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Hello! I hope you are enjoying your dig into Ruth. It never gets old for me, and I pray it’s the same for you, too! Here’s what my digging uncovered:
Last Week’s Work
REPETITION
I found only one repeated term: redeem/redeemer. It appears in verses 9, 12, and 13.
I love how Ruth reveals herself to Boaz at midnight on the threshing floor when he wakes and she’s next to him. She says, I am Ruth, your servant. Remember, in 2:13, she also called herself your servant in her response to his blessing her and praying for her full reward… by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge (2:12).
But that’s not all. She also reminds him of that blessing when she says, spread your [Boaz’s] wings over your servant [Ruth], for you are a redeemer (3:9). If he has any memory of their previous interaction, there’s no question who has come to visit him there!
And how does he respond? He blesses her again and promises he’ll do anything she asks (3:11). But the plot thickens. There’s another redeemer, nearer than Boaz. I’m guessing he’d already checked into that situation: how else would he know that after threshing and winnowing barley, then partying half the night?
Yet, here’s how much of a stand-up guy he was: in verse 13, he tells her he’ll redeem her, but only if the nearer redeemer rejects her. Even though he’s clearly enamored with her, he’s more committed to doing the right thing than getting what he wants.
Did you notice Boaz has repeatedly provided for Ruth and Naomi, although he’s not the closest redeemer? In chapter 2, he gave Ruth food during the meal she subsequently shared with Naomi and told his men to help her glean. And in 3:15, he gave Ruth more of the grain.
SPECIAL STATEMENTS
I found:
- Fifteen Commands:
Naomi to Ruth: Wash . . . anoint yourself, put on your cloak, go . . . to the threshing floor, [don’t reveal] yourself until [Boaz] has finished eating and drinking (v3); observe . . . where he lies, go uncover his feet and lie down (v4), wait my daughter (v18).
Ruth to Boaz: Spread your wings over your servant (v9).
Boaz to Ruth: do not fear (v11), remain tonight, lie down until morning (v13), bring [your] garment . . . hold it out (v15). - One Blessing: Boaz to Ruth: May you be blessed by the Lord (v10).
- Three Promises:
Boaz to Ruth: I will do all that you ask (v11), as the Lord lives, I will redeem you (v13)
Naomi to Ruth: the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today (v18)—you might not consider this a promise since it’s not in Naomi’s power to fulfill it. I noted it anyway, though, because she has remarkable confidence that Boaz will do what he says he’ll do. Previously, Naomi identified Boaz as a close relative (2:20). It’s clear she knew him and what he was like, I’m guessing from personal experience before she and her family left Bethlehem (1:1).
LISTS
This time, the Spirit didn’t reveal any lists to me beyond the special statements listed above.
Dig-In Challenges
Next week, we’ll wrap up Step 3 by looking for three more elements:
- PRAY: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
- MINE: Read through the passage again to see if the Spirit reveals any comparisons. The quickest way to locate these is to look for phrases containing the words like or as, as well as more than/ less than and better than/ worse than. Do you find any comparisons that connect directly with your personal focus area?
- MINE: Next, look for causes or motives. The best way I’ve found to do this is to locate these key words or phrases:
because, for*, in order to, lest, since*, so*, so that, that*, to*, therefore.
Finding them almost always means you’ll find an action phrase (noun + verb) with the reason for that action, too. The *exceptions are for, since, so, that, and to—when these are used as other parts of speech (like prepositions or articles), you won’t find an action or a reason.
Next, look for the action (what’s being caused). With most of these words/phrases, you’ll find the action before the key word/phrase, and the reason will be after it.
For example, I went to the store because I was out of milk.
The action = I went to the store
because
The reason = I was out of milk.
Occasionally you may see the order of the statements reversed, but the reason will still follow the key word or phrase: Because I was out of milk, I went to the store.
However, with therefore and its synonyms so and hence, the action appears after these key words:
Here’s an example using the same reason and action as above, just changing the key word:
I was out of milk; therefore, I went to the store.
Same reason = I was out of milk [but different location!]
therefore
Same action = I went to the store.
Try it, I think you’ll see it’s easier than all these words make it seem (and, of course, feel free to reach out to me at jen@jencason.com if you have questions)! - MINE: Finally, see if you can find any conditions/methods required for something to happen. For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition is met, some outcome will happen (e.g., whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matt 21:22)? Or does he describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8)? Does he use any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how action was accomplished?
These exercises are more involved, but I know you can do this—give it a try and check back with me next week. I hope you’ll join me then!