Ruth and Naomi
(circa 1100 BC) Israel
Ancestors of Jesus
Ruth was great-grandmother of King David, and hence a direct ancestor of Jesus. Although Deuteronomy 23:3 specifically states that no Moabite is to be admitted to the assembly of the Lord (a position vigorously pursued later by such nationalists as Ezra and Nehemiah [Ezra:1,2,12; 103,18,44, Neh 13:23, 25, 27-28, 30]), Ruth was a Moabite women.
This is a book of the inclusivity of God's call, and another Biblical illustration of the limits of the Law. The focus of the story is on her loving relationship with Naomi. At Naomi's suggestion, Ruth marries a kinsman of Naomi, called Boaz, but this is to perpetuate her dead husband Mahlon's line (see Ruth 4:12-14, 17). Is this a story about lesbianism, which was not forbidden at all in the Law? Whatever the answer, it is a story of love and loyalty between two women, a love surpassing the love of man.
Ruth 1:16-18
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:
for whether thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God:
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:
the Lord do so to me, and more also,
if ought but death part thee and me.
When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
Painting: Ruth and Naomi on the road to Bethlehem, ca. 1947, by Arthur Szyk (1894-1951, Polish)
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