Ruth 3:1

RUTH PROPOSES MARRIAGE TO BOAZ

NAOMI'S CLEVER PLAN FOR THE PROPOSAL (Ruth 3:1-5)

"And Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee? And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor; but make not thyself known unto the man, until he have done eating and drinking. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest I will do."

"Shall I not seek rest for thee?" (Ruth 3:1) Moffatt translated this, "I must see you settled in life." "`Rest' in this context is the equivalent of marriage."[1] Naomi is determined to do everything in her power to procure a husband for Ruth, and here she reveals a very clever plan for doing so.

It is significant that Naomi had previously prayed for a husband for Ruth (Ruth 1:8-9), but here she is exerting herself to bring about the answer to her prayer. "Divine and human actions work together" in the achievement of God's purpose. This teaches that, "Believers are not to wait passively for events to happen, but they must seize the initiative when the opportunity presents itself."[2]

"He winnoweth .... tonight in the threshing-floor" (Ruth 3:2). From Isaiah 41:14-16, we learn that the harvest season usually ended with a celebration including the equivalent of a banquet. We are not told just how Naomi knew exactly what was going on and that the very night had come for that crucial occasion. Anyway, she knew what she was doing. She saw her opportunity and took it!

The plan that Naomi proposed was full of risk and danger. Ruth would expose herself to the evident possibility of humiliation or the violation of her chastity, but Naomi knew the character of Boaz and rested the whole scheme upon what she knew to be his honor and integrity. Furthermore, "The popular mind associated threshing-floors with licentiousness."[3]

"Anoint thee, and put on thy raiment" (Ruth 3:3) In context, the `raiment' here is a reference to her best clothes, and the anointing is a reference to the use of perfumes. Although Naomi did not expect Boaz to give way to his sensual lust in the situation, she wisely calculated that the physical desirability of Ruth would enhance the probability of a favorable response from Boaz.

"Thou shalt go in ... uncover his feet ... and lie down" (Ruth 3:4). "According to our customs, this action on the part of Naomi and Ruth appears very objectionable from the moral standpoint, but it was not so when judged by the customs of the people of Israel at that time."[4] By lying at Boaz' feet, Ruth perhaps intended to present herself as a humble petitioner for his protection. Leon Morris pointed out that, "`His feet,' as used here is possibly a euphemism[5] for pudendum (the external genitals) as in Exodus 4:25." James Moffatt apparently understood the passage thus, because he translated the words, "uncover his waist." Whatever Ruth did, it was indeed a daring and dangerous maneuver on her part.

"By lying down at Boaz' feet, Ruth symbolized her proposal of marriage which came a moment later in Ruth 3:9."[6]