The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan

Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)

Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)

The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

Jane Austen
(A Biography)

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Bible - OT - Ruth: Jesus and Gentiles

The typological pattern of Ruth is: Naomi, the Jewish widow, is bereft; the Gentile daughter Ruth joins her; Naomi gets a savior when Boaz attaches himself to Ruth.  That is, the pattern is not “Savior, then incorporation of Gentiles” but “incorporation of Gentiles, then Savior.”

In the fulfillment, it’s both.  Jesus comes to bring the Gentiles into full sonship and holiness.  But the Ruth pattern is also at work on the larger scale: The incorporation of the Gentile bride in the restoration period is preparation for the coming of the kinsman redeemer.  Might we say that the kinsman redeemer comes to save the widow Israel precisely because of the pleas of the Gentiles?  Might we say that the Redeemer comes to save the widow Israel because of His attraction to the Gentile  daughter?

Bible - OT - Ruth: Naomi’s story

Naomi is as central to Ruth as the title character.  She’s the one emptied, then filled; bereft and restored; dead and risen again.  The son of Boaz and Ruth is “Naomi’s son,” and this chiastically matches (as several of my students have pointed out) her loss of sons at the beginning of the book.  Naomi is the Hebrew widow, and the story, for all its interest in the Moabite Ruth, is also about the redemption of Israel.

Bible - OT - Ruth: Overshadowing

David Daube suggests in his book on the New Testament and rabbinic Judaism that the image of the Spirit “overshadowing” Mary is ultimately drawn from the image of Boaz covering Ruth with the wing of his garment. The Lord spreads his skirt over Mary – who, like Ruth, calls herself the maidservant – in order to give birth to the true Obed, the true Servant.

Bible - OT - Ruth: Ordo salutis

Ruth is redeemed by an Israelite savior, Boaz. But she meets an Israelite widow before she knows that there is an Israelite savior, and she comes to know the savior through her association with the widow. Typologically: The Gentiles pledge themselves to Israel, and through Israel come to know Israel’s savior (and of course Israel is saved through Gentile incorporation).

Tropologically (perhaps): A child is pledged to the new Israel, the new bride who is no longer a widow, in baptism; Israel’s people becomes her people, and Israel’s God her God. She comes to know Israel’s savior through the witness of the bride.

Bible - OT - Ruth: All Israel Shall Be Saved

The book of Ruth is not merely about the individual characters, but about Israel, moving from the barrenness of the period of the judges toward the new birth of the monarchy. Naomi is the barren, bereft Israelite widow, who ends the book with a child her knees and with plenty of food ?Eredeemed. And the chief means for that movement is the incorporation of the Gentile Ruth into her house. Kindness is extended to the Gentiles, and through the incorporation of Gentiles, all Israel is saved.

Bible - OT - Ruth: Ruth and Judges

In a 1989 article in the WTJ, Warren Gage, now of Knox Theological Seminary, explores the connections between the Gibeah incident recorded at the end of Judges and the story of Ruth. He argues that there are literary and thematic connections and contrasts between the two narratives. As usual, Gage gives us a number of stunning connections, such as:

1) Gibeah and Bethlehem both figure prominently in the history of the monarchy, Gibeah as Saul’s hometown (1 Sam 15:34) and Bethlehem as the birthplace of David. This connection with royalty is evident also in the refrain of Judges (“there was no king in Israel”) in contrast to the genealogy that ends the book of Ruth. The story of Gibeah and Bethlehem in Judges-Ruth thus anticipates the story of Saul and David.

2) An additional layer of typology emerges when we consider the widely recognized similarities between the story of Gibeah and that of Sodom. He notes that in both stories, someone offers women to the sodomites who are attacking visitors to a city, and in both instances the phrase “do whatever is good in your eyes” is used (Gen 19:8; Judg 19:24). Clearly, this is related to the larger issue of Judges, which records a time when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

3) The Sodom connection throws some brilliant light on the story of Ruth, since Ruth is Moabite, descended from Moab, the product of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. Thus, Gage points to numerous structural similarities between the story of Lot and his daughter and the story of Ruth and Boaz; the incest in the cave is linked with the tryst on the threshing floor:

women plot to preserve the family, Gen 19:31; Ruth 3:1
the male has been drinking, Gen 19:32; Ruth 3:7
the female seeks him out and lies “beside” him, Gen 19:33; Ruth 3:7
the female receives “seed” from the man, Gen 19:36; Ruth 3:15
two women “receive” a son, Gen 19:37-38; Ruth 4:13, 17

These structural similarities are mainly intended to highlight contrasts, and Gage suggests several: Ruth is fulfilling the levirate law, while Lot’s daughter is committing incest (Ruth “uncovers the feet” of Boaz, an expression similar to that used for incest in Lev 18, 20, but in Ruth’s case without the implication of sin); Lot’s daughter lies with her father, while Ruth lies with a “kinsman” who is an appropriate husband; Lot is passive throughout, while Boaz takes the initiative; Ruth waits for Boaz to awake while Lot’s daughter lies with her father without his awareness; Ruth does not have intercourse with Boaz, but Lot’s daughter does; Ruth receives grain “seed,” foreshadowing her later conception, but Lot’s daughter receives her father’s “seed” and becomes pregnant illicitly.

In short, Ruth’s tryst in the Bethlehem threshing flood is not only contrasted with the sodomy of Gibeah, but with the original incest that founded the Moabites.

4) Gage says that the story of Ruth, read in conjuction with the story of Gibeah, offers a preview of the gospel in a number of respects. The incorporation of the Moabite Ruth is contrasted with the rejection of the Benjamite city. While the men of Gibeah act like Amorites, Ruth leaves her home and family to follow Naomi and Yahweh, displaying a faith like Abraham. The people of God is not defined by race but by faith, and even Moabites, who are forbidden from participation in the assembly of Israel (Deut 23:3), may be saved by seeking out Israel’s kinsman redeemer.

Bible - OT - Genesis Bible - OT - Ruth: Ruth and Tamar

In the “Well, duh” category: After mentioning Warren Gage’s work on the parallels between Ruth and Tamar here earlier in the week, now I’ve read a student paper that helps to fill out that point. She points out that in both stories, men and specifically husbands die and that in both the outcome is the birth of a child to the widow. Also, it’s obvious that both are dealing with the institution of the levirate, and both are also reporting on the genealogy of Judah leading up to David. The Tamar story is the beginning of the 10-generation exclusion of the bastard descendants of Judah from full participation and leadership in the community, and the Ruth story is the endpoint of that history.

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