Ruth 3:10-13 – “Faith and Families”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁰And he said, “[May] you [be] one blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have done well. Your kindness, the former from the latter, not to go after the young men, either poor or rich. ¹¹And now, my daughter, do not be afraid. All which you are saying I will do to you because the all of the gate of my people [are] knowing that you [are] a virtuous woman. ¹²And now because [it is] truth because a redeeming one I [am] and also there is a redeeming one nearer from me. ¹³Remain tonight and it will be in the morning if he will redeem, good, he will redeem and if not he is pleased to redeem you and I will redeem you, [as] the LORD lives. Lie down until the morning.”

Here’s some miscellaneous notes and thoughts from this passage:

Throughout the book, Boaz has been identified as a kinsman to Naomi’s deceased husband Elimelech, but exactly what relation he was we’re never told. According to John Gill (ca. 1760), Jewish tradition holds that Elimelech and Boaz were first cousins, the sons of two brothers. According to the genealogy of Matt 1, Boaz’s father’s name was Salmon (the man who married Rahab of Jericho), the son of Nahshon:

“…Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth …”

So, if tradition is correct, Elimemech would have been the son of Salmon’s brother, who was also a son of Nahshon. Then, according to Gill, Jewish tradition holds that the “nearer kinsman” was another of Salmon’s brothers, so another of Nahshon’s sons, which would make him Boaz and Elimelech’s uncle.

If this is all true, a family tree would look like:

Nahshon

|

                Salmon                   x                “the other kinsman”

|                            |                             |

Boaz                Elimelech                   x

Interestingly, that could have made the “other” kinsman old enough to be Ruth’s grandfather! That may not be true, though, in a culture where there could be ten or fifteen children. Salmon would likely have been Nahshon’s firstborn (since he’s listed as his son in the genealogy), and “the other kinsman” could have been one of Nahshon’s younger sons, potentially making him about the same age as Boaz. It is very common in a “many-children” culture to have uncle-nephew boys who functionally grow up as cousins. That is true of David and his sister Zeruiah’s sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. David was actually their uncle but obviously they were all similar in age and functioned like cousins. David was Jesse’s youngest son and Zeruiah was apparently a much older daughter, so that her sons were similar in age to David. So, probably “the other kinsman” was similar in age to Boaz, still making him old enough to be Ruth’s father.

Another interesting note here is that Boaz’s father Salmon married Rahab of Jericho, who had been a harlot but became a woman of faith. So Rahab was Boaz’s mother! One can’t help but wonder if that wasn’t part of what made Boaz who he was, to have a mother of such notable faith. She wasn’t “just another Israelite” who grew up “in church.” She was a woman who intimately knew “the other life” and chose to worship the Lord. That might also explain part of Boaz’s attraction to Ruth – she’s reminds him of his mom! That also might explain why Boaz was so willing to marry a “foreigner.” His mother was one! Finally, all of this might explain David’s amazing faith. He definitely came from a line of people of unusual faith, Ruth’s son Obed being his grandfather.

It is interesting to think how neither Rahab nor Ruth could possibly have realized the far reaching impact of their decisions of faith. Here is Rahab a harlot in Jericho, a city so wicked that the Lord told Israel to utterly wipe it out and then cursed anyone who would try to rebuild it. While everyone else in Jericho cringed in fear, Rahab somehow realized the reason it all was happening was because Israel’s God was the true God. And so she resolved in her heart if it was at all possible, she would attach herself to these people. The Lord of course made a way by sending Joshua’s spies right to her doorstep. But all she knew was that she was leaving her own people and their gods and attaching herself to Israel and their God. Like Ruth, the Lord blessed her with an Israelite husband who could look beyond her past and her nationality and make her his wife. Little could she imagine that their son Boaz would himself marry a foreign girl and together build the lineage of a King David … and ultimately the Messiah Himself!

The obvious implication of all of this is that we never know what the Lord is up to. We make our decisions of faith in our lifetimes, in our generations, and those decisions may be setting up blessings our children’s childrens’ children will enjoy. We just don’t know. The one thing we do know is that our God’s name is El Shaddai, the God who does “immeasurably more than we could ask or think.” He is the God who can take five loaves and two fishes and bless them and break them and multiply them to bless thousands.

May the story of Boaz and Ruth today remind us to never make light of even our “little” faith decisions. Our God may be doing great things far beyond our wildest imaginations and perhaps blessing our families long after we’re gone!