AND HE SAID
WHO ARE YOU AND SHE ANSWERED I AM RUTH YOUR MAID:
(see note
Ruth 2:10-11;
Ruth 2:12;
1Sa 25:41;
Lu 14:11)
Boaz recognized the shadowy figure as a woman, as his
question "Who are you?" uses the feminine singular pronoun 'at.
"I am Ruth you maid"
She uses the Hebrew word 'amah (0519) which is
applied both to literal slaves and to those who figuratively call
themselves by this term as an expression of humility and submission. Abigail
for example fell at David's feet
"and said, "On me alone, my lord,
be the blame. And please let your maidservant
speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant." (1Sa 25:24)
Bathsheba
addressed her husband David saying
"My lord, you swore to your
maidservant by the LORD your God, saying, 'Surely your son Solomon
shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne." (1Ki
1:17).
The Greek
Septuagint translates it with the word ''doule" meaning one
whose will is submitted to the will of the master. Thus Ruth is
clearly willing to humble herself before Boaz.
Jesus taught
"everyone who exalts
himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be
exalted." (Lu 14:11)
(Comment: This promise certainly was proven true in the life of
Ruth the Moabitess)
As a husband you may wish your wife
submitted to you the way Ruth submits to Naomi and to Boaz. Then ask
yourself whether you are providing the kind of godly leadership, care, and
concern that Boaz showed towards Ruth? Now on the other hand, many
wives wish they had a husband who loved, cared, and treated them they
way Boaz did towards Ruth. But are they showing the same kind of
humble submission and respect Ruth showed to Boaz? Ruth is a very
practical book, especially regarding the relationship between men and
women, especially between husbands and wives, and for these reasons alone
it merits frequent
study and
meditation to "glean" the
hidden treasures of wisdom buried in these four profound chapters.
"Ruth
your maid" Note that
Ruth did not call herself “Ruth the Moabitess” but “your
handmaid” which
certainly suggests as some have surmised that Ruth was making a new
beginning. Ruth is mentioned
twelve times, five references as the Moabitess
(see note
Ruth 1:22;
Ruth 2:2;
Ruth 2:21;
Ruth 4:5;
Ruth 4:10).
SO SPREAD YOUR COVERING
OVER YOUR MAID: (Dt
22:30,
Eze16:8)
"Make me your wife
according to God’s law, for you are my close relative" (TLB)
"Because you are a
close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me. So please
marry me" (TEV)
"Spread your cover over
me, because you are a relative who is supposed to take care of me" (NCV)
"I am Ruth, your servant.
Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests" (NET)
"Spread your wing [of
protection] over your maidservant, for you are a next of kin" (AMP)
"Spread the skirt of your
cloak over your servant for you have the right of redemption over
me" (NJB)
"I am your servant Ruth:
take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation" (BBE)
Ruth reminded Boaz of his own
words, and requested him to become the fulfiller of his own prayer.
The word for corner is the same as that for `wing' in 2:12 (note) Ruth
reminded Boaz of his own words, and requested him to become the
fulfiller of his own prayer.
To raise the skirts
of a woman's garment is a symbol of insult and disgrace Jer 13:22, 26;
Nah. 3:5, whereas to cover her with one's skirt was a token of
matrimony.
No doubt the idiom reflected the custom, still practiced by some
in the Middle East, of a man throwing a garment over the woman he has
decided to take as his wife, and symbolizing protection as well as
fellowship.
Spread
(05203)
(paras) is commonly used
to describe wings as "being spread" or open fully. In a parallel passage in Ezekiel we see
God speaking to Israel reminding her
"I passed by you and saw you,
and behold, you were at the time for love; so I
spread
(paras) My skirt over you and covered your
nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so
that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD." (Ezek
16:8)
In this
metaphorical account in
Ezek
16:8, God spreads his
skirt over naked Jerusalem as an act of protection and as a precursor
to marriage.
To spread one’s mantle over a
person meant to claim that person for yourself. For example in (1Kings 19:19) we Elijah
finds
"Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve
pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed
over to him and threw his mantle on him."
"Covering" (03671)
(kanaph translated with
Septuagint (LXX)
pterugion = tarret or pinnacle)
refers to an edge or extremity; specifically of a bird
and thus refers to a bird's wing as used in Ru 2:12 ("under
Whose wings" )
referring figuratively to the wings of the Almighty God. Now Ruth
would be under the wings of Boaz, her beloved husband. What a
beautiful picture of marriage! Is that a picture of your marriage?
In the present context, kanaph refers to the edge of a garment or bed-clothing flap.
We find a similar use in Deuteronomy where God directs His people to
"make yourself tassels
on the four corners
of your garment with which you cover yourself"
(Dt
22:12)
Ruth’s words about Boaz taking her under his wing suggest that in her mind, she was entering into betrothal to
marry Boaz. Betrothal was the first stage of marriage in which a
couple contracted to marry each other. Betrothal in ancient
Israel (at the time of Christ) lasted for a year and
was as binding as marriage, being dissolved only by
divorce. Should the man to whom a girl was betrothed die, in the eyes
of the law she was a widow.
During the actual marriage ceremony, the groom’s relatives cover the
bride with the groom’s garment, indicating that from then on, she was
under his protection ("his wing").
In an earlier encounter (see note
Ruth 2:12)
Boaz had offered a prayer for Ruth,
"May the LORD reward your work,
and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings (kanaph = translated covering
in
Ruth 3:9 -
note) you have come to seek refuge."
The word "wings" was a
symbol of protection, as with
baby birds which run under their mother's wings to escape the birds of
prey. God used Boaz as the vessel to answer his own prayer in behalf
of Ruth.
It was customary for a Jewish husband to cover his new wife with the
end of his tallit (Heb., prayer shawl) to signify that
she was under his protection. Accordingly, Ruth was asking
Boaz to accept his responsibility as kinsman and to take her as his
wife.
The modern Jewish marriage
ceremony takes place under a "Huppah" (a canopy -- sounds like "kanaph")
in the presence of two lawful witnesses. To this day in many parts of
the East when a man says he put his skirt over a
woman it is synonymous with saying that he has married her.
The Old Testament uses kanaph many times, most often
figuratively and most often referring to God in a positive context.
For example, Israel's redemption and deliverance from bondage in Egypt is twice
described with the beautiful picture of "wings" for God reminds His
people
'You yourselves have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles'
wings, and brought
you to Myself" (Ex
19:4) and
"Like an eagle that
stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings
and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.
" (Deut
32:11).
God's "wings"
are pictured as instrumental in the redemption of His wife Israel from
Egyptian bondage. Here in Ruth, the bride is requesting that her
redeemer cover her with his "wings"! And ultimately from this covenant
comes One from the line of David and the tribe of Judah, Who Himself
is the Redeemer of all mankind. Have you sought refuge under the wings
of the Redeemer of Israel from the wrath to come? Paul teaches that if
you have, you are safe and can
"wait for (God's) Son from
heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, Who delivers us
from the wrath to come." (see note
1Thessalonians 1:10)
This phrase "Spread
your covering" vividly
pictures the provision of
protection, warmth and fellowship and in context speaks beautifully of
marriage. Would it be true that all husbands covered their dearly
beloved the way God does and the way Boaz did in this love story. There
appears to be no hesitation in the response of Boaz. Ruth could
let go of any fear she may have had, for there was no rebuke from this
godly man. To the contrary, he gives her a blessing and acceptance as
a `my daughter' in the family. No longer was she a stranger or
foreigner for
Ruth had come under the wings of Jehovah God (Ru 2:12); and now she
would be under the wings of her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz!
JFB adds that Ruth
"had already drawn part of
the mantle over her; and she asked him now to do it, that the act
might become his own. To spread a skirt over one is, in the East, a
symbolical action denoting protection. To this day in many
parts of the East, to say of anyone that he put his skirt over a
woman, is synonymous with saying that he married her; and at all the
marriages of the modern Jews and Hindus, one part of the ceremony is
for the bridegroom to put a silken or cotton cloak around his bride."
FOR YOU ARE A CLOSE RELATIVE:
(see note
Ruth 2:12)
"for thou art a near kinsman"
(ASV)
"for thou art a near kinsman
(BBE)
"you are the relative who is supposed to take care of me"
(CEV)
Today's English Version is very direct (albeit a paraphrase)
"Because
you are a close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me.
So please marry me."
"you are a close relative who can take
care of me" (GWT)
"Close
relative" (01350) (goel)
This is the second use of this term in Ruth (see note
Ruth 2:20)
Note she says "You are
a
kinsman-redeemer," rather than, "You are my kinsman-redeemer".
Whether Ruth knew that
there was a closer kinsman is uncertain.
It is surprising that Jonathan Edwards in his book "History of
Redemption" which traces the history of redemption from Moses to
David, absolutely ignored Boaz as a type of Christ, the great Redeemer
many of the judges fit that type writing that
"The deliverers that
God raised up from time to time were all types of Christ, the great
Redeemer of His Church; and some of them very remarkably so; as
particularly, Barak, Jephthah, Gideon, Samson, in many particulars."
(McGee,
J. V. Ruth and Esther : Women of Faith. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
J. Vernon McGee further notes that
"Having included Samson,
(Jonathan Edwards) passed over the Book of Ruth entirely, paid no
attention to Boaz, and discussed Samuel as the next in order as a type
of the Redeemer. A. H. Strong, in his Systematic Theology, defined the
section of theology under “Christology” as “the redemption wrought
by Christ,” and he did not even allude to Boaz as a type of Christ.
There is no reference to the Book of Ruth in his entire work on
theology. Calvin, in the Institutes, made no reference to the Book of
Ruth when contemplating redemption. In any biblical history of
redemption that seeks to trace the types through the Scripture, there
ought to be a reference to Boaz in the Book of Ruth." (Ibid)
|
GA'AL
(Go'el is the active
participle of ga'al)
(Geullah is the passive participle of ga'al)
(for further explanation & definition
click here)
ALL USES IN RUTH |
|
Ruth 2:20 - see note
Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not
withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead ." Again
Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives
(go'el)."
Ruth 3:9 - see note
He said, "Who are you?"
And she answered, "I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering
over your maid, for you are a
close relative
(go'el)."
Ruth 3:12 - see note
"Now it is true I am a
close
relative
(go'el);
however, there is a
relative closer
(go'el) than I.
Ruth 3:13 -see note
"Remain this night, and
when morning comes, if he will
redeem
(ga'al)
you, good; let him redeem
(ga'al)
you. But if he does not wish to
redeem
(ga'al)
you, then I will
redeem
(ga'al) you, as the
LORD lives. Lie down until morning ."
Ruth 4:1 - see note
Now Boaz went up to the
gate and sat down there, and behold, the
close
relative
(go'el)
of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, "Turn aside,
friend, sit down here ." And he turned aside and sat down.
Ruth 4:3 - see note
Then he said to the
closest
relative
(go'el),
"Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the
piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
Ruth 4:4 - see note
"So I thought to inform
you, saying, 'Buy it before those who are sitting here, and
before the elders of my people. If you will
redeem
(ga'al)
it, redeem
(ga'al)
it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but
you to redeem
(ga'al)
it, and I am after you.'" And he said, "I will
redeem
(ga'al)
it."
Ruth 4:6 - see note
The
closest relative
(go'el)
said, "I cannot
redeem
(ga'al)
it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance.
Redeem
(ga'al)
it for yourself; you may have my
right of redemption
(geullah = passive participle of ga'al), for I
cannot redeem
(ga'al)
it."
Ruth 4:8 - see note
So the
closest
relative
(go'el)
said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." And he removed his sandal.
Ruth 4:14 - see note
Then the women said to
Naomi, "Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a
redeemer
(go'el)
today, and may his name become famous in Israel.
|
|
Why
did he have to ask who this was? Did he even know it was a woman?
Obviously it was dark
because it was the middle of the night -- although he apparently did know it was a woman because the pronoun he uses
in Hebrew is feminine.
How does Ruth characterize herself?
his "maid" the Hebrew word
(amah) is not
the same one (shiphchah) used in
Ruth 2:13
(note), but is the word for literal
slaves -- this word suggests that she
was humbling herself, submitting her will to his will, her hopes &
desires to his providences.
Abigail "fell at (David's)
feet and said, "On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please
let your maidservant (amah) speak to
you, and listen to the words of your maidservant (amah)." (1Sa 25:24).
Humility;
Submission.
What does she request?
How does this correlate with Dt 25:5-10?
to cover her with one's skirt was a token of matrimony; to fulfill the
levirate marriage
Why was Ruth so bold in her request?
She knew Boaz was a go'el.
How is the Hebrew word "covering" translated elsewhere in Ru 2:12?
How else do these 2 verse relate? What was Boaz doing for Ruth in
2:12?
God used Boaz as the vessel to answer his own prayer in behalf
of Ruth
What does Ezekiel 16:8 teach about the meaning of Ruth's request?
This idiom reflected the custom, still practiced by some Arabs, of a
man’s throwing a garment over the woman he has decided to take as his
wife, and symbolizing protection as well as fellowship. The "security"
or REST that Naomi had desired for Ruth.
Ezekiel 16:8 = God says "I SPREAD (paras) MY SKIRT (wing -
kanaph) OVER YOU". This phrase reflects
Israel's "marriageable state" and the spreading of God's “wing” pictures the
custom of espousal as here in Ruth. This statement by God clearly indicates that
He had entered
into a covenant with young Israel. When? At Mt. Sinai (cf.
Ex 19:5-8). Here
this covenant is pictured as like a marriage. In fact, elsewhere
God describes His relationship to Israel in similar terms
Jeremiah 31:32 recording that God would make a new covenant with
Israel...
not like the covenant which I
made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they
broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the
LORD. (cf also Jeremiah 2:2)
What else would "wings" picture according to Dt 32:11?
This figure no doubt refers more especially to the protection and
assistance of God experienced by Israel in its journey through the
Arabian desert -- compare with Jesus' lament in
Mt 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones
those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children
together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you
were unwilling. |
The responsibilities of the
kinsman redeemer or go'el mentioned in Scripture are...
1).
Avenging the death of a murdered relative (Nu
35:19)
2). Marrying a childless widow of a deceased brother (Dt
25:5-10),
3). Buying back family land that had been sold (Lv25:25),
4). Buying a family member who had been sold as a slave (
