Now we turn to the first chapter of Matthew. Usually, genealogies bore me to death. But there are some surprises here. Come with me. Don’t worry, I won’t list the whole thing. There are four women with very interesting stories.
“1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,[a] the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
“3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar.”
So who’s Tamar? Her story is found in Genesis 38. She marries one man from a set of brothers, and he dies. Back then there was a custom that the next brother in line should marry the widow so that property and possessions stayed in the family. But each one of the brothers she married died too. Finally, there was only one son left, but he was too young to marry. So her father-in-law made her go back to her father’s house and wait.
Imagine that. Forced celibacy, cut off from community and the life you’ve built. Told to go home and wait until other people tell you it’s okay to get married. But Tamar knows her rights under the law. And she’s ready to do something about it.
Her father-in-law goes out of town, and she disguises herself as a sex worker. He goes to her, and gives her some of his personal property as proof he’ll send payment later. He’s furious when she turns up pregnant, and wants her punished and burned. But remember, she has his stuff. So she says “The guy who owns these things is the father.” Suddenly he changes his mind. Someone doesn’t want to be outed.
“5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth.”
Let’s start with Ruth, since she has her own book. It’ll be quicker.
The basic story is this: Elimelech and his wife Naomi move to Moab to try and avoid a famine. Now a quick word about Moab. They fought a lot with the Israelites. The Israelites hated them so much that they wrote a really nasty origin story about them. Remember when Lot fled the city of Sodom before it was destroyed? Well, he ended up in a cave with his two daughters. His daughters got him drunk and raped him. And verse 37 says:
“6Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.”
But when you’re starving, you go where there’s food. While they were there, their sons got married to local women. One was named Orpah, and the other Ruth. 10 years later, Naomi’s sons both died, and so did her husband. She decided to go back to Judah. At first, both of her daughters-in-law came with her, but Orpah went back. Ruth said:
16 Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because these verses are a very common wedding vow. That’s right, a pledge between two women has been used at straight weddings forever. Were they lovers? Queer theology says probably. The far right fires back that it doesn’t explicitly say in the Bible that they had sex with each other. Because that’s the only way they can think of us. Regardless, we have two women building a family with each other. Let’s pick up the story.
When they get back, Naomi is obviously depressed and bitter. But she teaches Ruth about the laws that take care of the needy. She’s allowed to glean in the fields for food. Ruth ends up in Boaz’s field, and he notices her right away. He tells her to stay with his workers for safety, and instructs his men to leave behind more food for her. Naomi is heartened by this, and puts together a plan. Because having a man around increases your chances of surviving and thriving.
3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor; but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lay down. Then he will tell you what to do...4 She lay at his feet until the morning, then she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
Now, there’s one thing to know about “uncovering feet”. Sometimes it’s what it says on the page. And sometimes, it’s a euphemism for genitals and sex. See this post here. So most people are of two minds on this part of Ruth. Either they had pre-marital sex and it was fine. Or, Naomi counseled Ruth to go and have sex with Boaz as a way to seal the deal. But because they were both righteous, they didn’t. Instead, they just slept together until morning. And Boaz wanted her to leave early so that no one would assume and start rumors about them.
Here’s a more in depth look at this story.https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-did-ruth-and-boaz-do-on-the-threshing-floor/
Eventually, Boaz gets everything sorted out and he and Ruth get married. Naomi lives with them because she and Boaz are part of the same family line. Ruth has a baby, and here’s an interesting reaction from the women of the village.
17The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”.
Born to Naomi? Really? So I’m left wondering: are Naomi and Ruth the primary partners, with Boaz as their second? Maybe today we would call them a polycule.
Views: 5
