Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 20
Ruth 1 Ruth 2 Ruth 3 Ruth 4
1 Samuel 1 1 Samuel 2
Excellent in depth BYU Studies article about the story of Ruth Ruth, Redemption, Covenant, and Christ (BYU Studies link ceased working, so link is to same article presented at the Sperry Sympoisum) by Kerry Muhlestein.
Ruth & Noami: Women of Character, Women of Greatness
Excerpts from Ruth, Redemption, Covenant, and Christ by Kerry Muhlestein
"In Israel, the family had another responsibility in looking after its members who had come under hardship."
"The closest family member had a right and an obligation to redeem, or buy back, family land or family members who had been sold."
"The man who bought his family land or kinsman back was known as the redeemer, or in Hebrew, the g?’el."
"Symbolically, it is important that not just anyone could serve as a redeemer, that only close family members had that right, beginning with the closest relative. "
"The Lord had created a custom among his chosen people in such a way that for those in darkest need a hope was provided. One group necessitating extra care was the foreigners who had chosen to live among Israel."
"These foreigners did not naturally possess a land inheritance as an Israelite did and thus were at an inherent disadvantage."
"There was a special kind of love, mercy, and kindness available only within the context of a covenant. The Hebrew word for this was hesed, an extra measure of kindness and love available to those within a covenant relationship."
"The greatest acts of hesed were those performed by God on behalf of his people."
"The story takes place during the period of the judges, before Israel has come together under a king."
"A famine has come into the land of Canaan, and some choose to escape this famine by journeying to a foreign land."
"Besides the grief which would naturally attend the loss of her children, Naomi is now faced with the prospect that she will have no one to care for her in her old age."
"Naomi recognizes the covenantal kindness, or hesed, that these women are carrying out. Being aware that she was incapable of performing hesed for them, she asks the Lord to do so.
Ruth’s intense love and loyalty, manifestations of hesed, are particularly inspiring to us."
"We cannot read of her devotion without hoping that we will always have a Ruth in our lives, and simultaneously aspiring to be a Ruth for others.
"Whether we understand the term or not, Ruth motivates us to perform similar acts of hesed; the devotion in her soul-felt expression feels its way into our souls."
"Second, the narrative is not written in a way that portrays Orpah in a bad light."
"Indeed, this worthy daughter has been fulfilling all that could be expected of her in a stalwart way. It is not a shortcoming on the part of Orpah that is highlighted here, but instead Orpah’s goodness is contrasted with Ruth’s greatness."
"In a theme that will recur during the narrative, Ruth shows that she is willing to go beyond what is expected of her; she will be extraordinary in her service."
"Finally, in insisting that she will accompany Naomi throughout her life, Ruth has altered who will pay the greatest price."
"Ruth is fully willing to take Noami's potential suffering upon herself, providing relief for a loved one by experiencing that fate instead."
"This emulation of the Savior is not an accidental message of the story—it is one of its main themes" (all quotes from Ruth, Redemption, Covenant, and Christ).
The Grain Harvest/ Araunah's Threshing Floor
A threshing floor was usually a flattened stone surface area located outside the village or city gates and exposed to the wind where workers and their families transported the handled stocks of wheat or barley from the nearby field following the harvest. This picture depicts harvest activity at Araunah's threshing floor, just north of Jebusite Jerusalem. David purchased this land and built an altar. Solomon later built the Temple of this sight.
"Workers . . . transported the bundled stalkes to the threshing floor where the grain was loosed from the straw by various means, including the use of a studded threshing sledge, a wooden board with imbedded stones, pulles by oxen. In the late afternoon and early evening, when the breeze increased, the grain was tossed into the air with winnowing forks, shovels, and fans, allowing the heavier grain kernels to separate from other lighter-weight chaff. The owner of the field often remained at the threshing floor at night to celebrate the bounteous harvest before being placed into bags for storage" (from Jehovah the World of the Old Testament. Holzapfel, et al.)
"Workers . . . transported the bundled stalkes to the threshing floor where the grain was loosed from the straw by various means, including the use of a studded threshing sledge, a wooden board with imbedded stones, pulles by oxen. In the late afternoon and early evening, when the breeze increased, the grain was tossed into the air with winnowing forks, shovels, and fans, allowing the heavier grain kernels to separate from other lighter-weight chaff. The owner of the field often remained at the threshing floor at night to celebrate the bounteous harvest before being placed into bags for storage" (from Jehovah the World of the Old Testament. Holzapfel, et al.)
A pair of child's leather sandals from a Thebes Tomb, Egypt 1550-1069 BC
(from Jehovah the World of the Old Testament. Holzapfel, et al.)
“The public life of
an Israelite village was concentrated at its main gate. It was here that
matters of law were brought for adjudication before the elders of the
community.
They also were the
official witnesses for transactions such as the one in which Boaz agreed to
marry Ruth if her kinsman would give up all rights to her dead husband’s
property.
A man renouncing
property rights removed a sandal and presented it to the new property holder, a
gesture that everyone understood and considered binding if witnessed by the
elders.” (Great People of the Bible and How They Lived, p. 133.)
Hannah: Promise Keeper
Related Video:
Hannah’s Faith (3:08)
