Engaging the Old Testament by Dominick S. Hernández

Author:Dominick S. Hernández
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Old Testament;Old Testament—Hermeneutics—Textbooks;Bible: Old Testament—Criticism | interpretation | etc—Textbooks;REL006210;REL006090
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Ruth’s Highway to King David

Ruth’s narrative brings to fruition a plan that was set in motion long before her “chance encounter” with Boaz. Upon the joyous occasion of Boaz taking Ruth to be his wife, the people present at the city gate bless Boaz by stating, “May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah” (Ruth 4:11–12).

The women mentioned here hark back to a narrative that has been developing from the time of the patriarchs. Jacob had twelve sons with four women, but only the two “legitimate” wives are mentioned in the conclusion of Ruth. This is certainly not because the narrator was unaware of Bilhah and Zilpah. Rather, the mention of Jacob’s legitimate wives is necessary to spotlight Judah, Leah’s son. Conversely, by mentioning the illicit relationship that Judah had with Tamar, the narrator recalls their offspring, Perez. Perez is the crux of this portion of the book of Ruth, since the narrator begins the final genealogy with Perez, who perpetuates the kingly line of David.

Successive readers of the entire Bible recall the uniquely positive blessings given to Judah by his father, Jacob, as the book of Genesis comes to an end (Gen. 49:8–10). That passage is complex, but for all intents and purposes, it depicts Judah being specially honored by others and bearing unique authority. Ruth marries into the tribe of Judah and perpetuates the genealogical line, which ultimately transitions the people of Israel out of the chaos of the judges and into the stability of the Judean kingship foreshadowed earlier.

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