Ruth
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| Portrait of a woman as Ruth (c. 1853) by Francesco Hayez |
“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and you God my God,” Ruth had told Naomi,
clutching her hand. “Where you die I will die and there I will be buried. May
the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates us.”
And that’s how she had ended up here, in a field in Bethlehem,
picking up grain behind harvesters with her mother-in-law. She may have taken
Naomi’s God as her own, but she certainly hadn’t been raised with him. Ruth
worried constantly that she was going to do something to offend the harvesters,
or their master, a relative of Naomi’s who she had yet to meet. Yes, all and
all Bethlehem certainly made Ruth nervous.
“Excuse me,” a voice called, startling Ruth.
She fell back against the barley before scrambling back to
her feet.
“Forgive me,” she called back, ducking her head in
embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to bother you, sir.”
“You’re no bother at all,” the man replied, grinning. “I
just wanted to introduce myself, I am Boaz”
Gasping, Ruth ducked her head even lower. Boaz was Naomi’s
distant relative, a guardian redeemer for their house, and, as it turns out,
very handsome in his own right.
“Thank you for allowing me to glean behind your harvesters,
sir” Ruth said, her eyes still on her feet.
“Of course – any daughter of Naomi’s is a welcome addition,”
Boaz said, smiling at Ruth still. “Stay here with the women who work for me.”
Ruth was shocked. He was basically employing her, here, without
knowing anything about her. And offering her his protection as well.
“Oh, thank you – thank you so much, sir,” Ruth replied, still barely able to look Boaz in the eyes.
Smiling, he just nodded before heading toward his house.
Looking around her and reveling in her fortune Ruth got back to work, eager to
earn her place here.
Bethlehem was certainly a strange place.
It was several weeks later and Ruth was even more confused. Things
had been going well – incredibly well actually. Boaz must have asked his men to
pull stocks and leave them on the ground for her because there was no way she
should have been able to collect so much. At mealtime that evening things got
even stranger.
“Come over here,” Boaz called to her, motioning for her to
leave the women eating and come join him. “Have some bread and dip it in wine
and vinegar.”
Shyly, Ruth sat down beside him, thanking him softly before accepting
the bread. Boaz had been nothing but kind to her, a fact that had overjoyed
Naomi when Ruth had told her.
“Thank goodness,” Naomi had cried, grasping Ruth’s hand
tightly. “ I was so worried that coming here had been a mistake, that you would
grow to hate me for it.”
“Never,” Ruth had promised, holding her surrogate Mother’s
hand even tighter. “I will never regret coming with you. You made me feel like
a member of your family- what sort of daughter would I be if I left you alone
now?”
Making Naomi happy had become Ruth’s entire purpose, which
was why she continued to come to Boaz’s land and work even though she could
never quite tell where she stood with the older man.
“I’m glad you’re still here.” Boaz offered, attempting to
break the silence. “The women tell me you’re a proficient worker.”
“That’s kind of you to say.” Ruth whispered, struggling to
find her voice. “I’m grateful that you have allowed me to continue to work
here.”
“I’m your guardian redeemer.” Boaz replied, waving away
her gratitude. “It’s my honor. Besides, you’re such a hard worker I should be
thanking you!”
Ruth smiled. It had been a long while since she had been flattered
by a man and to receive it from someone as kind and thoughtful and – yes –
handsome was going to her head quickly.
“Could you tell me more about
what it is you do?” she finally asked, easing into a lengthy conversation that
lasted late into the night.
More days past and Ruth was ready to make a decision. She
needed to protect her family and provide for herself. And even more than that
she wanted to be a part of a family again. And if that is what she wanted it was
her job to secure it for herself. As Naomi had told her so long ago in Moab,
Naomi was in no position to secure a husband or bear a child. But Ruth was.
And Boaz was who she wanted. So she would go to him. She would
lie at his feet on the grain cutting floor and implore him. She was risking being
ruined, certainly, but what choice did she have? She was lowly as a servant in
his house and in order to catch his attention she would need to be dramatic. Basically
proposing to a much older man was intimidating, of course, but so was losing a
husband. And moving to an entirely new country. Taking on a new God and new
people and a new job. Yes, this was going to be difficult, but Bethlehem didn’t
make Ruth nervous any longer.
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Authors Note: Ruth was definitely a different BBW to take on! Although she is more of a prominent Biblical figure than the other women I chose, she was a lot less obviously badass in many ways - no beheadings in this story! I really wanted to emphasize that Ruth was very nervous and shy and that the real "badassery" of her character is her overcoming that in order to approach Boaz. I decided to end the story before she actually goes to Boaz on the Threshing Room Floor (that felt like it should be capitalized, also weirdly inappropriate) because A) Many people know that Boaz does, in fact, accept her offer and B) I feel like her actually doing it isn't important it's her deciding to approach him. I decided to make it more of her decision to "propose" to him rather than Naomi's because I feel like that made her a stronger character! I'm so glad that Ruth was the last BBW I did for this project! I think her story really helped me to realize what I was going for when I began - highlighting the strength of women in these classic stories. We see so few women characters in the Bible and in other folklore and I think it is such a shame that young women don't have as many role models to look up to. This project helped me to imagine these female characters not just as a few sentences in a book but as real complex characters who have as much to offer as their male counterparts. Finishing Ruth was cool because she was the character I was least prepared to write about. Bathsheba has always fascinated me and Judith was an easy pick (I'm sorry to bring up the beheading again, but seriously she cut that guy's head off) but I was worried about writing about Ruth. She just didn't seem as exciting or as, frankly, feminist. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find strength or "badassery" in a women remarrying after the death of her husband. But wow was I wrong! It was great to realize that it is important for women to have complex characters to look up to. Women who represent more than just physical strength but emotional strength. Women who overcome not just adversaries but inner demons as well! I'm so glad to have completed this project and so hopeful that everyone else enjoyed it as well!