Women who
begat Jesus: Ruth
The genealogy of Jesus, according to the gospel of Matthew, continues:
and that man the father of a man by Ruth, a woman.
Tamar’s story is found in the book of Genesis
(Chapter 38). Rahab’s story is in the
book of Joshua (Chapters 2 and 6). My story is recorded in the book named after
me, the book of Ruth (New Revised Standard Version).
Like Tamar, I too lost my first husband. He had
come with his father and mother and brother from the country of Judah, to my
country called Moab, to escape a great famine. The father died, and then, after
both of the sons had married Moabite women, they also died. That left me and my
mother-in-law Naomi and my sister-in-law Orpah (whose claim to fame is her
namesake, Oprah Winfrey—called “Oprah” because that’s how it was spelled at her
birth. But that’s another story).
And like Tamar, we women were considered nothing
without husbands or sons. So our mother-in-law Naomi begged each of us to
return to our families—since we were Moabites, not Israelites—and start over.
Orpah went, but I would not. I told my mother-in-law:
“Do
not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go; where you
lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people, and
your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—there will
I be buried.
May God do thus and so to me, and
more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
So Naomi and I traveled together to her homeland
Judah, to the town of Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” We arrived just at the beginning of the
barley feast. Many people were working in the fields, and I asked if I could
work behind those doing the reaping and glean among the ears of grain, that is,
take the leftovers. I was allowed, and I worked from sunup until sundown
without even taking a break.
Well, the owner of one field was a relative of my
mother-in-law; his name was Boaz. He saw me working hard and allowed me to work
in his field—in fact, he pretty much ordered me not to work in any other field
or leave his field. He also said he had ordered the young men working in the
fields not to bother me. And I was given permission to drink water whenever I
was thirsty.
When I asked this generous man why he found favor
in me, especially since I was a foreigner, he said he had heard all that I had
done for my mother-in-law, and he hoped my deeds would be rewarded by the God
of Israel under whose wings I had come for refuge. He then invited me to eat with him.
When I told Naomi this, she was delighted. She
had me wash and anoint myself and put on my best clothes and go to Boaz. After
he had finished eating he laid down. I then quietly went and uncovered his feet
(a euphemism for genitals in the Hebrew language) and also laid down.
In the middle of the night he awoke with a start
and discovered me lying “down there.” He asked who I was. I reminded him I was
Ruth, Naomi’s foreign daughter-in-law. He then blessed me and before dawn sent
me back to Naomi with much barley.
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