| I love this part of the story because it shows that people were haggling over rights thousands of years ago. However, this was a divine haggling and the decision was from the Lord. So, this is how they did property rights in those days. They had witnesses, 10 witnesses who were elders. That means they were trustworthy men of the community. The nearest kinsman was offered Naomi’s land to buy it at a bargain price. The nearest relative seemed overjoyed. Boaz then goes into the detail of the purchase that Ruth the Moabitess was a part of the deal. The man understood that he had a duty to Elimelech the deceased man his closest relative. Near the end of the haggling we have. “6 The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.”” So, the closest relative takes his sandal off as a pledge, something physical and Boaz becomes the Redeemer. We know the rest of the story. God blessed this line. King David the greatest King of Israel came to the throne. The story is a lot deeper than that however and sometimes one needs to look deeper into the story and find other interesting things. Rabbi Sacks draws on this story similarities between Tamar and Ruth. They were both outcasts. One was seen To be a prostitute (although she wasn’t) Ruth was A foreigner. The giving of the leverate marriage that is non normative before the giving of the Torah “Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage (i.e. marriage outside the clan) was forbidden. It has been known in many societies around the world.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levirate_marriage Tamar gets pregant by her father in Law Judah because he refused his last son ‘the closest’ to do his duty Naomi’s closest unknown relative refuses to Do his duty by marrying Ruth the deceased brother in law. Both these ladies Tamar and Naomi are in David’s line. Tamar and Ruth were nobodies in that society, but God takes the worthless things and moves mountains. Ruth and Tamar wanted to keep the line going determined to do this and it was God who chooses nobodies to do amazing things. What did King David get from these women? Rabbi Sacks shared the wording of Rameses and Moses. The Ra part of the Rameses points to Rameses being semi divine of the sun god. Moses was just a child. Rabbi Sacks then said, ‘God does not look at outward appearances God looks at the heart’. He then moves on to the picking of David as King. On the outward appearance David did not fit the picture he was just a shepherd boy. The stereo typical hero is turned upside down in Judaism. If you have time, watch the video. Rabbi Sacks in his wisdom has something for everyone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNg1Z5lijJ8&t=1360s You can also visit my other blog at we are looking at the 4. Natural Good and Moral Good part 4 by Herman Bavinck in his Reformed Ethics. https://hasan-godtalk.blogspot.com/ |
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