Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Ruth

[Tony Chan]

Was it okay for Ruth to lie down next to Boaz in the middle of the night?

Ruth 3:

1One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home a for you, where you will be well provided for. 2Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

Was it culturally proper for Ruth to do this?

[jimwalton]

It is unclear what is happening here. We are not as familiar with the culture as we would like to be. The threshing floor is a VERY public place, however; it's not like she is sneaking into his bedroom, and every propriety would prevent them from doing naughty things in a public place like this. Many people would sleep at the threshing floor during harvest to protect their crop from theft or animal invasion. There is little chance they would have been alone. I think we're wrong to assume an impropriety.

Walton, Matthews, & Chavalas, in "The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament" (p. 279) writes about verse 3 (the previous verse): "Some commentators have suggested that Ruth is fashioning herself as a bride, thus to be seen would be to tip her hand. Most consider her remaining hidden to be not an issue of propriety but rather of appropriate timing." Again, there was nothing improper going on here.

The story is told as if Boaz and Ruth are both people of integrity, propriety, and even godliness. I don't see particular warrant for assuming something immoral (like sex outside of marriage) is happening.

The fact that he didn't know she was even there (Ruth 3.9) leads me to believe she hadn't climbed into his bed to make love to him.

Ruth uses a phrase (v. 9: "Spread the corner of your blanket over me") that elsewhere is used to refer to betrothal and marriage. Many commentators say she is proposing to him—that it's her way of saying, "Boaz, if you ask me to marry you, I will say yes." Edward Campbell, in the Anchor Bible commentary series, writes, "There is a word-play between YHWH’s wings (2.12) and the 'wings' or 'corners' on Israelite garments (Dt. 22.12; Ezk. 5.3). If we are guided by Dt. 22.30 (Hebrew text 23.1); 27.20; Ezk. 16.8, all of which pertain to marital custom, it is strong evidence that Ruth’s request of Boaz is marriage. Commentators frequently invoke ancient and modern Arabic custom as further evidence that the placing of a garment over a woman is a symbolic claim to marriage."

[Tony Chan]

Thanks. It has helped me understand the situation better

[jimwalton]

When I read the book of Ruth, it seems to me that it's obvious that both Boaz and Ruth are being portrayed as noble and good people. It just doesn't fit the book to see, right in the middle, an immoral tryst that would smear the integrity of both of them.