Ruth, Tamar, and Lot's daughters

It is clear that Ruth forms a clear contrast with Judges. The connection is made right from the very first verse of the Book of Ruth: "In the time when the judges led the people" (Judg. 1:1). The tone is set. While Judges describes the wickedness of the people of Israel, Ruth presents a completely different picture.
The Book of Judges devotes considerable attention to Israel's religious unfaithfulness. The stories of the Twelve Judges are preceded by a double prologue and concluded by a double epilogue, which provides four examples of this. In the first epilogue (Judg. 1:1–2:5), the people's unfaithfulness is illustrated by the fact that not all of the land had yet been conquered. The tribe of Dan, in fact, had no territory of its own (Judg. 18:1). This is followed by a discussion of religious unfaithfulness (Judg. 2:6–3:7). Finally, we find another double history. First, Dan's idolatry is described, involving the making and worship of an idol (Judg. 17 and 18). Then, we read about the outrage in Benjamin in which a woman was raped to death (Judg. 19–21). Unfaithfulness is also clearly evident several times in the stories of the judges. Consider, for example, Gideon, who receives gold jewelry from the Israelites as spoils of war and makes an idol out of it. And Samson's relationship with women was also far from exemplary. All things considered, the Book of Judges reveals a tendency of a people increasingly turning their backs on God. And the conclusion of Judges is repeated four times: "At that time there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). This book thus serves as an introduction to the era of kings.
But there are other parallels with the book of Ruth. The couple Orpah and Ruth parallel the couple Abraham and Lot. When Abraham and Lot part ways and Lot is allowed to choose a region, he chooses the pagan Canaanite territory around Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 13). The consequences are dire. For example, we read how the inhabitants of Sodom intend to rape the angels who visit Lot. And ultimately, Lot's daughters commit incest with their father. The offspring, the peoples of Moab and Ammon, do not serve God and are hostile to Israel for centuries. We will return to this later. The comparison with Orpah and Ruth is obvious. Ruth chooses not to return to Moab, her own people, but to seek connection with the people of Israel. She and her descendants are thereby incorporated into God's people.
There is another striking parallel between Ruth's story and two other events. After fleeing Sodom, Lot goes to live in Zoar, in a cave in the mountains (Gen. 19). Unable to find a husband there, the daughters decide to get their father drunk and have sex with him. Both become pregnant. The eldest gives birth to a son she names Moab, and the youngest to a son named Ben-ammi. The two nations that emerged from this, the Moabites and the Ammonites, have always been hostile to Israel. The second parallel is the story of Tamar. Judah has three sons. The eldest son, Er, marries Tamar. Er dies without fathering any children. Then Tamar is given to the second son, Onan. However, because, according to the rules of brother-in-law marriage, any children would not be considered his, he squanders his seed. He too is killed by God. The third son, Shelah, is still too young for brother-in-law marriage. But when he comes of age, his father Judah neglects to give Tamar to Shelah. Meanwhile, Judah's wife has died. Tamar decides to disguise herself as a prostitute and seduce her father-in-law. The plan is successful, and she becomes pregnant. She gives birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. The story of Ruth contains a reference to these two stories. Ruth, like Tamar, is also a widow. And when she goes to the threshing floor to ask Boaz to act as her kinsman, it seems as if she wants to seduce him. She dresses beautifully and uses perfume, and waits until the wine has taken effect. However, Boaz's reaction is very conscientious. He wants to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing and accepts the request to act as a kinsman. Three stories of a woman who wants to have offspring. The daughters of Lot and Tamar use a ruse to obtain offspring. Ruth forms a stark contrast to this. She is very pure in her intentions. The lineages are also striking. The descendants of Lot and his daughters are ungodly. The descendants of Judah and Tamar, however, remain among God's people. The connection with Boaz and Ruth and their descendant David is emphatically established. After hearing of the proposed marriage, the elders of Bethlehem say: "Yes," said the elders and all who were present at the gate, "we are witnesses. May the LORD grant that the woman who comes into your house may be like Rachel and Leah, who both made the house of Israel great, so that you too may be great in Ephrathah and your name may continue in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, Tamar's son and Judah's, through the children the LORD will give you by this young woman" (Ruth 4:11-12). It is striking that Perez is explicitly referred to here. And also the genealogy at the end of the book of Ruth begins with Perez: These are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron, Hezron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, Nahshon begot Salmon, Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David (Ruth 4:18-22).
Both Tamar and Ruth are mentioned in Jesus' genealogy (Matt. 1). Thus, there is a lineage from Judah, through Perez and Boaz, to David and Jesus. God's work continues, despite all our human unfaithfulness.


Bas Krins