Ruth: Modesty at it's Finest

Anyone who has gone to Sunday School probably knows the story of Ruth. She was a widow with no children who went with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to her homeland in spite of Naomi telling her to go back to her family. She meets Boaz when working in his field, he notes her modesty and other good characteristics and marries her. The story may not be as G-rated as the Sunday School teachers made it out to be, however.

In Ruth 1:16, she says to Naomi, "Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay," which shows how much she cared about Naomi and how determined she was to go with her, no matter what the consequences were for her being a Moabite woman in Israel (Moabites and Israelites did not get along).

In Ruth 2, Ruth gleans (picks up the grain left behind by others) in the field of one of Naomi's relatives, Boaz. He allowed her to glean and commanded his workers to leave her be (perhaps because of her Moabite heritage). When Ruth asked why he took such notice of her, Boaz told her that had heard about everything Ruth had done for Naomi, leaving her family for her and going to a foreign land. "May the Lord repay you for what you have done" (Ruth 2:12). Boaz noted her kindness and determination, characteristics of a good woman.

In Ruth 3, Naomi tells Ruth to get cleaned up and go visit Boaz at the threshing floor, "uncover his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what to do" (Ruth 3:4). Ruth did just that, and told him that he is a kinsman-redeemer, someone who could redeem her late husband's land. Boaz told her to lie there until morning
 and he would go into town and see if the nearer kinsman-redeemer wanted to redeem the lands, If he did not Boaz would redeem the lands.

This chapter can be interpreted as erotic, and the use of the word "feet" might actually be an innuendo for Boaz's genitalia.Wouldn't that make Ruth out to be less modest than she appears? Judging by the text, nothing happened sexually between the two, as there is nothing mentioned about Boaz "lying with her." Ruth says, in Ruth 3:9: "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer." This whole erotic scene could have been something similar to a marriage proposal, which I thought was a rather bold move on Ruth's part.

In the end, in Ruth 4, Boaz does end up marrying Ruth and they have a son, Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse and the grandfather of King David.

My perception of Ruth has not really changed. I did note, though, the scene with Boaz at the threshing floor as more than G-rated, and that surprised me somewhat. I still see Ruth as a kind, modest, determined individual and think of her as a model for Christian girls everywhere.