A Biblical-Narrative Psychological response to Ruth 3:1-10
Biblical-Narrative psychology contrasts the faith journey of Ruth with the grasping non-faith journey of Jacob, towards finding identity. Whereas Jacob is constantly looking for confirmation of his goals in literal terms he can understand, such as deceiving his uncle Laban, Ruth takes a faith journey into the unknown. As a young widow, she determines to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi and not go back to her own people like her sister-in-law Orpah. A traditional Freudian approach assesses Ruth’s action as that of a dependent person unable to differentiate from her mother-in-law. Biblical narrative psychology hears the story differently. A story of a courageous young woman who recognises the vulnerability of Naomi going back to her own land without a husband, with little chance of attracting another man as protector. Ruth on the other hand is young and sees her duty to care for her mother-in-law. Even though this means going to a foreign land and a foreign religion, she makes the choice. Only people of faith can make such choices, emerging from their strong sense of personal identity and place in the world. Jacob with a poor sense of identity attempts to find his place through material means, struggling in his journey until he meets the divine being at the River. Only then is he given a new name and a sense of identity.
When Ruth and Naomi arrive at Naomi’s homeland, we see Ruth continuing the theme of faith living when she goes to the field to gather the corn left in the corners for such as her, confident the men will be kind to her.
The story then picks up a strong cultural theme where Boaz as a kinsman of Naomi has obligations to protect her, as does another kinsman even closer. It is tempting to read the story contained by its cultural context and miss some of the underlying psychological nuances within the text. Biblical-Narrative Psychology sees biblical text as stories critical to understanding the journey of a people of faith but written beyond the complete awareness of its authors. The text can be seen as sacred, not because of some magical divine dictation, but because it elicits the true nature of humanity and the purpose of relationships within the journey of people on the spiritual journey. To that end, all great literature at some point fulfils a similar purpose.
As instructed by Naomi, Ruth gets dressed in her best clothes, with perfume to be attractive to Boaz. She goes down to a place full of men and secretly lifts the robe of Boaz and lies at his feet. When Boaz wakes up startled, she humbly reminds him of his cultural obligation and offers herself in submission. The action of a submissive, dependent woman or the action of a courageous woman of faith? She takes the huge risk of placing herself within a cultural story that does not necessarily have a good outcome for her if she has rejected.
Some commentators have suggested that Ruth goes as far as to have sexual relations with Boaz to seal the contract, so great is her faith commitment; however, the text hardly supports that view. Boaz is not the closest kinsman, so there is still the other person with whom to negotiate before Boaz can fulfil any obligation to Ruth. There is an even stronger argument contained within the story. The text emphasises the honour of Ruth, who having placed herself at risk does not have much of a defence if she protests that nothing happened in the barn full of men! Only in one other place in the Hebrew text does the phrase, spread my garment or alternatively, covered with my wings, occur. The beautiful poetic text in Ezekiel referring to God’s love for Jerusalem says:
Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine (Ezekiel 16:8).
Therefore, a woman of great courage and faith meets a man of equal courage and faith, both honourable persons, who go beyond mere social obligations to create a most beautiful, sacred love story.
psychology and hope 