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Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Ruth is well received by Boaz
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[1] Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. [2] And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favour.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter. [3] So she set forth and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
[8] Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my maidens. [9] Let your eyes be upon the field which they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” [10] Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favour in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” [11] But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
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[13] So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went into to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. [14] Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next of kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel! [15] He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” [16] Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. [17] And the women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
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Commentary:
2:1-17. The Lord richly rewards Ruth. These pages speak of the providence of God who, very discreetly, as if everything happened naturally, was disposing events to ensure that Naomi and Ruth would have everything they needed. “The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God’s absolute sovereignty over the course of events: ‘Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases’ (Ps 115:3). And so it is with Christ, ‘who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens’ (Rev 3:7). As the book of Proverbs states: ‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established’ (Prov 19:21)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 303).
The Law laid down that once a field was reaped, it should not be gone back over to gather grain that had fallen or been missed by the reapers; this would allow needy people to pick up any grains that still lay on the ground (cf. Lev 19:9-10 and Deut 24:19). Ruth avails herself of this humanitarian stipulation and follows the reapers in search of food; this takes her into Boaz’ field. When visiting his men, Boaz notices Ruth and is kind to her when he hears who she is.
This kindness is a sign of the protection given her by “the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing you have come to take refuge” (2:12), as Boaz will tell her. The idea of having recourse to the Lord in order to shelter under his wings occurs often in the Bible (cf. Deut 32:10-11; Ps 17:8; 36:8; 61:5; 63:8; and 91:4); it is a very poetic way of describing the tenderness with which God takes care of those who have recourse to him. Our Lord Jesus Christ uses the image to show how much he loves the Holy City, and yet his love is not returned: “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Mt 23:37).
4:13-22. Ruth has benefitted from the redemption performed by Boaz has become a member of the people of God. God blessed their union with a son, Obed, who in time would be the grandfather of David the king. And so it happened that this Moabite woman who left her family and country out of faithfulness to the God of her first husband, was generously rewarded by that God: he made her one of the great women who played leading roles in salvation history (cf. 4:11-12). Ruth became a forebear of David (vv. 18-22; cf. 1 Chron 2:5-15).
In St. Matthew’s Gospel the name of Ruth appears as a direct forebear of Jesus Christ (Mt 1:5). “It is only right that St Matthew should record in his Gospel that the Lord, who came to call Gentiles to form part of the Church, became man in a lineage which included foreigners” (St Ambrose, Expositio Evangelium secundum Lucam, 3, 33).