uth 4:5). Except in the case of Ruth, Boaz is not obliged to marry her at all.
We become aware that the laws related to the redemption of property by which next of has the first refusal is practised in Israel (Ruth 4). Furthermore, legal business is conducted at the city gates (Ruth 4). We have in Ruth some aspects of ordinary people going about life
We cannot say for certain whether Ruth was an 'historical figure'?
The story would appear to establish Ruth as a person in Israel's history. Would the story have been sustained if Ruth were not the mother of Obed (Matthew 1:5)? Whatever the answer, Ruth is an important person in the history of Israel and her part in the lineage of David.
Context of Ruth 3 & 4 (What's Happening in the Literature around Ruth 3 & 4)
The story is a successive building up of life experiences: the famine in Bethlehem (House of Bread) drives Naomi and Elimelech out to Moab, Naomi's subsequent loss of husband and two sons (husbands of Orpah and Ruth), the news that there was food now in Judah (Bethlehem), the return of Naomi and Ruth, the need to find food and so Ruth goes out into the fields to get the gleanings, introduction of the wealthy relative, protection and favour from Boaz with the quite intimate scene of Boaz's invitation to dip her bread in wine, he then instructed his young men to pull out bundles of corn for her to glean, she beat out the corn and returned to Naomi with it. Naomi blessed Boaz for his kindness and said that he was one of ours: Ruth is included in the relationship. Ruth continued with this job until the end of the harvest.
And after Chapter 3 we have Boaz challenging the next of kin at the gate (place of justice) to take up redemption of Naomi's field. Initially, the kinsman says yes and then backs off when he was told it had to include Ruth in the bargain. Boaz did not give him all the details at the one time, and basically set the guy up, especially with the elders called in as witnesses. Boaz indicates the need to restore the name of the dead, but neither the nearer kinsman or Boaz are obliged to do this under the Torah, only brothers of the dead men. The seal of the transaction is completed by the nearer kinsman drawing off his sandal and offering it to Boaz as a seal of the sale of the land and of Ruth. She is bought. The people and elders at the gate offer a blessing on Ruth and on Boaz recalling earlier ancestors, Rachel & Leah, Perez son of Tamar and Judah.
Insights/Message of Ruth 3 & 4
The end of Chapter 2 has Ruth returning from the fields with wheat for her and her mother-in-law, Naomi. The beginning of Chapter 3 has Ruth sent by Naomi to the threshing floor. The theme of bread/wheat/ famine/plenty continues with these references to gleaning and then the threshing floor. Naomi begins the speech by asking 2 questions which are not really seeking an answer, but set the scene and her motive for giving the following instructions, just in case Ruth might not agree. While the overt reason is the need for Ruth to have a home it will automatically give Naomi the status and security she is denied at the moment. An older widow has little status in a community - no husband, no sons and too old to bear children means she is a liability to those around her.
I will look at 3:1-5, 4:13-17 and the story in between. It is beyond my belief that the Lectionary thinks it can split the story this way without dealing with the whole. The Book is superbly crafted and to look at pieces is like dealing with 1 arm and 1 leg and not knowing what the rest of the person looks like. I'll refrain from further comment on this problem.
Naomi takes initiative and prepares Ruth for role. She implies that Boaz is closest kinsman, but we know from later in the chapter that there is one closer. When Naomi speaks (v.2) the commands are quite abrupt, "wash, anoint, put on, go down, do not make, observe, then go & uncover? We are not told what Naomi intends. The fact that it is the threshing floor which often symbolises a place of fertility - seed - , and in older societies was a time of rejoicing an