Did Ruth & Boaz…You Know...
And other pressing questions from the closest thing in the Bible to a Hallmark movie (which, admittedly, is not really close at all).
Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest:
Love on the Threshing Floor
Yesterday I released Episode 13 of Holy Ghost Stories Season 3—“The Alchemist, the Strangers, and the Volunteer (Part 2).” It’s the second installment of the story of Ruth—an incredible tale of survival, providence, and love.
Here are a few BTS details for you:
Bits & Bobs
The score was tough. Interestingly, this episode was a tough one to score. It’s a bit outside of the usual HGS tone, given its color palette—a decidedly brighter mood than many narrative texts in the OT. In the end, though, I’m really happy with what I was able to create and I’m so glad to share it with you.
One of my favorite musical moments in the episode is the scene where Boaz is walking out from his house to sleep on the threshing floor. Loved the pairing of this piece by Jesse Brown with that part of the story. Did you have a favorite?
Was that sex? So what, exactly, happened at the threshing floor that night? Did Ruth and Boaz have sex? Something close to it? In the words of Pádraig Ó Tuama & Glenn Jordan in their book, Borders and Belonging: The Story of Ruth, “Much is suggested in the text, and much is made in the literature—both ancient and contemporary—of this question. Many also question whether Naomi, by instructing Ruth, was some kind of matriarchal pimp?” Compelling questions, these. However, as Ó Tuama and Jordan go on to say, the questions are more interesting than the answers.
I wouldn’t bet my life on it, but it seems there’s good evidence that though “uncovering one’s feet” was often used as a metaphor for highly personal acts involving genatalia and/or other private parts of the body, it does not seem to be here. However, it seems the author of Ruth is aware of the common usage of this terminology and perhaps makes use of it to amp up the tension of this scene. As Rupert L. Hubbard says in the Ruth volume of the New International Commentariy on the Old Testament, “The chapter teems with carefully contrived ambiguity and sexual innuendo.”
In the end, I’d side with those who see this as a puzzling cultural idiosyncrasy that, while it certainly had sexual undertones (it was, after all, attached to marriage), did not involve sexual acts.
By the way, one of the implicit positions of the text is the admirable choice Ruth, a Moabite, made not to seduce Boaz and trap him into obligation. Moab (father of the Moabites) was, after all, famously fathered by way of Lot’s daughter seducing her father.
Picture the harvest. I shared a video last time with a good small-scale overview of harvesting barley, but here’s a few seconds of footage that will give you a fun picture of what Ruth may have seen as she walked up to Boaz’s field.
How old was Boaz? Great question. In spite of the fact that many artists, preachers, and commentators portray him as almost elderly (as opposed to the much younger Ruth, who might be young enough to be his granddaughter), the text does not tell us how old he was when he met her. You could make a decent case that he’s significantly older than Ruth (say, at least 15 years?) based on the following:
He’s described as a “worthy man” who clearly is a person of means—a position probably not attainable as an under-35-year-old.
When Ruth essentially proposes to him, Boaz praises her thusly in 3:10: “You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.” It seems he’s differentiating himself from the younger men.
Boaz calls Ruth “daughter” in 2:8, 3:10,11
However—hear me out:
Boaz is apparently unmarried. In this culture, it was highly unlikely that a man would remain unmarried into his middle (or certainly, old) age—especially a man of standing like him. (Ó Tuama, by the way, answers this by declaring that Boaz was married, but his wife died the day he met Ruth. As far as I’m aware, there is no evidence whatsoever for this.😃) So isn’t it likely—at least possible—that he wasn’t elderly (or anywhere close to it), given his yet-unmarried status?
He was certainly young enough to father a child with Ruth (without any mention of divine intervention).
But what about the items I mentioned in favor of an older Boaz? Perhaps he’d reached “man of standing” status relatively early. Perhaps in 3:10 he wasn’t emphasizing the youth of Ruth’s other options, but the other-ness of Ruth’s other options. Surely, “daughter” was more a term of kind concern rather than a mathematically precise gague of their age difference.
In the end, who knows? Maybe there was a 40 year age difference, maybe there was a 10 or 15 year age difference. The fact is, we don’t know. You’ll notice in the episode that I don’t take a position. (Though I do portray him as not-elderly and certainly young at heart.😊)
What was Naomi’s plan? I offer a brief sketch of what Naomi had in mind when she sent Ruth Boaz’s way, but here’s a bit more detail from writer and biblical scholar Christopher S. Smith I thought was interesting:
“To get enough money to live on, Naomi is selling the portion of the fields around Bethlehem that belonged to her late husband Elimelek. The hope is that, as the law intends, a goel (family guardian) will ‘redeem’ this property, buying it from Naomi, but also on her behalf, so that she has both the money from the sale and the field’s produce year by year.”
“The man and the woman” - Interestingly, the Hebrew text shifts during the threshing floor interaction, referring to Ruth as “the woman” and Boaz as “the man.” Is this intended to turn our minds back to Eden? Regardless, I allude to this shift in one of the lines during this scene.
The Old Testament’s Made-Up Word - In the intro of this episode, I mention the Hebrew term Chesed/Hesed—a concept often mentioned during discussions of Ruth’s behavior toward Naomi and Boaz’s behavior toward Ruth (both mirrors of Yahweh’s loving posture toward us). Bible scholar Darrel L. Bock defines Hesed as:
“…wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty—in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty.”
It’s a tough word to translate into English, given its multidimensional meaning. I’ve always loved Sally Lloyd Jones’ rendering of this word/concept in her Jesus Storybook Bible; God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” Bravo and amen.
What was in Your Head?
I’m curious: given that this is such an oft-visited narrative, has there been anything in the last episode or this one that’s surprised you, or wasn’t the way you’d pictured it?
Give it a Listen
Okay! I’ll stop there and let you listen if you haven’t already. I know this story is a favorite of many; if you’re one of those folks, I hope you feel like I did it justice. There’s one more left—Part 3 will serve as the season finale in two weeks.
Hope you’re blessed by “The Alchemist, the Strangers, and the Volunteer (Part 2),” and hope it leads you into an encounter with Yahweh.
Season 3 Wrap Party
We’re getting dangerously close to the end of Season 3! (I can’t believe you guys have enabled 3 seasons of HGS—amazing.) The finale will drop on September 26, and I’m thinking it would be fun to do a Wrap Party that week to celebrate the conclusion of the season.
During said gathering ’d like to respond to any questions you guys have as you reflect on the episodes in this season, share some of my favorite scenes and why I like them, do a celebratory giveaway, and other fun stuff.
So question: would you prefer I did this as: a) An Instagram Live, b) a YouTube live (where chat might be a bit easier to navigate), or c) a bonus podcast episode where you send in voicemail messages with your questions ahead of time? Let me know, would you? (Poll’s only open ‘til Friday morning.)
3 Cool Things
Home - This docu-series on Apple TV+ was a delightful find—everything beautifully shot, with solid storytelling alongside. If you’re into architecture, I really think you’ll dig it. I loved “Edgeland House” (E7) as well as “Southside” (E2).
Rings of Disturbance - Well isn’t this lovely:
Dead Poets Society - Ugh. This was my favorite movie as a middle-schooler and I’ve been waiting a long time to watch this with my kids. Finally got to do it last week and they LOVED it.🙌🏼 We all did. In fact, the Gerhardt Family Halloween Costume may have a certain Welton-esque theme…
That’s the latest! Hope you’re blessed by “The Alchemist, the Strangers, and the Volunteer (Part 2).” Let me know what you think—I truly love hearing from you.
Gratefully,
Justin
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