On Language, Thoughts, Behavior, and an Excellent Way to Snag a Husband

Recently, the always insightful Natalie raised questions about the relationship between language, thought and behavior. Specifically, Natalie wondered how we can ever understand a book like the Bible, given that we are separated from its writers both by thousands of years and by what often seem to be insurmountable cultural and anthropological barriers. What can we make of a book written by and to a culture that is so very different from our own? It’s a great question and has direct implications in how the Bible is interpreted. A perfect example comes from the book of Ruth, the eighth book in the Protestant Christian Bible. Ruth was a Moabite woman whose father-in-law, Elimelech, had settled in a land called Moab. Elimelech died there, and his two sons married, Mahlon taking Ruth for his wife, and Chilion taking Orpah. Both women were from Moab; both sons likewise died. Naomi, Elimelech's bereaved wife, heard that a famine in the land of Judah had passed, and decided to return there. Ruth accompanied her mother-in-law to Bethlehem, at the beginning of barley harvest, in a state of poverty. Elimelech had had an inheritance of land among his people, but, unless a redeemer could be found, Naomi would be compelled to sell the property. Elimelech had a prosperous relative in Bethlehem whose name was Boaz. Naomi sent Ruth to glean grain in his fields, and, after Boaz had acted kindly towards her, she, acting on the advice of her mother-in-law, approached him. Eventually Ruth became the wife of Boaz and gave birth to Obed, the grandfather of King David. That’s the shortened, sanitized for Sunday School version. In that version, Ruth is a compassionate daughter-in-law who fights to save herself and her mother-in-law from poverty. However, to fully appreciate the tale of Ruth, it helps to understand a particular Hebrew euphemism. Victor Shepherd, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, explains: Ruth, we should note, wasn't "Miss Goody-Goody Two Shoes." She was calculating, manipulative, devious. We mustn't sentimentalize her. She knew she needed a husband. A widow, in those days, was marginalized on all fronts at once. To be sure, Ruth had been allowed to glean in the field belonging to Boaz as a way of fending off dire poverty. To glean was to pick up stalks of grain that had fallen out of harvesters' arms, as well as to cut the grain left standing at the fringe of the field. It was hard work for little food. It would avert starvation, but no more than this. Ruth wanted more. She wanted a husband. And she snared one, really "snared" him, since she used the shabbiest entrapment to get him. Now this is where the story of Ruth gets earthy, so earthy, in fact, that one commentator has written that preachers ought not to tell their congregations of Ruth's "indelicacy." I disagree. To withhold scripture from people is to falsify the gospel, and therefore I am going to plunge ahead and tell you where and how Ruth was "indelicate." Here's what happened. At the conclusion of the day's harvesting Boaz was thirsty. He drank some wine. He drank more wine, and more still. Now he was deep into the "twilight zone." In fact he was beyond the twilight zone. Whereupon, we read in Holy Scripture, "Ruth came softy and uncovered his feet and lay down." Now to "uncover one's feet" in Hebrew idiom means to expose one's genitals. Ruth exposed Boaz. Next verse in our story: "At midnight Boaz was startled, turned over, and behold a woman lay at his feet." "Who are you?" Boaz asked, and she replied, "I am Ruth, your maidservant. Spread your skirt over your maidservant." Whereupon Boaz flipped his cloak over Ruth and covered himself up as well. What had happened was this. Ruth had "uncovered the feet of Boaz," exposed him. He had drunk too much wine to be aware of this. When finally he did wake up, he saw that he was exposed, and Ruth as well. Plainly she had exposed herself as well; that's why she had said, "Cover up your maidservant." But because Boaz had drunk so much wine, he couldn't remember what had happened; specifically he couldn't remember whether you-know-what had happened. He only knew that he had awakened, naked, with a naked woman beside him. It would certainly appear that something had happened, and so he thought that the only proper thing left him to do was to marry Ruth. He did. In other words, Ruth blackmailed Boaz. She falsified herself and trapped him. Now, you've probably not heard the story of Ruth told quite that way. Largely that's because many Christians don't know that "uncovered feet" really means "exposed genitals." It's amazing that the meaning of a narrative can change so much based on such a seemingly inconsequential phrase.