other Judeans there— and that this Judean family was accepted.
Elimelech dies and then his two sons die childless in Moab. Naomi, who heard that the famine back home had ended, decided to return home and let her two Moabite daughters-in-law remain in Moab and build families. She may have done this out of love, but she also had a personal interest: she might reconstitute a life in Bethlehem, but she did not need the burden of two Moabite women, who might not be well-received and whose maintenance she could not guarantee. She persuades one daughter-in-law to stay in Moab. But the other, Ruth, thwarts her mother-in-law’ s will and insists on going to Judah with Naomi. What could be her motive?
Because Ruth“ clings”( daveqa) to Naomi, it has been understood that it was an act of love( ḥesed). Because Ruth proclaims,“ Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God,” it has been understood that Ruth became a devotee of the God of Israel. But what are her prospects in Bethlehem, how secure would her future be— as a foreigner and as the tag-along of a bitter and seemingly indigent woman? Whatever Ruth’ s motive, it does not appear to be self-interest.
If one follows the stages of the plot and pays close attention to the dialogue, one scenario gradually emerges. A wealthy kinsman of Naomi in Bethlehem, Boaz, takes an interest in Ruth, and responds favorably to Ruth’ s suggestion that he marry her. Boaz recognizes Ruth’ s motive,
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