Book of Ruth: Is it Gay? (part two yay)
image credit: jw.org (lol)
(continued from part one)
I can already see your objections: "But then Ruth married Boaz [her male relative]! Naomi told her to do it!"
Again, let us consider Naomi and Ruth's social standing. They were both women, both widows, both poor and starving. Ruth had to go foraging in the fields, collecting scraps of grain left behind so they could eat! (see Ruth 2:2-3, referring to Leviticus 23:22)
These women needed a male relative to survive, a "guardian redeemer." This was the practice, highlighted in Leviticus 25:25-28 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10, where a man had the duty of restoring the land and marrying the widow of a kinsman who had died without an heir.
"Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel."
Deuteronomy 25:5-6
This union of Ruth and Boaz was a matter of survival. Naomi may have seemed excited and insistent in Ruth 2:20, but this was only after she realised Boaz was their kin and could 'redeem' Ruth. She was relieved they would not have to scavenge, starve, and suffer for much longer. She says this herself in Ruth 3:1, "My daughter, I must seek a home for you!"
Her use of "daughter" when referring to Ruth may irk some of you, but it is only a term of endearment. Boaz himself uses the same phrase for her, in Ruth 3:10, where it is then implied they subsequently had sex.
Soon after, they are married, and Ruth bears a son. He is named Obed, and he will be the grandfather of King David. Here is the passage in full:
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!
He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.”
Ruth 4:13-17
That final line, "a son has been born to Naomi," is particularly interesting to me. It is probably referencing how this firstborn will carry on her son Mahlon's legacy, but I like to think this is a subtle nod to Ruth and Naomi's relationship. I like to think it solidifies their "marriage," which began with those vows in Ruth 1, and ends here with the birth of a child they will raise together. A child not said to be born to Ruth's husband Boaz, but to Naomi - her true lover.
*thank you so much for reading this!
**there may be others to come... (if i can find the time lol)
***BTW this is just an interpretation from an ex christian lesbian lol
image credit: philip h. calderon // walker art gallery, liverpool
BONUS: According to Ruth Zuta (4:3), Boaz died the day after their wedding, so that left Naomi and Ruth to raise Obed alone! It's unfortunate for Boaz (to say the least), but - if we take this interpretation - it means our two little lesbians could finally live out their dreams (perhaps).
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