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Welcome back, my friend! I hope your week has been filled with family and gratitude (and maybe a little turkey and pumpkin pie, too). Let me get right to what the Spirit showed me this week.
Last Week’s Work
WRITING TYPES
In addition to narrative, I observed:
- The first twelve verses of Ruth 4 describe something like a real estate closing or other legal proceeding, with witnesses, attestations, references to redemption and the levirate law, etc.
- I also recognized prophecy in v15 when the women told Naomi Obed would be her restorer of life and a nourisher of her old age. I saw this as literally the case since he was tasked with taking care of her under the law, but I also wonder if he represents more since he is the product of Ruth and Boaz’s obedience to God. Both Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’s lineage through Obed (Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32) and King David (Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31).
- Finally, I considered the genealogy at the end of the chapter instruction because it showed me how Ruth fits within the larger history of the Old Testament.
LITERAL CONTEXT
Through Boaz, Naomi’s family is restored and Elimelech’s property rights and lineage were preserved, even though they disobeyed God and did what was right in their own eyes. And Ruth could have done the same: she could have stayed in Moab with her family. Once in Bethlehem, she could have reneged on her promise to honor God and Naomi and, as Boaz mentioned in 3:10, gone after young men. But she didn’t. She trusted Naomi and God and worked hard, submitting herself to Israelite law and Boaz.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
From my earlier research, we have no information about the author of Ruth, only that it was written about 1010 BC. In Ruth 3, we saw the next-of-kin obligations giving rise to the legal proceeding in this chapter. My focus for this study is the reason the nearer redeemer gave for refusing to marry Ruth: doing so would jeopardize his own inheritance. In some of the historical research I reviewed, there was a hint that Ruth’s nationality might have been the problem. We don’t know for sure, but I believe it’s possible the superior redeemer’s family had additional requirements for inheritance. For example, if a son married into “the enemy” (aka, a Moabite), he might be disowned. I don’t know and can’t prove that’s the case here, but it seems possible.
INTERLINEAR RESEARCH
I reviewed the interlinear text of Ruth 4:6, concentrating on the Hebrew terms for jeopardize (H7843) and my own inheritance (H5159), but didn’t discover anything that clearly explained why the inheritance would be ruined if the man entered a levirate marriage with Ruth. As I searched and searched, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me that I was making more of this than necessary. The man stepped away to enable Boaz to fulfill that role. Isn’t it enough that all these circumstances fell into place so Ruth’s devotion to God and commitment to serving his people would put her in the genealogy of the Son of God?!
Dig-In Challenges
This week, let’s wrap up the second half of our Refine step by examining cross-references and other translations.
- Don’t forget to begin with your prayer from Step 1.
- REFINE: Then consult a concordance or online cross-reference study tool (for v6, I’ll start at this blb.org page) to find and read through the available cross-references for the verses you’re most interested in and log what the Spirit shows you.
NOTE: if you’re interested in verses other than 6, follow the above link, then point to the TOOLS button to the left of the verse you want to study, and choose Cross-Refs from the menu. - REFINE: Finally, compare at least a few other translations’ version of the same verses and write about what you find in your study journal. I’ll be comparing ESV, AMP, NIV, and GNT using this biblehub.com page. You can compare your own verses from that link by entering them in the Enter Reference or Keyword box at the top of the page and clicking the spyglass icon there.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover with you next week. I hope you join me then!