Line #15 Literature/BookOfRuth


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Literature/TheBible'''\
2	'''Old Testament/Tanakh'''\
3	[[Literature/BookOfGenesis Genesis]] \| [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJoshua Joshua]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJudges Judges]] \| '''Ruth''' \| [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel Samuel]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfKings Kings]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEzra Ezra]] \| [[Literature/BookOfNehemiah Nehemiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEsther Esther]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]] \| [[Literature/BookOfPsalms Psalms]] \| [[Literature/BookOfProverbs Proverbs]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEcclesiastes Ecclesiastes]] \| [[Literature/SongOfSongs Songs]] \| [[Literature/BookOfIsaiah Isaiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJeremiah Jeremiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEzekiel Ezekiel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfDaniel Daniel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHosea Hosea]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJoel Joel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfAmos Amos]] \| [[Literature/BookOfObadiah Obadiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJonah Jonah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfMicah Micah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfNahum Nahum]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHabakkuk Habakkuk]] \| [[Literature/BookOfZephaniah Zephania]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHaggai Haggai]] \| [[Literature/BookOfZechariah Zechariah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfMalachi Malachi]]\
4	'''Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical'''\
5	[[Literature/BookOfTobit Tobit]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJudith Judith]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfMaccabees Maccabees]]\
6	'''New Testament'''\
7	[[Literature/TheFourGospels Gospels]] \| [[Literature/ActsOfTheApostles Acts]] \| [[Literature/BookOfRomans Romans]] \| [[Literature/BookOfCorinthians Corinthians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfGalatians Galatians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEphesians Ephesians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfPhilippians Philippians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfColossians Colossians]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfThessalonians Thessalonians]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesToTimothy Timothy]] \| [[Literature/EpistleToTitus Titus]] \| [[Literature/EpistleToPhilemon Philemon]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHebrews Hebrews]] \| [[Literature/EpistleOfJames James]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesOfPeter Peter]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesOfJohn John]] \| [[Literature/EpistleOfJude Jude]] \| [[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation]]-]]]]]
8
9	->''"For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God."''
10	-->-- '''Ruth 1:16'''
11
12	A short story set in the time of the Literature/BookOfJudges, detailing how Ruth, a Moabite widow, finds a new husband. That new husband, as it turns out, is a relative of her mother-in-law Naomi's husband, and part of the lineage that would produce King David (and, according to Christians, the Messiah and Savior Jesus Christ).
13	-----
14	!!Structure of the book:
15	* Naomi loses her husband and sons and returns to Judah with Ruth (Ruth chapter 1)
16	* Ruth finds work reaping the fields of Boaz (Ruth chapter 2)
17	* Boaz's encounter with Ruth at night (Ruth chapter 3)
18	* Boaz marries Ruth and the rest of the story (Ruth chapter 4)
19
20	-----
21	!!"For your tropes shall be my tropes":
22	%%
23	%% Zero context examples have been commented out. Please provide context before uncommenting.
24	%%
25	* AdaptationExpansion: The 1960 Hollywood version briefly shoehorns the basic elements of the Bible account into a new tale of espionage, child sacrifice, and escape from slavery.
26	* AgeGapRomance: Their ages are not specified as such, but Boaz is old enough to call Ruth "my daughter" before they got involved, and expresses happiness that she chose him instead of a younger man.
27	* BabiesEverAfter: The ending. And these are some pretty important babies too, since Ruth is the ancestor of David, and consequently, an ancestor of Jesus.
28	* BatmanGambit: How Boaz ensures he'll marry Ruth, and not the nearer kinsman redeemer. When bringing up the topic with him, Boaz mentions only the land to be reclaimed, and leaves out the detail about also marrying Ruth until the other redeemer agrees. Once the man hears about the sudden marriage detail, he promptly backs out for fear of endangering the ownership of his property.
29	* BedmateReveal: After celebrating the harvest (strong wine probably involved) Boaz spends the night outdoors on the threshing floor and wakes at some point in the night to find Ruth next to him and not all of his body parts covered.
30	* BestFriendsInLaw: Naomi and Ruth are incredibly close.
31	* BreatherEpisode: In the Christian Old Testament, the Book of Ruth, a short love story, is tucked in between the Literature/BookOfJudges and Literature/BooksOfSamuel, both rather lengthy tales detailing the violent wars between Israel and its enemies and the slow descent into wickedness of the Israelites. Not so in the Jewish Tanakh, however, as Ruth is in a different section of the Bible alongside other literary books, between the Literature/SongOfSongs and the [[Literature/BookOfJeremiah Book of Lamentations]].
32	* BrokenBird: Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law. When moving back to Israel, she tells the other women to not call her Naomi (meaning "pleasant") but Mara (meaning "bitter"). Luckily, her spirit recovers after Ruth's marriage and her gaining a grandson.
33	* ChekhovsGunman: It's only at the end of her story do we find out Ruth's significance; she's David's great-grandmother. And thus for Christians, an ancestor of Jesus.
34	* ConvertingForLove: With a twist. After Ruth's husband dies her mother-in-law, Naomi, advises her and Orpah to return to their old homes and religion. Ruth, however, stays out of loyalty to Naomi. In real life, Ruth's story has been used as a precedent for Jewish converts, particularly, the idea that someone can become a good Jew even if he wasn't born one (as Ruth, despite hailing from a nation long considered Israel's archenemy, became an ancestor to Israel's greatest king).
35	* GetTheeToANunnery: "Feet" was a common euphemism for the genitals at the time, so Naomi directing Ruth to uncover Boaz's feet by night is bolder than it sounds.
36	* GuileHero: Ruth the Moabite, an expatriate who was determined to not fall into misery after losing her husband, ending up as the grandmother of King David.
37	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Ruth and Naomi; Ruth even abandons her family and homeland to stay with her mother-in-law.
38	* HopeSpot: A mostly bright and heartwarming tale, especially when contrasted with the violent and bleak Literature/BookOfJudges.
39	* LoopholeAbuse: There's another relative who's more legally eligible to acquire Mahlon's property than Boaz is. But when Boaz points out that marriage to Mahlon's widow comes with that property (and by Mosaic law, their first son would be considered ''Mahlon'''s son and heir), the other man backs out.
40	* MalignedMixedMarriage: Averted (maybe). Despite laws about intermarriage, there is no explicit critique about either Mahlon (Naomi's son) or Boaz marrying Ruth. However, both Mahlon and Chilion die childless after marrying Moabite women, which [[ImpliedTrope some interpret]] as punishment. In Boaz’s case, Ruth adopts the Israelite religion, so this is less of a problem.
41	* TheMatchmaker: Naomi schemes to get Ruth and Boaz together.
42	* MandatoryFatherhood: According to Mosaic law (specifically, Deuteronomy 25:5-6), a relative of a man who dies without children must marry his widow and give her a son to be the dead man's heir. Boaz is their preferred candidate, but he knows of another man who is more closely related. In chapter 4, he gets this relative to withdraw his claim before witnesses and then becomes the father of Obed with Ruth. Obed himself becomes the father of Jesse and thus the grandfather of King David.
43	* MayDecemberRomance: Boaz is much older than Ruth, and says as much. This does not deter her.
44	* MeaningfulName: Naomi's sons Mahlon and Chilion's names can be interpreted as meaning "sickly" and "failing" (in health); fitting names for two men who die young. Although the meaning of Mahlon's name has been debated.
45	* MeaningfulRename: After Naomi's husband and sons die, she tells her friends to call her "Mara", meaning "bitterness".
46	* NiceJewishBoy: Although Boaz is well older than Ruth, it's implied in the Bible that he didn't ask after women until she showed up working the fields for her kinswoman. Hearing how she's taking care of her mother-in-law Naomi, [[SacredHospitality Boaz sets aside a portion of the best grain for her take home and lets her sit with his table during meals]] (as a foreign-born, she normally wouldn't have been allowed in those days).
47	* ObnoxiousInLaws: Inverted, quite famously. Ruth and Naomi get along swimmingly, even after Naomi's son has died. Averted also with Orpah, who got on well with Naomi and Ruth and was clearly sad to leave them.
48	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Naomi loses both of her sons in the first chapter.
49	* OutOfGenreExperience: Ruth, which reads like a domestic drama, is set in the action-packed CrapsackWorld times of Judges.
50	* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Boaz had something of a legal obligation to marry Ruth, but there's little doubt they were genuinely in love.
51	* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: Ruth vows her loyalty to her mother-in-law in the famous "where you go, I will go" speech. While not ''romantic'' love, it is still very touching.
52	* PluckyGirl: Ruth has no husband, children, or strong protectors. Yet she does her best to scratch out a living for herself and her mother-in-law, and her loyalty ultimately pays off.
53	* PresentAbsence: In the Christian Old Testament, this is the first book where God takes no explicit actions or directly communicates with any of the people. Nevertheless, God is referenced by Ruth and Boaz, and the closing genealogy suggests to some God’s ultimate control over events.
54	* QuoteMine: The familiar verse "Where you go I will go..." is sometimes quoted in marriage services. It does sound very romantic out of context, but in context Ruth is saying it to her ''mother-in-law''. They did evidently have [[HeterosexualLifePartners a very close relationship]], but (probably?) not ''that'' close.
55	* RescueRomance: Boaz proves himself to be a good man by showing favor to Ruth, leaving more wheat for her to gather than he is legally required to, and protecting her from male harassment.
56	* RomancingTheWidow: Boaz to Ruth, although Ruth (with Naomi's collusion) did a fair bit of the romancing herself.
57	* RomanticFalseLead: There's another family member of the tribe that's technically more qualified to marry Ruth and carry on the Levirate duties (i.e., first child born belongs to the family line of the dead husband, not to new hubby), but he backs out of the obligation.
58	* SacredHospitality: Boaz going above and beyond the laws of generosity is one of his good points.
59	* SecondLove: Ruth's first husband dies early in the book and is barely mentioned afterward. Only one verse even tells us specifically which one of Naomi's sons he was (it was Mahlon).
60	* SequelHook: The genealogy at the end connects this story to the [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel Davidic]] [[Literature/BooksOfKings kingship]].
61	* ShipperOnDeck: Naomi for Ruth/Boaz -- she's even the one who teaches Ruth what to do and say to get Boaz to agree to cementing the 'ship.
62	* ShipperWithAnAgenda: Ruth is widowed, destitute, and living with her mother-in-law Naomi. She goes out to glean scraps of grain from a nearby farm, just so they have enough food to barely survive, and catches the eye of the farm's owner Boaz. Naomi encourages her to go for it and gives her some advice on how to seal the deal, as Boaz is a wealthy guy and marrying him will ensure they're both cared for. (It helps that he was a close relative of Ruth's late husband, and was thus obligated to marry her under the laws at the time.)
63	* ShiksaGoddess: Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law of the Jewish widow Naomi, who later on marries Naomi's kinsman Boaz. Her marriage to Boaz is a Subversion, though, as it's made clear she was a Jewish convert before she married him.
64	* TheStateless: Ruth is this after the death of her husband, when she chooses to leave with Naomi. Naomi is returning to her homeland, although it's unclear whether she has any family left or would be welcome in her community. Although there were no legal statutes determining citizenship, someone without family members was essentially stateless.
65	* TogetherInDeath: Non-romantic version: After the death of her husband, Ruth expresses UndyingLoyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and refuses to leave her, even at Naomi's insistence.
66	-->"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."
67	* TomatoSurprise: Ruth, a foreign-born woman, is the great-grandmother of David, Israel's greatest king.
68	* TraumaCongaLine: Naomi goes through this in the first chapter: forced to flee Israel because of famine, her husband dies, and then both her sons die. Naomi lampshades this by renaming herself 'Mara', meaning "bitterness".
69	* UndyingLoyalty: Despite having the option to stay in Moab, Ruth has the loyalty of a daughter to her mother-in-law, Naomi and vows not to leave her. Her famous speech provides the page quote.
70	* UnexpectedKindness: Ruth, as a Moabite woman, doesn't expect any warm welcome in Bethlehem, as the Jews and the Moabites are bitter enemies, and is overcome with gratitude ([[RescueRomance which soon leads to stronger feelings]]) when the wealthy Boaz not only allows her to glean in his fields but offers her protection and allows her to eat together with him and his reapers.
71	* TheUnseen: At no time does God show up or be directly invoked... [[FridgeBrilliance and yet the whole book is a perfect example of God's covenant with the Hebrew faith]].
72	* UnusualEuphemism: As mentioned above, uncovering Boaz's "feet" probably meant more than just taking his sandals off.
73	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: The most obvious interpretation of Naomi's planned encounter with Boaz and Ruth was to convince him that ''something'' had happened between the two of them during the night -- he was celebrating the end of harvest season, wine had been consumed, he woke up with parts of himself uncovered and with Ruth next to him saying, "Now you must marry me"...
74	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Naomi's other daughter-in-law, Orpah, decides to stay in Moab the first chapter and is never mentioned again.
75	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Why Naomi wanted to send her two daughter-in-laws away -- if they went back to Israel with her, they would have been foreigners with little or no protection.
76	* YouCanTurnBack: Naomi says this to her two widowed daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Orpah takes her up on it, Ruth refuses.
77	* YouHaveWaitedLongEnough: Naomi tries to send her two widowed daughters-in-law back to their families to get Moabite husbands. Ruth will have none of it, and Orpah goes back only with reluctance.

Context Literature / BookOfRuth