Two Minority Reports from the Hebrew Bible, V : Royalty
June 25, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Ruth 4
Here’s the Majority Report. Almost the entire Hebrew Bible is singularly focused on the unique status of the Jewish tribe and the exclusive blessing God has reserved for it. The Jews are the chosen people. Israel is the favored nation. Canaan is the promised land. And Yahweh is the one true God. Don’t have any truck with Gentiles, and certainly don’t marry them, for God’s sake. ... Ruth is an antidote to the exclusivism, tribalism, nationalism, and parochialism practiced by so many people of the world so much of the time. Ruth is a tiny, microscopic counter-witness to the attitude which says, “If you are not my color, be my slave. If you don’t speak my language, don’t talk to me.
Two Minority Reports from the Hebrew Bible, IV: Seduction
June 18, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Ruth 3
Ruth is gleaning very successfully in the barley fields of a prominent, 40-year-old Bethlehem landowner named Boaz, who takes one look at this unknown but fetching shiksa and is completely smitten. That’s when mother-in-law Naomi swoops in to secure widowed, childless Ruth’s future. She’s like Fidelity or Charles Schwab: “Think about your future, honey! Let’s plan ahead.” And you won’t believe what happens next. Naomi, this pious, observant, God-fearing Jew, tells her Gentile daughter-in-law, “This is what we’re going to do: break out your smokiest eyeshadow and your reddest lipstick and your slinkiest skirt, and a come-hither tank top, and go back to Boaz’s place.” That’s not an exact translation, but it is very, very close.
Two Minority Reports from the Hebrew Bible, III: Friendship
June 11, 2023 • Christine V. Hides • Ruth 2
We need friends who stick by us when we are at our worst. Yes it is true that Jesus is just such a constant and faithful friend, we know the hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Yet it is our human friends, whom we can see and touch, who are often the most tangible evidence of God’s unconditional love. Faithful friends come with a meal when we lose a loved one and a coffee when we are overwhelmed. Faithful friends hold our hands in waiting rooms. They will fetch our kids from school when we need to pull ourselves together. They listen to us talk about the mess drinking, betrayals, and overwork make of our lives. They are there for the celebrations too: weddings, babies, and acceptance letters. Our besties get our quirky humor and will join us for a spontaneous adventure. The best part? Friends show up even though they don’t have to. They aren’t related to us or legally bound in any way. Love in action holds these relationships together.
Two Minority Reports from the Hebrew Bible, II : Loyalty
June 4, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Ruth 1
we are celebrating the initiation of an unbreakable, lifelong covenant between two people, because when one person pledges her everlasting troth to another—be it husband to wife, mother to daughter, friend to friend, or brother to brother—when one person pledges her everlasting troth to another, she is giving away life’s greatest gift. She is giving away all she has to give. We all need at least one person who will walk a hundred miles with us across an almost impermeable border into an alien land, because the days are hard and the nights are long and life can be very arduous and very lonely. Naomi had nothing—no husband, no children, no food, no job, no visible means of support. Naomi had nothing. But she had Ruth.