Analysis of Spiritual Connotation of the Book of Ruth and its Practical Significance

付扬

Abstract：The Book of Ruth in the Old Testament is one of the only two books that are named after a woman and is the shortest chapter of it. However， it has its unique beauty as a complete literature work in which we can see the mutual， unselfish and genuine love of humanity above nation and faith. Furthermore， we can learn the patience in tribulation， the loyalty and filial piety，the diligence and courage from Ruth. All this can give us profound enlightenment in constructing harmonious families and harmonious society.

Key Words：  Ruth; love; harmony

1. Love in the Book of Ruth among Ruth， Naomi and Boaz

We can see the boundless and unselfish love expressed between the lines in the book of Ruth and it is above nation and faith. It is the genuine and selfless love that is the spiritual connotation which is embodied in the Book of Ruth.

1.1 Love between Ruth and Naomi

Firstly， Naomi showed much consideration for Ruth and was willing to suffer hardships alone. First，after her husband bland her two sons died， she wanted to left Moab and went back to the land of Judah .Then she asked her two daughters-in-law to go back to their own mother’s home to lead a new life. She didn’t want them to suffer with her. Second， after she returned to the land of Judah， she tried to find a home for Ruth where Ruth would be well provided for. After she found that Boaz was an affectionate and reliable person， she wanted Ruth to be married with him and tried to pairing them.

Secondly， Ruth was very virtuous， faithful and obedient to her mother-in-law， Naomi. It was very hard for a daughter-in-law to treat her mother-in-law as her own mother and it was even harder to treat her mother-in-law better than her own mother. But Ruth did it. She could have chosen to leave Naomi to go back to her mother’s home and remarry. However， she decided to go with Naomi for fear that her mother-in-law would be lonely and unsupported. Ruth showed her resolution that she would be together with Naomi forever by her oath. First， Ruth said that where her mother-in-law went she would go with her. This showed that Ruth would never leave or abandon Naomi. Second， Ruth insisted that where Naomi stayed she stay with her. Third， Ruth declared that her mother-in-law’ country would be her own country. This indicated that Ruth had done enough mental preparation to go with her mother-in-law and would never have regrets about making her farewell to her own parents and leaving her own country. Fourth， Ruth stated that Naomi’s God would be her God. This made clear that they were not only in the same place but also had the same belief. This dispelled Naomi’s misgivings greatly. Fifth， Ruth claimed that they would die and be buried together. This was the most moving part of her oath. It showed clearly her resolution to follow her mother-in-law till death and she had no regrets about it. Ruth left her own parents and her homeland to follow her mother-in-law to live with a people that she didn’t know before because her deep love to Naomi. When Naomi realized that Ruth determined to go with her， she stopped discouraging her. They returned from Moab to Bethlehem when was the busy farming season. Then in order to make a living Ruth went to the fields to pick up the leftover grain on her initiative. She was up early and down late without a word of complaint. As a young widow， Ruth knew fully well the meaning of loyalty and filial piety， so she could go with her mother-in-law who was a very poor old widow to endure suffering. She confronts with the unfortunate fate bravely and seeks a happy life positively. Ruth is highly favored by divine grace and obtained the admiration of people. Her being admitted by the Jewish people showed that sincerity and virtue were admitted by them. Finally， she led a happy life.

1.2 Love between Ruth and Boaz

A lonely stranger in a foreign land， Ruth left her homeland and her own parents. When she picked up the leftover grain in the cornfield in the hot sun， she led a sorrowful and difficult experience and at that time she must long for tender feelings. When she met Boaz for the first time she held his attention and she also gained the respect of him by her moral conduct. In order to protect Ruth from suffering humiliations and scares， he told his men not to touch Ruth. He told Ruth that she can stay there with his servant girls and follow along after them when gleaning. Furthermore， he was very attentive to Ruth to allow her to get a drink from the water jars his servants have filled when she was thirsty and in the mealtime he asked her to have some bread with them. He noticed that Ruth led a hard life， so he ordered his men to put out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up， and didn’t rebuke her. He not only protected Ruth’s honor but also increased Ruth’s harvest. All those things showed that Boaz had a good opinion of her and he was a man of subtle and refined sensibility and he was also a man of wisdom. Boaz helped Ruth， took extra care of her， respected her and relieved the plight of her. His love was not empty phrases and he didn’t claim a reward. His tenderness and caring seeped slowly into the mind of Ruth and she was deeply touched by his thoughtfulness. So when her mother-in-law asked her to wash and perfume herself and put on her best clothes to go down to the grain-floor to lie besides Boaz， she did without unwillingness. One must follow the system of moral principles. Although Ruth’s virtue was praised， if she offended against the canons of good manners to be married with Boaz， she would not be blessed and accepted. Because in the Hebrew nation， if brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son， his widow must not marry outside the family; her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her; the first son he bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. Boaz showed her love to Ruth and he observed the tradition at the same time. He said if the kinsman-redeemer nearer than he wanted to redeem， then let him did; but if he was not willing， he would do it. So when it was nearly dawn， he asked Ruth to get up before anyone could be recognized in order to protect Ruth’s reputation. He acted in the best interests of Ruth. He was not a cowardly person and he was also not a person who lost his reason because of loving somebody; he was a person who abided by social norms and who adhered to ethical or normal principles. Love is not getting， but giving. Boaz’s strong sense of responsibility and her deep love for Ruth gained Ruth’s respect， Naomi’s recognition and the elders’ blessings. It is worthwhile to note that Boaz considered that Ruth shouldn’t go back to her mother-in-law empty-handed; he gave her six measures of barley. This detail showed that Boaz extended his heartfelt thanks for Naomi’s recognition and he would not leave Naomi alone to form a family with Ruth. And this means they three would lead a happy life together.

2. The Practical Significance

As we all know that the family is the tiniest cell of the society and the family unit is the basic foundation for a harmonious society. So the construction of family civilization is of paramount importance. However， each family has its own problems. Here， we can learn a lot from the Book of Ruth about how to construct a harmonious family

Surely， the husband and wife are the key members of a family and the harmonious connubiality is the most important factor in constructing a harmonious family. In fact， although there is no clear description of how deeply Ruth and her husband， Kilion， loved each other in the Book of Ruth， and the love between her and her husband has always been ignored by people， it does exist between them. In the days when the judges ruled， Kilion who was one of Ephrathites from Bethlehem， Judah， married Ruth who is a Moabite woman. From their marriage， we can see that they indeed loved each other because at that time the Jewish people had a national discrimination and resisted out-marriage strongly. In many communities， prayers for the dead were recited for a Jew who married a non-Jew. As a result， out-marriage was rare. So it was not easy for a Jew to marry a Moabite woman as his wife when the antagonism between nations and religious conflicts existed. On one hand， they must withstand all sorts of exterior pressure and on the other hand， they must face the innermost confusion. So their marriage was the witness of their true love and it was above suspicion. There is an old proverb， “love me love my dog.” Ruth loved her mother-in-law dearly that she could left her own parents and homeland and she could even reject her own religious belief partly because she had an infinite deep love for her husband. She found it was hard for her to part with Naomi who was her husband’s only family alive. So the harmonious connubiality will strengthen family cohesiveness and has a positive influence on the other relations among family as we can see in the Book of Ruth. Let us youth not love in word nor in tongue but in deed and truthfulness.

At the same time the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is also worth noticing. In each family， the most obvious and common contradiction and conflict between two generations happen between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. If they don’t get along well with each other， the whole family can hardly lead a happy life. Many couples even got divorced in contemporary society due to the bad relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. So how they can build a good relationship with each other is a problem that almost every family pays close attention to. Here， we can learn a lot from Naomi and Ruth. They had consideration for each other and they shared joys and sorrows. Especially， it was noble of Ruth to treat her mother-in-law with filial piety when her husband died. It deserves admiration and should be learned by all of us.

Furthermore， as the images of women in the Bible， she couldn’t embody all the qualities that feminists advocated， but she indeed embodied many fine qualities that we present female should learn. As there are more and more exchanges among all the countries in the world， more and more people go abroad to seek their own development and when they encounter various problems in the alien land they can obtain courage and faith from Ruth.

Conclusion：

The unselfish and endless love in the Book of Ruth really moved us and it is love that is the heart in constructing harmonious families and harmonious society. So a review on the spiritual Connotation of the Book of Ruth can not only help promote families’ amity and social stability， but also improve the whole moral qualities.

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