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READING RUTH IN A JEWISH LITURGICAL CONTEXT

NOVEMBER 2, 2015
DREW DIXON

The book of Ruth is a brief but beautiful story which moves from despair to delight, beginning

with famine and death and ending with harvest and life. Many commentators consider Ruth to be a

novella1 which was intended to entertain and instruct.2 One commentator notes that Ruth displays

a unique level of coherence and was likely the work of a single storyteller skilled at crafting a tale.3

It has been said that good storytelling shows rather than tells its audience. If this is true, the book of

Ruth does not disappoint. Pressler observes that more than half of the story consists of dialogue.4

The narrator gives the audience little instruction allowing us to simply peer into the conversations and

actions of the characters.

The literary nature of the book has led to much interpretive ambiguity. This is evidenced by

the assorted midrashic interpretations of Ruth. Mordechai Cohen suggests that the ambiguity may be

intentional, expressing something that could not be expressed in unambiguous language.5 Angel

embraces ambiguity as an interpretive method and insists that it is preferable to weigh the differing

opinions against one another in order to appreciate how these viewpoints can co-exist so that a

more complex, comprehensive understanding of the text and its messages can emerge.5 With this in

mind, we can see that reading Ruth with Jewish eyes may prove wonderfully enriching.

This paper will first highlight issues of purpose that have arisen in the Jewish tradition and

then develop an understanding of the book of Ruth in its Jewish liturgical context as a text read during

1 Carolyn Pressler, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 261.

2 Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Ruth (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999), 2.
3 Pressler, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, 261-62.

4 Ibid., 263.
5 Hayyim Angel, "A midrashic view of Ruth amidst a sea of ambiguity," Jewish Bible Quarterly 33, no. 2 (April
2005): 92.

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the Festival of Weeks. Seeing Ruth in this context provides a richer look at the themes of the

providence of God, the nature of community, and the embrace of Jewish culture which emerge from

the book.

ISSUES OF PURPOSE

Many commentators seek to establish the date and purpose of the writing. Several have

suggested that it was written during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah as a polemic against their

prohibition to intermarry.6 However, Beattie suggests that the lack of polemical rhetoric poses a

weakness for this view.7 Other Jewish commentators have interpreted Ruth as a story intended to

exemplify legal procedure for Torah marriage laws. There are a wide variety of views on this matter:

some interpreting the marriage between Ruth and Boaz as levirate; others legally binding the marriage

to the redemption of the land. Brenner discusses all of these views further and concludes that legal

precedent is not a likely purpose for the book because simply fulfilling legal requirements removes

the core element of hesed from the story.8

Another proposed purpose is the establishment of Davids genealogy. This is a key issue for

Jewish interpretation, as David is the chief monarch of Israel and messianic forefather for the Jewish

people. Abraham Cohen notes that belief in the Davidic line's perpetuity is a central component of

messianic belief in Judaism.9 Beattie admits that this theory is a little more durable than most,10 but

notes that many have denied it as a central purpose. A reason to doubt this as a central purpose of the

6D.R.G. Beattie, Ruth, Book of, in Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, ed. John H. Hayes (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1999), 427. Murray D. Gow,Ruth, Book of, in Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, ed.
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: BakerAcademic, 2005), 705. Sakenfeld, Ruth, 2.

7 Beattie, Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, 427.

8 Athalya Brenner, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 165-167.

9 Abraham D. Cohen, "The eschatological meaning of the book of Ruth: 'blessed be God: asher lo hishbit lakh

go'el'," Jewish Bible Quarterly 40, no. 3 (July 2012): 168.


10 Beattie, Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, 427.

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book is that scholars are divided over whether the genealogy is original to the story or was appended

by a later hand.11 Regardless, the reality of Ruth as an ancestor of David has remained central to

much midrashic interpretation. Brenner explains that many have assigned Ruth royal origins as

daughter of Moabite King Eglon.12 This midrash certainly reinforces a high view of the Davidic

dynasty by showing that it is royal on both sides, the fathers and the mothers.13

Issues around the date and purpose of Ruth are highly contested by commentators and display

the reality of just how ripe the story is for interpretation. Each of these proposed purposes, as

interesting as they may be, seem to miss the core themes that emerge from the narrative while

simultaneously dismissing the characters within that narrative as mere means to a legal or patriarchal

end. The remainder of the paper will focus on placing the book of Ruth in its liturgical context and

tending to the themes that emerge from the narrative.

LITURGICAL CONTEXT

While it is helpful to consider rabbinic commentaries and midrash of Ruth, there is much to

be gained by simply placing the book in its liturgical context. In the Hebrew Bible, Ruth is located

among the Megillot which is a set of five Festival Scrolls read on major holy days of the Jewish

calendar. Ruth is read during Shavuot, known as the Feast of Weeks.14 The following description of

Shavuot and its surrounding practices will serve as a frame for understanding the emerging themes of

the story of Ruth.

Shavuot, which means weeks, is called the Fest of Weeks because it occurs seven weeks

after Passover. This places it sometime in the late spring or early summer at the end of the barley

11 Sakenfeld, Ruth, 85.

12 Brenner, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, 163.

13 Ibid., 164.

14 Sakenfeld, Ruth, 7.

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harvest and beginning of the wheat crop.15 Many commentators suggest that Ruth is read at Shavuot

because this is the time when the story occurs (Ruth 2:23).16 If read during this time of year, the story

would fittingly reflect the recent experience of the community which has emerged from the dead of

winter, labored through the spring, and is now reaping the harvest of the summer. The plot of the

story has a similar progression from the deaths of chapter one, to the gleaning and plotting of chapters

two and three, finally climaxing in a harvest of marriage and birth in the final chapter.

As a harvest festival, the people brought the firstfruits of their barley and wheat as grain

offerings. During the festival, the priest would wave sheaves of grain before the Lord (Leviticus 23:11).

Liturgically, these actions have multiple layers of meaning: on the one hand it is the people giving God

their firstfruits as worshipful thanksgiving for harvest; on the other hand the sheaves represent the

law which God gave the people as firstfruits of the promise to lead them into the Promised Land.17

Many traditions during Shavuot build on this theme and reinforce the memory of receiving

Torah. One such practice is to adorn the synagogue with plants and flowers, which reminds the

people that Torah [is] a Tree of Life (Prov. 3:18).18 Another is that dairy foods are a common dish

during Shavuot, which reminds the people that Torah is like milk, which nurses an infant to life.18

Additionally, it has long been traditional to inaugurate the education of a Jewish child on

Shavuot,19 thus beginning their instruction in Torah. Some modern, non-orthodox synagogues have

even begun the practice of confirmation on Shavuot in which teenagers who have completed their

formal religious school studies confirm their loyalty to the teachings of Torah.19 Overall, Shavuot is

15 Ronald L. Eisenberg, The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2004), 298.

16 Sakenfeld, Ruth, 7.

17 Eisenberg, The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions, 298.

18 Ibid., 300.

19 Ibid., 302.

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a time when the whole Jewish community remembers its distinctiveness as the Jewish people chosen

by God to be recipients of Torah.

A final emphasis is that by placing this story in its liturgical context we shift from reading it as

a primarily historical or literary text to a primarily spiritual and communal one. Liturgy, by its very

nature, moves the focus away from the text alone to also include the experiences and interactions of

that texts audience. For example, discussing the historicity of Jesus birth is quite distinct from

participating in a Christmas pageant. One is primarily historical and narrative, while the other is

communal and spiritual. To this point, some have suggested, with its extensive use of dialog, that Ruth

may have been written as a stage play.20 This story may have been acted out, like a Christmas pageant,

in a synagogue gathering during Shavuot. We will now turn to investigate the themes that emerge from

the book of Ruth while placing them in the context of liturgical communal worship.

NARRATIVE THEMES

PROVIDENCE OF GOD

By placing the text of Ruth in the context of a worship gathering, the central focus of that

gathering becomes a central focus of the book, namely God. In all the discussions of interpretations

around a text, it can be easy to lose track of God as a real person and presence around and within it.

But the worshipping community is bound to see Gods presence more clearly when they read this text

as worship.

Many commentators have noted divine providence as a central theme in the Book of Ruth.

This is most clear in the claims of Gods direct action at the beginning and end of the book. The first

chapter proclaims that God has visited his people and given them food (1:6) and the final chapter

proclaims that the Lord gave [Ruth] conception and she bore a son (4:13). Though these are the

20 Sakenfeld, Ruth, 52.

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only two direct statements of Gods action within the story, they are likely intended to (literally) frame

the story in Gods providential blessing.

Gods providence can also subtly, and somewhat humorously, be seen in 2:3 when Ruth

happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. Sakenfeld observes that the narrator

allows us to imagine that Ruth arrived in Boazs field by chance But in this story God is at work

behind the scenes; what appears as chance is better to be understood as divine providence.21 If this

were being acted out as a stage play, this moment in the narrative surely would have evoked a knowing

chuckle from the audience.

Another key text that may emphasize the activity of God is the blessing in 2:20: May [Boaz]

be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead! This blessing, like

much of the rest of Ruth, is ambiguous. Whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead?

Angel observes how the reader is left unsure if Naomi recognized God for orchestrating the upward

turn of events, or whether Naomi blessed Boaz for his efforts in treating Ruth well and for his potential

as a redeemer.22 This ambiguity, as Cohen suggested, is likely intentional. Does this blessing recognize

Boaz or the Lord? Yes. Which leads us to a second theme in the book of Ruth.

NATURE OF COMMUNITY

In addition to the providence of God, most commentators identify the characters in the story

of Ruth as displaying exemplary faithfulness. Though the previously discussed narrative ambiguity

allows for three dimensional characters with varying levels of ambivalence, they generally exemplify

faithful ideals. Indeed, the theme of abundant kindness and faithfulness may be the most obvious

theme throughout the book. Multiple commentators referenced Rabbi Zeiras words, For what

21 Ibid., 40.

22 Angel, Jewish Bible Quarterly, 97.

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purpose was it written? To teach how great is the reward of those who do deeds of kindness.23

Sakenfeld describes that the Hebrew term for the kind of extraordinary behavior witnessed in this

story is hesed,24 which Gow defines as, exceptional acts of one human to anotheroutside the normal

run of perceived duty, and arising out of personal affection or goodness.25 In other words, hesed is a

deep character trait that causes someone to act in kindness above and beyond expectation. Two of

the primary characters, Ruth and Boaz, display this hesed throughout the story.

The first chapter is a time for Ruth to shine. After the death of their husbands, Naomi, Ruth,

and Orpah begin back toward Bethlehem. But Naomi sends Ruth and Orpah back with a blessing of

hesed: Go, return each of you to her mothers house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have

dealt with the dead and with me (Ruth 1:8). After this first dismissal, both daughters-in-law decline.

After a second, Orpah departs with a kiss but Ruth clings to Naomi (1:14). When Naomi tries a third

time to send Ruth away she insists on remaining: Do not urge me to leave you or to return from

following you (1:15). From here, Ruth declares her faithfulness to Naomi as if making vows. It would

appear that Ruth is living into Naomis wish for hesed even more than Naomi intended. Ruths

persistent faithfulness displays the overabundant nature of hesed.

In the second chapter we meet Boaz and see his embodiment of hesed. First, he sees Ruth

gleaning in his field and offers her protection (2:8-9). Second, he invites Ruth to join the workers for

lunch and makes sure that she has more than enough to eat (2:14). Finally, he instructs his workers to

allow her to glean not only in the field but also among the sheaves which had already been gathered

(2:15). To top it all off, he even pulls out some of the already harvested grain for her to glean (2:16).

Each of these actions displays Boazs kindess (hesed) with increasing generosity. When Ruth returns

23 Angel, Jewish Bible Quarterly, 91. Beattie, Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, 427. Gow, Dictionary for Theological
Interpretation of the Bible, 704.

24 Sakenfeld, Ruth, 11.

25 Gow, Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 707.

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home and tells Naomi of her day in the field, Naomi again responds with another blessing of hesed:

May [Boaz] be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead! (2:20).

The final explicit use of the word hesed in the narrative occurs during the nighttime exchange

between Ruth and Boaz. After Ruth essentially proposes to Boaz and lays out the plan to redeem

Naomi, Boaz responds with yet another blessing: May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You

have made this last kindness greater than the first (3:10). This exclamation sets up all the action of the

final chapterthe negotiations of land redemption, the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, and the birth of

a childunder the umbrella of hesed, particularly the hesed displayed by Ruth.

Ultimately, as Brenner explains, Every character acting in this brief storybehaves in a

manner that demonstrates this heroic concept of some form of hesed Their exemplary behavior is

somewhat reminiscent of that of the patriarchs and matriarchs.26 In fact, the men who witnessed

Boazs negotiations similarly proclaim in another blessing: May the Lord make the woman, who is

coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel (4:11). The

characters within the story truly exemplify the nature of an ideal community living out hesed.

LITURGICAL NATURE OF HESED

It is important to note that, though the book of Ruth primarily displays hesed in human

relationships, it always appears in the context of blessings which invoke God. The word hesed

inextricably draws together our first theme of Gods providence and our second theme of ideal

community. The word hesed is highly liturgical in nature and becomes even more so as we consider the

book of Ruth in its liturgical context.

The word hesed occurs as a rich refrain throughout much Jewish liturgy in reference to Gods

kindness. Zobel explains that what Gods kindness means for Israel found concentrated and

26 Brenner, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, 147-148.

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pregnant expression in two liturgical formulas.27 The first is found in the divine self-proclamation to

Moses in Exodus 34: I am the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in

steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). Variations on this phrase are found throughout the

Hebrew Bible in narrative, poetry, and prophetic literature (Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8, Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2;

Neh. 9:17).30

The second formula is found primarily in the Psalms and is more suited to liturgical

incorporation. A prime example is in Psalm 136 where his steadfast love endures forever is the refrain

of every verse. It is also found in Psalm 100:5, 106:1, 107:1, and 118:1, 29.28 The heavily liturgical

connotations of hesed make its presence in Ruth prime for reading at a community festival. One can

only imagine how, at the mention of hesed throughout the narrative, the phrase his steadfast love endures

forever might have echoed through the peoples minds and hearts. This story is one great example

of that steadfast love!

EMBRACE OF JEWISH CULTURE

A final theme emerging from the book of Ruth is an embrace of Jewish culture. Several

commentators note that throughout the story Ruth is often referred to as the Moabite (1:22; 2:2, 6,

10, 21; 4:5, 10). This story is not merely about the courageous acts of a faithful womanit is about

the faithful acts of a foreign woman!

Many Jewish commentators pick up on this theme and interpret the story as an example of an

ideal proselyte, though Brenner notes that the Jewish attitude toward conversion is quite different

from that of actively proselytizing religions such as Christianity; converts are not solicited, and when

prospective converts present themselves they are discouraged at first, and must prove their sincerity

27 Griefswald Zobel, hesed, in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament 5, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and

Helmer Ringgren (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), 57.

28 Ibid., 58.

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and conviction.29 It is in this very light that the exchange between Naomi and Ruth in chapter one is

interpreted. Brenner goes on to explain how talmudic sources understand Ruths vows in 1:16-17

as confessions of the Jewish faith.30 The Targum of Ruth even inserts Ruths desire to be a proselyte

followed by Naomi conducting a small Jewish catechism.31

By placing Ruth in its liturgical context, we can see how this reading is appropriate to the

aforementioned practice of inaugurating Jewish children into formal Torah education and confirming

teenagers who have completed it. Sylvia Rothchild explains how meaningful the story of Ruth was in

forming her own Jewish identity as a young girl. As an adult teaching young Jewish girls she explained,

I wanted nothing less than to convince them that Judaism was a gift they should not refuse and that

they would not want to part with it if they knew what it offered I decided that the story of Ruth

and Naomi and the holiday of Shavuot could provide the focus for our discussions.32 The book of

Ruth tells the story of an eager proselyte and reading it during Shavuot offers an opportunity for

conversion of new proselytes and also for longtime Jews to reenact their vows when God first gave

them Torah: All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do (Exodus 24:3).

By reading Ruth with Jewish eyes we are reminded of Gods providence, encouraged to live

as a faithful community, and provided the opportunity to welcome the outsider and reaffirm our own

faith. Placing the book in its liturgical context has uncovered fresh layers of meaning. May it also stir

our own liturgical imagination!

Word Count: 3,351

29 Brenner, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, 149.

30 Ibid., 150.

31 D.R.G. Beattie, The Targum of Ruth, in The Aramaic Bible 19, ed. Martin McNamara (Collegeville,

Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994), 20-21.


32 Sylvia Rothchild, Growing Up and Older with Ruth, in Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred
Story, ed. Judith A. Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer (New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1994), 152.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Angel, Hayyim. "A midrashic view of Ruth amidst a sea of ambiguity." Jewish Bible Quarterly 33, no. 2
(April 2005): 91-99.

Beattie, D.R.G. Ruth, Book of. In Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, edited by John H. Hayes, 426-
428. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999.

. The Targum of Ruth. In The Aramaic Bible 19, edited by Martin McNamara, 1-37.
Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994.

Brenner, Athalya. A Feminist Companion to Ruth. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.

Cohen, Abraham D. "The eschatological meaning of the book of Ruth: 'blessed be God: asher lo
hishbit lakh go'el'." Jewish Bible Quarterly 40, no. 3 (July 2012): 163-170.

Eisenberg, Ronald L., and Society Jewish Publication. The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 2004.

Gow, Murray D. Ruth, Book of. In Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, edited by Kevin
J. Vanhoozer, 704-708. Grand Rapids, Michigan: BakerAcademic, 2005.

Pressler, Carolyn. Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.

Rothchild, Sylvia. Growing Up and Older with Ruth. In Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a
Sacred Story, edited by Judith A. Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer, 144-155. New York, NY:
Ballantine Books, 1994.

Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob. Ruth. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.

Zobel, Griefswald. hesed. In Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament 5, edited by G. Johannes
Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, 44-64. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986.

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