Ruth 3

One particularly brutal proverb goes, "Faint heart never won fair lady." (Which means I'm doomed, but enough about me.) Well, the corresponding term, "Faint heart never won fair man," certainly applies in Ruth's case. Yes, Boaz showed her unwonted kindness but perhaps fearing that Ruth will be relegated to Boaz's friend zone, Naomi urges her daughter-in-law to be proactive. She tells her to make herself as attractive as possible (verse 3) and lie down at Boaz's "feet" after he's done with his riotous revelry (verse 4).

So Ruth does so. I especially like how the author describes the moment when Boaz realizes he's not sleeping all by his lonesome: "In the middle of the night, something startle[s]" him (verse 8). The NIV adds an exclamation point to the sentence, and the NASB uses the marvelous word "behold." So what exactly alarmed Boaz? Did a draft of wind blow across Boaz's now-chilly feet? Did Ruth rock and roll in her sleep? Did she kick him? I mean, just imagine sleeping in your comfy bed after meeting someone you admire only to wake up in the middle of the night finding them sleeping next to you, all prettified and smelling like roses (or whatever smell Israelites found alluring. Dates?)

But evidently, it's too dark for Boaz to see who it is. Once Ruth responds, though, she asks if she can snuggle under the covers with him--and, on a less irreverent note, redeem her family through marriage. Boaz basically agrees, revealing his affection and care for her by giving her six measures of barley for takeout (verse 15). However, he also knows the law, and the law says that there's someone who's an even closer relative to Ruth who gets first dibs (verse 12).

If I were in Boaz's sandals, I would be worried about whether this other relative would redeem and marry Ruth in my place. I wonder how easy--and how tempting--it would have been for a man with fewer scruples to get away with marrying Ruth right then and there. Although I do think that Boaz cares first and foremost for Ruth's well-being, shown by his encomium to her in the previous chapter, I also feel that he does feel some personal fondness for her. So even though letting this other man have the opportunity to redeem Ruth first is the right thing to do, I wonder if he felt anxious about it at all. But again, such thinking is selfish. I have yet to face a situation, commonplace in so many dramas, in which I have to acknowledge that someone I love would have a better life with someone else, but if I do, I hope and pray that I will make the right decision through the pain.