that would go see where someone lies and would uncover someone's feet.

The similarity of the phrases in his drama and in this portion of the Ruth story is remarkable. However, applying these phrases in a totally literal sense is the wrong application. These phrases refer to specific legal proceedings.

A common legal proceeding in the USA is called Obtaining A Writ Of Habeas Corpus. Translated literally, the phrase does not make any sense; it does not mean Go get the body. In fact, when citizens hear habeas corpus, they do not think half the body, because they know it is legal terminology — an equivalent of an indictment in a criminal case.

Note: Here the problem is that there are legal terms within Ruth, Chapters 3 and 4, which were taken literally (word for word), and they should not have been.

Today, I read a story in the newspaper about an situation the occurred in Corpus Christi. While reading this article, it occurred to me that hundreds of years from now someone reading this story would probably think that going to Corpus Christi was a religious ceremony, because Corpus Christi translated literally means the body of Christ. Directly, it does not mean that at all — it is just the name of a city in the USA.

Note: As we will see in this study, not all phrases contained in the Bible should be applied in a totally literal sense.

RUTH 3: Exposition

1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shall I not seek security for you that it may be well with you?"

2 "Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Look, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight."

3 "Wash therefore, anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking."

The Septuagint (LXX) was compared against our English versions and was used for this Ruth, Chapters 3 and 4 study.

The Septuagint (Seventy), a Greek version of the Old Testament Scriptures, was translated in Alexandria around the time of Socrates in about 400 B.C. The value of the Septuagint is the quality of the manuscripts used; seventy Jewish scholars went to Jerusalem and got the very best and the oldest manuscripts (from 300 to 400 B.C. and earlier) to produce this Greek translation. This amazing work was the first piece of literature systematically translated by the recovery of manuscripts. Unbelievably, the translation was completed in less than one year. There was unanimity by the scholars on every choice of word and of every phrase; obviously, Holy Spirit inspired the scholars.

Oftentimes, the Septuagint is considered lesser than the Hebrew versions, when in fact, I believe it is superior because the manuscripts used predate those used for the Hebrew text. The best evidence is that Messiah used it every time He quoted Scripture, as did all of the New Testament authors.

I checked Ruth, Chapters 3 and 4 in the Septuagint because I did not understand a lot of details contained therein. Many of the phrases that we see in our English versions of the Bible are not in the original Ruth text at all.

I think what has happened is that the translator read this story, and it did not make any sense to him. Unfortunately, with no knowledge of the particular legal terminology found within this book, he filled in some gaps trying to make sense of it. By checking back to the Septuagint, one finds that these additional phrases were not in the original text.

I have indicated the verses and phrases that were added or altered in the English versions from the original in the Septuagint. (See Ruth 3:4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, and Ruth 4:5.)

4 "It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet; then he will tell you what you shall do."

5 And she said to her, "All that you say I will do."

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.

7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet.

8 It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward.

9 He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are our closest redeemer."

10 Then he said, "May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not pursuing young men shamelessly, whether poor or rich."

Ruth was not running after young men indecently.

11 "Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence."

12 "Now it is true I am your redeemer; however, there is a relative closer than I."

The way closeness was measured was generational. Boaz was a nephew, and obviously, this other relative was a cousin of Elimelech (a cousin would have been considered closer than a nephew would have been). I am assuming this other relative was not Elimelech's brother, because Naomi would have known if her husband had a brother and she would have directed Ruth accordingly. It is understandable, however, that Naomi might not have known about her husband's cousin. However, Boaz knew, because he had confirmed the family line.

13 "Remain here, when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he cannot redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord says, Stay here till morning."

14 (This verse does not appear in the Septuagint at all.)

15 And he said, "Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it." So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.

16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did it go, my daughter?" And she told her all that the man had done for her.

As I mentioned, "Athalie" is a very famous play, which I read when I was at the university. It used all these same words, including Go see where someone lies and Uncover someone's feet. These phrases fit with the picture of a legal process that was in the play, which was set in Israel.

I asked an Israeli friend of mine, Joseph — one of the few people on earth who is *Aramaic — about these phrases. Did she really go down there, see where he was lying, and lift up his cover? He said Not at all! She did not do anything like that. I asked Was this strictly a legal process? He confirmed.

Though there are some details I do not quite understand, but I think what we know for sure will give us a correct big picture. In order to understand these legal terms, first we have to understand how the governmental system operated, including:

1. How the Courthouse worked.
2. How the Post Office worked.

The center of the government in any of these city-villages would have been at the main gate. This is where all of the civil business was taken care of, all the marriages would have been registered, and every legal aspect of that village would have been conducted. The main gate was also where the mail was delivered.

Interestingly enough, the mail was totally public; there was no private mail at the main gate. Every piece of mail taken there was similar to registered mail and it was public.

For instance, if one person sent another person a valentine at the city gate, and the valentine read Be My Valentine, then everybody (the public) would know because there was always somebody who would announce This guy wants her to be his valentine! Then if she wrote back saying You are a geek (creep) — leave me alone, inevitably, the self-appointed announcer would say She says that he is a geek!

Obviously, nothing was private at the gate, and clearly, there arose a need to have a more private, discreet and personal mail system. Fortunately, there was an evident way to do it.

A city like Bethlehem would have a huge area called the threshing floor where most of the landowners would spend their time. During peak season, it was not atypical for the those men to actually sleep at their maintained, semi-official residence (a little designated area) of the threshing floor (the place where the grains were wintered). At each of these designated areas there would be a post with a place for posting mail, which was always considered private mail.

We express our deepest appreciation to Mitchell and Dawn Kolodin for their excellent work in transcribing and editing this entire Ruth study.

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