Judges, Ruth: Revised Edition (The NIV Application Commentary)

by K. Lawson Younger

In the first blessing, the elders express the hope that Ruth will be fruitful and build up the house of Boaz as Rachel and Leah did in the case of Jacob. Interestingly, Rachel is listed first, Leah second. This may be a case in which the more important person is named second, as with Ruth in 1:4, 14 and Mahlon in 4:9. Leah as the mother of Judah and her descendants are in view in the third blessing (v. 12).37 The second blessing contains a poetic paralleling. The last clause enhances the understanding of the first. The phrase qara’ shem literally means “may a name be called/given,” which appears to be idiomatic for “be famous.” The recurrence of the word shem (name) in this blessing cannot help but be a play on the third part of Boaz’s sworn declaration, “to maintain the name [shem] of the dead” (v. 10). Thus the first clause of the blessing is best seen (as the NIV translation reflects) as dealing with standing or reputation, though the richness of the nuances of ‘ase hayil cannot be overlooked.38 The third blessing invokes the case of Perez, the offspring of Tamar and Judah, who, in spite of the machinations of his father and mother (Gen 38),39 proved to be a gracious blessing from God. This blessing subtly speaks to the parallel of Ruth and Tamar as non-Israelites included in the tribal delineation. Like the story of Boaz and Ruth, the story of Judah and Tamar is a story of family continuity achieved by the determination of a woman,40 though the story of Boaz and Ruth i...