The story of what happened between Ruth and Boaz on the threshing floor has become one of the more controversial chapters of the Bible. I failed to realize how controversial it was until I looked up the meaning of “uncovered his feet.” That’s when I discovered that some people claim that Ruth and Boaz had a sexual relationship that night when Naomi instructed Ruth to go and meet Boaz there after a hard day’s work.
Context is very important when studying the Bible, and most people would agree with that statement. However, by context, I mean more than the words surrounding a particular verse, or the chapters surrounding a particular chapter. The Bible is how God reveals himself to mankind and we must keep that context in mind at all times when studying God’s Word.
Before the Bible was completed approximately 2,000 years ago, God would use miracles and prophets to reveal himself. When Christ fulfilled the salvation promise and God wrote the book of Revelation through the Apostle John, that was the end of the Bible and from that point, God has used his Word to reveal himself. He can still perform miracles if he so chooses, but by far his primary means of revelation is the Bible. Therefore, by context, I mean understanding Ruth chapter 3 in the context of first who God is. Second, who was Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi, and what was their character?
As I read what others wrote, they all seemed to miss the unnamed person in this chapter that adds to the need of having a proper context. We will discuss him in just a bit.
Ruth Chapter 3: 1-4 Paraphrased
- The scene begins after the harvest of Barley and Wheat has been completed and the work has turned to winnowing and threshing what has been reaped. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, has a match-making plan that will find Ruth a husband for protection and to keep her from having to work so hard to meet their needs.
- The man Naomi has in mind is Boaz who had shown a tenderness toward Ruth which revealed his attraction for her. He would be tired from a hard day’s work and it would be much easier for Ruth to approach him in a place of work as opposed to his home.
- Ruth tells her to clean-up, wear a nice “dress,” and make herself attractive. Not as a harlot, but as a lady. She also cautions her to keep out of sight until Boaz ate and drank until he has mellowed.
- Naomi instructs her to make a mental note of where Boaz had made his bed so she can find it in the dark after everyone has fallen into a deep sleep as a result of a hard day’s work. She then instructs Ruth to uncover his feet, and this is where the controversy begins.
What does it mean to “uncover his feet?”
My research suggested that some believe it is a euphemism for another male body part and that it’s akin to the modern euphemisms of sleeping together or hooking up. Some people think that Ruth seduced Boaz on the threshing floor, but is that what the Bible says?
Keep in mind that the Bible first needs to be interpreted in the context of who God is. As it says in II Peter 1:20-21
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
In other words, there is one interpretation for God’s Word and that comes from the Holy Spirit as it says in I John 2:27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
The second context of what we must keep in mind is what is the character of Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi? We cannot divorce God from this story since the story is ultimately about revealing who God is. God gives us no reason to doubt the character of Boaz, Ruth, or Naomi. Actually, the opposite is true. Naomi’s motive for instructing Ruth on what to do is love. Ruth did not yet know the customs of the Hebrews and she trusts Naomi because she knows her motive is love and she would do nothing to bring reproach upon her.
Naomi would also know the character of Boaz since they were near kinsmen. The fourth person in this story, which in my research no one else seemed to acknowledge was the kinsman who had first rights to Ruth since it wasn’t Boaz. Naomi knew Boaz would be the better match. That was a problem that must be overcome and these instructions from Naomi would motivate Boaz to seek a solution.
Boaz, even if he wanted Ruth to be his wife, could not do wrong by taking that which belonged to another man. She was obligated first to the nearer kinsman as Boaz told Ruth in verse 12. As for the unnamed man, human nature causes us to hold on tighter to that which we feel someone else might be trying to steal from us. If the nearer kinsman felt Boaz was being selfish and trying to steal Ruth from him, he may have held onto her more tightly.
Because of what happened here in Chapter 3, Ruth had let Boaz know that he was her choice, then this would take away the “selfish” factor and let Boaz know that he was asking for Ruth for her sake and not just his own. Therefore, Ruth had to approach Boaz in his most vulnerable state, yet she had to do so without guile.
Was there a sexual connotation to uncovering his feet? I do not believe so. Uncovering his feet served two purposes. First, it would wake him up without startling him as cold feet can cause us to awake. Second, it would reveal to Boaz the subtle hint that Ruth chose him for marriage if he would only do something about it. Handing another man your shoe in the Hebrew culture was very similar to shaking a man’s hand in our culture to seal the deal. The contract Ruth was alluding to by this act of uncovering his feet would be read by Boaz to mean the marriage contract.
Naomi said in verse 4 that Boaz would instruct Ruth after he woke, and that’s exactly what he does. If Naomi had been using guile, then she wouldn’t have relied on further instruction from Boaz.
The plan was put into motion and when he awakens to find Ruth at his feet, look at how he reacts in verse 10. And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
How had she been more kind at the last than at the first?
In the beginning, when they had met, she had been doing her work out of her love for Naomi and meeting their needs, but now he recognized she was showing her love for him by keeping herself pure by not seeking another, more available, husband.
In verse 11 he tells her to fear not because he will keep her virtue intact. She had a good reputation in Bethlehem and he will not ruin it. This verse settles the controversy as to what happened on the threshing floor of Boaz. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
Why did he tell her to stay with him in verse 13? Because he cared for her and did not want her to return home in the darkness where possible danger might still be lurking in the form of young men. Don’t forget, only a few short years before young men of Benjamin had raped and killed a young woman from Bethlehem and this horrible act and its consequences were still fresh in everyone’s mind (Judges 19).
Ruth then returns to Naomi with grain so that if anyone saw her returning from the threshing floor early in the morning, they would think she had just gone to get grain. They were not covering up sin. Boaz was protecting her reputation from those who like to gossip without evidence.
That morning after Ruth left, Boaz would go to the man who had first dibs on her, and chapter 4 tells us that the man forfeited his right to Boaz. From that union, David would be their grandson and the Lord Jesus Christ would be born of a virgin a thousand years later.
God never hesitated to reveal the failures of the patriarchs and prophets. Yet here in Ruth no failure was revealed by God. Ruth and Boaz were both virtuous and what happened on the threshing floor was part of God’s pure plan for the coming Messiah.