The Truth About Ruth

Dan Beecher We scared them away, everybody.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher With all of our gold, we terrified them, and they ran like cowards.

Dan McClellan What were all those trunks that they were carrying out of Jerusalem?

Dan Beecher Never mind.

Dan McClellan Never mind. You didn't see anything. Hey, everybody, I'm Dan McClellan.

Dan Beecher And I'm Dan Beecher.

Dan McClellan And you are listening to the Data Over Dogma podcast, where we increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion, and combat the spread of that ever-present misinformation about the same. How are things?

Dan Beecher Things are good.

Dan McClellan Ever present.

Dan Beecher It's a good day to discuss the Bible.

Dan McClellan Today was a good day- ... as the great poet once said, to discuss the Bible. And we're going to be discussing a couple different parts of the Bible today, is my understanding.

Dan Beecher Yes, indeed. We've got a chapter and verse, or rather, a chapter, and a chapter, and a chapter.

Dan McClellan We're just doing a whole book. A whole book of the Bible, yeah.

Dan Beecher Woo. And then we're going to do a Who's That?

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher And we're going to go through a name that you have mentioned, Sennacherib.

Dan McClellan Sennacherib.

Dan Beecher To me, you've mentioned him on the show a bunch of times, and it has always just been a random bunch of syllables to me.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher And so hopefully, you can clear up what we're talking about when you say that word, because- Yeah ... it sounds like maybe snack chips- Mm-hmm ... or some sort of cracker.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I'm not...

Dan McClellan So. Yeah, something you might see a commercial for it on a football game, something like that.

Dan Beecher Right. Yeah, exactly.

Dan McClellan But, yeah, we're going to talk a little bit about that, so everybody can have a little background, so in the future, when I rail about Sennacherib, you can be like, "Ah, I remember where to place that."

Dan Beecher I remember that.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher So yeah, stick around for that. But for right now, let's start with Chapter and Verse. We're doing Ruth, everybody. This is the Book of Ruth.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher It's only four chapters long.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And it's interesting. The first two chapters are about as straightforward, it feels to me like, and you can correct me on this, Dan- Mm-hmm ... because there's always something that I miss. But it feels like the most straightforward thing in the world. We start out in Bethlehem, in Judah.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And we've got a family. We've got a guy named Elimelech, and Elimelech has a wife named Naomi.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And then they've got two sons.

Dan McClellan Yes.

Dan Beecher Mahlon and Chilion. Chili dog. Mahlon and Chilion.

Dan McClellan Yes.

Dan Beecher Okay. Says you.

Dan McClellan Which, by the way- Anywho ... one of the interesting things to point out about this is their sons' names mean, in Hebrew, sickly and frail.

Dan Beecher Yes.

Dan McClellan So right off the- I did see- You saw that?

Dan Beecher ... I did see those footnotes there.

Dan McClellan Okay. So right off the bat, they're telling you something. There's a little bit of- Right ...

Dan Beecher foreshadowing. This is- It does feel like one of the things they're telling me is, "We're making this up." That's what it feels like.

Dan McClellan Yeah. Don't get used to these characters. They're MacGuffins.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan It's like if you had a, what show has the MacGuffin Institute? Oh, that's "Community." Silly me.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan So there's an institute that comes in for this specific narrative arc called the MacGuffin Institute.

Dan Beecher But- If you hadn't remembered, I would tell Joel on you.

Dan McClellan So yeah, these characters are disposable.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Already you know they're not meant for the long haul.

Dan Beecher Well, and what's interesting about that is that this is one of those rare books where we follow women mainly.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Because almost instantly, so all of these people, this little family, there's famine in Judah, and- Uh-huh ... they pack up their stuff and move to Moab.

Dan McClellan Which is an odd choice because Moab is more desert than Judea.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Or at least Bethlehem. Bethlehem is more in the hill country a little bit. And so, if there's famine in Judea, most likely there's going to be famine in Moab as well.

Dan Beecher But- I mean, we'll get to this part, but I read a whole bunch of different sort of explanations of this story.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And one of the explanations that I read said... And by the way, every time I read someone's big explanation of what's happening and things, and I've read the passages that they're talking about, I find they are including so much stuff that's nowhere in the book. It's not there at all. So one of the things that they were like is that this was something about God was angry with Judah because of the judges system, and this is a- ... interrogation of the judges system and- Yeah ... and an indictment of it, and it's supposed to be kings, and I read none of that in this.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And that's because in order to try to better understand this, people want to situate it in a context.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan What time period are we talking about? And then we need to know who's writing this? What time period is the writer operating in? That's how we're going to best understand. And so people have constructed a lot of elaborate different frameworks to surround and undergird the story. But the book starts off, "Vayehi bimay shoftim." So it happened in the days of the judging of the judges. So we're setting this in the period of the judges, and Ruth is going to be, spoiler alert, Ruth is going to be the great-grandmother of King David.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So we're around 1100-ish BCE. According to the setting of the book- Right.

Dan Beecher Now, it's clearly written after that period. Yeah, and that's- Because you don't start writing about the present by saying, "In the days of the blank."

Dan McClellan Yeah, and then later on in the book, it's going to say, "In the before times-" Right.

Dan Beecher "...

Dan McClellan when they did this, they would take off their sandal and give it to the other person." You don't need to clarify, "Hey, this is the social convention that is currently going on."

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan They're very clearly, quite explicitly, putting this deep in the past.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And so some people put this pre-exilic, this is before the Babylonian exile during the monarchy. And the idea is that Moab is not quite yet treated as an enemy, so maybe it's during the monarchy. Others say, no, this is post-exilic. The themes here are related to kind of international families coming back to the land of Judea, and they need to be made to feel like they are not unwelcome.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan So there are arguments for different social settings for the author. I happen to think it's probably more likely post-exilic, but that's just me.

Dan Beecher Okay. So let's just fast-forward through the first several parts of this.

Dan McClellan Okay.

Dan Beecher They go to Moab, both of the boys get wives.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Dad dies and boys die- Yes ... sort of in quick succession.

Dan McClellan Yes. So what we have- Well, they were sickly and frail, after all.

Dan Beecher They were. And what are you supposed to... Don't name your kids these things- Yeah ... if you don't want them to turn out to be that.

Dan McClellan It's like, hey, don't name your kid Jeeves if you don't want him to buttle.

Dan Beecher Yeah, exactly. So now this leaves Naomi and her daughters-in-law- Uh-huh ... who are Orpah and Ruth.

Dan McClellan Yes.

Dan Beecher Orpah, by the way, did you know that Oprah's given birth name was Orpah, and that they just- I have heard that. I- They just reversed it.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I heard her tell that story at one point.

Dan McClellan Anyway.

Dan Beecher Yeah. So Naomi decides to go back to Judah. Orpah decides not to go with her.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher She tells Ruth, "Stay here with your family. Don't come with me. I got nothing to offer you."

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Ruth decides to go with her anyway.

Dan McClellan Yes, and we have the famous passage, where she says, "Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus to me and more as well if even death parts me from you." Which is considered a, this is very poetic, very strong indication of this love that is shared between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Dan Beecher Yeah, at least in the NRSVUE, it's separated out and written in poetic form. It's not, again- Right.

Dan McClellan Right ...

Dan Beecher it's... So there you go. She wrote her a poem.

Dan McClellan You get no such luxury. Yeah, no such luxury with the KJV, where every verse is its own separate paragraph no matter what.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So suck it.

Dan Beecher Yeah. So off they go, back from Moab to Bethlehem.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And they arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest- Yes ... which is sort of important in terms of the plot. But several people that I read said that it was also sort of thematically important- Mm ... because there's a fertility idea involved.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Does that seem like a stretch to you, or where are you at with that?

Dan McClellan I don't think it's a stretch. I think it's certainly plausible. There's this idea that, because the climax of the story is she's able to bear children, and then Naomi is, the line is able to be carried on, Naomi's line, because of Ruth's righteousness and all of this, so- Right ... yes, she's going to be ripe- Yeah, well, I mean- ... for the whatever.

Dan Beecher Yeah. Ruth's righteousness is an interesting question as we continue onward.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Yeah. I don't question it, but I think a lot of people... Anyway, we'll get to it. We'll get to it. They get back to Bethlehem, and one of Naomi's kinsmen, apparently, is Boaz.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Kinsman to Elimelech, Naomi's widowed husband.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher So now they hatch this plan to at least have some food, which is, and correct me if I'm wrong, which is that Ruth is going to sort of follow behind the reapers in the field and just sort of collect the cast-off bits or what? What is she doing?

Dan McClellan Yeah. So she's gleaning, and this is something- Right ... that you see in some of the Biblical legislation, that they were to leave the gleanings for the poor. And so basically they're harvesting, and as they go around and harvest, there are going to be things that they miss.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan If they're going through with a sickle or however they're harvesting, they're not going to get every last stalk. And as they go and pick it up, there's going to be stuff that gets left behind. And so the idea is, don't go back through and pick it all up.

Dan Beecher And get the rest.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Leave the stuff that's left in the margins for the poor so that they have... It's a bit of a social safety net.

Dan Beecher But here we have- I had never gleaned that that was the meaning of the word glean.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher But I'm glad to understand that now.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And so Ruth is going to go in and basically put herself in front of someone who is part of the family, someone who is prominent. It's a calculated- thing that they're doing here.

Dan Beecher Yeah. So this is her way of meeting the big celebrity, the big rich guy in town.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Because they say that specifically, that Boaz, though he is kinsman, apparently you can't just go up to him. You can't just approach him. You have to actually bump into him in his field or something.

Dan McClellan Well, certainly not, and a widowed Moabite wouldn't really have standing- Right ... more or less to go up to him and be like, "Hey, can I marry you so that I can have some money?"

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan That's frowned upon- Yeah ... in this time period.

Dan Beecher Okay, sure. So she apparently works very, very hard. Boaz comes by and is like, "Hey, who's the hardworking chick in the back there?" And they're like, "Oh, she's actually related to you, sort of just on the side," whatever, blah, blah, blah. And he takes an interest and- Mm-hmm ... lets her actually work with the reapers, right?

Dan McClellan Somehow?

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Well, he tells them to, "Don't give her a hard time. Let her work alongside you." And also, she's going to get a little bit of a kickback, too.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Like, "Yeah, leave a little extra for her." And then he invites her over to his table at mealtime. "Come sit at the cool kids' table- Yeah ...

Dan Beecher with me."

Dan McClellan Because he likes the cut of her jib.

Dan Beecher Yeah. The interest seems to be there.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher And she's pretty pleased by this. She says, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me when I am a foreigner?" And Boaz is very nice and says, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law," since he had heard the story.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher He had apparently heard that she came back with Naomi.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher Which apparently was a very nice thing to do.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher So he had known.

Dan McClellan And that's going to play throughout this story, you have certain things on the part of Naomi, on the part of Ruth, on the part of Boaz, where they're going above and beyond what is expected of them.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And so there's an argument to make that this idea that's translated loving kindness, sometimes grace or mercy, in the Hebrew Bible is a reference to going above and beyond what's required by law in order to help somebody out who's in trouble.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And so Ruth does that. She doesn't have to go with Naomi. She doesn't have to abandon her land. Nothing in the law requires that of her, but she does it because she loves Naomi. And Boaz, later on we're going to see, he doesn't have to redeem her, but he does it because he respects what she's been doing for Naomi. And so everybody is basically doing a kindness to the other in this story to show that the law is not adequate. You need to go above and beyond the law.

Dan Beecher And so it's- Is that why he redeemed her, though? Well, there is- We're going to get into that conversation, but- Yeah.

Dan McClellan Yeah ...

Dan Beecher I think there's some question there. But unquestionably, at the beginning here, in chapter two, he's being a nice guy to her.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher He's really taken her under his garment.

Dan McClellan Good guy Boaz is- Yeah ... is treating her well.

Dan Beecher Yeah. No mention how he treats any other- ... poor people who are- Yeah ... gleaning behind his harvesters, but he's really, really, really nice to her.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Now we get to chapter three, and things get, if I may, very, very, we'll say metaphorical.

Dan McClellan Okay. I want to say there's a lot that I think is open to various interpretation.

Dan Beecher Mm-hmm. Everything up until now seems very straightforward. Now we get into some stuff. So Ruth goes to Naomi and basically tells her all of the story about what's happened.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher And Naomi hatches a plan. Now, I've read many very differing accounts of what this plan is, or interpretations of what this plan is.

Dan McClellan Okay.

Dan Beecher What I see in the text is Naomi says, "So wait until he's done with that day's harvest. And when he's done, he'll be threshing. He'll be on the threshing floor." And apparently, at the time of harvest, the dudes, they do the work, and then they sleep there at the threshing floor. They don't go back to their house.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher They sleep there. And I guess that makes sense because at harvest time, there's suddenly an abundance of work that all needs to be done really, really quickly.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher So Naomi says to Ruth, "First of all, wash and anoint yourself- Yeah ... and put on your best clothes."

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher I assume anointing in this case isn't some ritualistic thing, but rather just make yourself smell good.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Yeah. And so, "Wash and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking." "When he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do." She said to her, "All that you say, I will do." Now, I guess this is the moment where we have to talk about feet.

Dan McClellan Do we have to?

Dan Beecher Yes.

Dan McClellan We have to.

Dan Beecher The uncovering of feet seems to be a huge point of contention.

Dan McClellan This just reminds me, a tradition that my wife and I have started is, on my birthday, we go get pedicures together.

Dan Beecher Uh-huh.

Dan McClellan We go to a place nearby, and I always get my toenails painted. And so after this last one, we took a picture of our feet next to each other with both our toenails painted, and I was going to post it on Facebook or Twitter or something like that. Then I was like, "There's some weirdos out there. I think I'm just going to keep my feet to myself."

Dan Beecher So I refused to- Oh, let the weirdos have their fun. It doesn't hurt.

Dan McClellan So, I did not uncover my feet on Twitter.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan But yeah, so feet are frequently a euphemism for the genitals in the Hebrew Bible. That does not mean every time the word foot occurs that the author is trying to sneak some phallic metaphor or something into the story, but you have the idea of uncovering one's feet is a euphemism for sex. But at the same time, covering one's feet is a euphemism for defecation.

Dan Beecher So- Okay.

Dan McClellan ... there are a variety of different ways that the body parts can signal different semantic content.

Dan Beecher And so- Is there anything in the... Is it always the same word that means feet, or are there different Hebrew words that sometimes are used?

Dan McClellan Normally, it's just regel, which is actually the lower leg. But let me look and see what... We're at 3:4, is that where we are?

Dan Beecher Yes.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher "Uncover his feet." Yeah, regel is the word.

Dan McClellan Okay. So, yeah, and if you saw uncover, galat, to expose or reveal or uncover the feet, you would kind of be like, "Oh, really?" But in the story, the narrative seems to be pretty literal. It's like she uncovered his feet, and then- You think?

Dan Beecher ...

Dan McClellan he woke up and then was like, "Hey, there's somebody laying at my feet." So what I think is the story is probably being a little suggestive, and here's why I think it's being suggestive. I think Naomi's plan is basically, "Hey, when he's passed out, go do your thing." And the act of sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman is basically a legal marriage. That was considered, you could go down to the courthouse, and you could sign the papers, or you could just have intercourse, and then according to the society, hey, boom, you're married. And so Naomi's plan may be saying, "Hey, when he's nice and drunk, put on a pretty dress, get some lipstick on, and go down there, and yada, yada, yada. And then boom, you're married, and now you've tricked your way into his household." Except she goes down there and uncovers his feet, and he wakes up, and he, in my opinion, he sees what's going on but is like, "No, no, there's a better way to do this. See, according to the law, there's a closer next of kin, and so I want to make sure this is all good and proper." And so he's going above and beyond here to say, "Oh, you don't have to trick me. We can do this above board. We can make this nice and legal."

Dan Beecher Now, mind you, before he says that, and then he says, "But stay with me tonight- Yeah.

Dan McClellan Yeah ... for a while- Yeah ...

Dan Beecher but still leave under the cover of darkness." So, to me, the claims that they didn't have sex seem pretty thin to me.

Dan McClellan I agree. I agree. I think the narrative is suggestive of that, very much suggestive of that, but the narrative never makes it explicit.

Dan Beecher Right. And that's sort of like the whole thing.

Dan McClellan She goes down...

Dan Beecher Let me just go through it really quickly, just so that we're clear about it. She goes down to the threshing floor. She hides until Boaz has eaten and drunk and is in a, quote, "contented mood," which I think I read as drunk, or at the very least- Yeah ... pleasantly happy with his drinking.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher And then he lies down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet. We think we know what that might mean, but plenty of people think it just means uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight, so this is verse 8, and it seems to feel like there's some time passes, and it says, "At midnight, the man was startled and turned over, and there, lying at his feet," at his feet- Mm-hmm ... "was a woman. He said, 'Who are you?' And she answered, 'I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next of kin.'" Now, spread your cloak over your servant is probably not just a fabric concept.

Dan McClellan Well, there could be a couple different metaphorical things going on here because the cloak is also symbolic of The protection of the household.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So in a sense, she's saying, "Spread the protection of your household over me." And metaphorically, it could also mean invite me into the Holy of Holies.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Under your cloak.

Dan Beecher So I- Because if we look at it literally, if he spreads his cloak over her, she is then within.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher Yeah. They're both naked under there or whatever.

Dan McClellan Right. And so much like Peter, Paul, and Mary, I think the narrator here is thinking, "But if I really say it, the radio won't play it unless I lay it between the lines."

Dan Beecher That's right.

Dan McClellan So I think what the narrative is being told in a quite literal way, but with winks in the direction of what's going on. Now, at the same time, there's absolutely no indication any of this is historical.

Dan Beecher So it's- Right ...

Dan McClellan it's not like the narrator is saying, "We've got to tell it this way, but it really happened this other way." I think this is the entertainment part of this folklore.

Dan Beecher Right. We got the sense earlier that Boaz might be an older guy.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher But he very clearly says, "Hey, I love that you didn't just go and try and seduce all these younger guys, whether poor or rich." He says, "May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter." First of all, he's calling her my daughter, which- Yeah ... generally, if you're even in the same ballpark of age, you're not going to be using that language. "This last instance of your loyalty is better than the first." The first being the gleaning thing, I guess.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher "You have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you all that you ask." And all that you ask is spreading your cloak over me.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So he says, "I'm going to do that."

Dan Beecher But like you said, there's this sense of propriety. There's another dude who has a better claim, who is nearer of kin, and therefore has a better claim, too. And what becomes clear is this isn't just about her, it's about the inheritance of her father-in-law, right?

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher So we talked about- Elimelech's land or whatever.

Dan McClellan So we talked about levirate marriage a bit ago. We did, right? Is that a dream I had, or did we talk about it?

Dan Beecher No. We talked about that in the context of- Tamar.

Dan McClellan Judah and Tamar ...

Dan Beecher Tamar.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher I'm like, "Topaz?"

Dan McClellan No.

Dan Beecher Judah and Tamar.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So it's a very similar thing here. That property can't be owned by Naomi or Ruth. It's got to go to a man. And so it's in limbo currently, and so this is an opportunity for Boaz to take on a little bit more property. But at the same time, it means taking on the Moabite wife who is linked with that property, and so it's a levirate marriage thing. Now, technically, with levirate marriage, the children would be raised up in the name of the deceased.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan But that doesn't really end up happening here. Ruth's children are attributed to Boaz everywhere else they're mentioned.

Dan Beecher Interesting.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So we've got the nod in the direction of levirate marriage, but it doesn't really fit with what we would expect for levirate marriage. And this is going to have to do with why the next of kin makes the decision that they make because you'll notice that Boaz kind of slow plays his hand a little bit. He's like, "Hey, got all this land here. Want some land?"

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And then springs the woman on him there at the end, which is what spooks him and drives him off so that he's able to- Yeah.

Dan Beecher That's an interesting thing. So anyway, just to finish out their night on the threshing floor- Yeah ... he does say, "Stick around till morning. We're going to hang out," and apparently just play cards or something- ... according to many of the things that I read.

Dan McClellan And then he gives her some free- Well, he hadn't finished yet, so.

Dan Beecher Right. Yeah, exactly.

Dan McClellan He's like...

Dan Beecher Well, and also he was drunk, so it was probably like- Yeah ... "Give me a minute here." "I probably need some time." Then he sends her on his way before the light comes, but he gives her six measures of barley as a nice going-away present, as a nice consolation prize.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And so- There's some barley on the counter on your way out. You can just take that.

Dan Beecher Yeah, exactly.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher "Look on the nightstand. I left some barley for you." And then they go and do the thing with the other next of kin. And as you say, basically, Boaz is like, "Hey." He gathers the dude who- Yeah ... is unnamed, right?

Dan McClellan Whoever the- Yeah ...

Dan Beecher other next of kin is.

Dan McClellan Next of kin, yeah. We don't need a name. There are other parts of the Bible where there are kings, characters whose names are no name. So this is just part of storytelling.

Dan Beecher This guy, yeah.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So in Spanish, you would say fulano de tal.

Dan Beecher Uh-huh. Or buckaroo if you don't remember.

Dan McClellan Yeah. But I think this is a fascinating part of the story because it reveals some understanding about how these cultural processes were carried out. They're at the city gate- And I've been to city gates in these lands, and they're like chambered gates. So there are little recessed rooms in there, and there were benches- Oh, okay ... and people would hang out. It was kind of like the town square. It was the city mudroom. Something like that.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan And it says, like I said before, in the before times, when you wanted to make a deal or something like that, you took off your sandal and you gave it to the other person.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan But he goes, he's like, "I'm sure this other guy's going to come by at some point." And it says, "As soon as he sat down, the next of kin was there." And he's like, "Pull over, take a load off.

Dan Beecher Hey." And he gets a bunch of the elders of town also.

Dan McClellan Yeah, because they've got to witness this.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan We've got to witness the handing off of the chancla- ... to make it nice and legal.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And it says, let me find it. "If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not tell me so that I may know, for there is no one prior to you to redeem it." So basically, Boaz is like, "I'm actually not next in line. There's another guy next in line. Let's go see what that other guy thinks." And the other guy says, "Oh, yeah, I'll redeem it." Then Boaz says, "Oh, by the way, there's this lady."

Dan Beecher Yeah. There's a catch.

Dan McClellan Yeah, there's a ball and chain attached to this property. And the guy goes, "Ooh, on second thought, yeah, I'm going to pass."

Dan Beecher And he doesn't show the dude Ruth, because apparently Ruth was a decent-looking lady. He just says, "Ruth the Moabite."

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher "You sure you want a Moabite?"

Dan McClellan And so he says, "I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance." So now we're back to the Levirate marriage idea.

Dan Beecher Oh.

Dan McClellan Mm. If I have to raise up... So basically, that property is not in my name. That is in their name. And so, any children are going to be raised up in the name of the deceased, and they're going to take that property.

Dan Beecher So- And it says that explicitly. It says, "You are acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance."

Dan McClellan Exactly.

Dan Beecher So it's very explicit about that, and that's when the guy's like, "You know, when I think about it, nah." "You can have her."

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher "You can go ahead."

Dan McClellan Yeah. And then that's when- Then we have the- ...

Dan Beecher that's when the exchange of the sandal occurs.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And then, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi and all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Chilion or Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place. Today you are witnesses." And they all bowed their heads and said, "Yes." And so they are witnesses. "May Adonai make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephratah and bestow a name in Bethlehem, and through the children that the Adonai will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah." So we're going to cap it off with another reference to Levirate marriage.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So we've got these two examples of what don't really fit as standard marriages.

Dan Beecher Right. Yeah, because just as a reminder to everybody, Tamar had... Another trick marriage thing.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher Tamar had to trick Judah into having sex with her by posing as a prostitute in order to make that happen.

Dan McClellan Right.

Dan Beecher And then this started as a trick, but Ruth was like, "It's me, Ruth." You know what I mean?

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I don't know how much of a trick this one was. What's your sense of how tricky Naomi's plan for Ruth was? It feels a little tricky.

Dan McClellan This is a fiercely patriarchal society.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan And in order for women to get their own, they needed to exploit the patriarchy. They were not privileged by any segment of that society, and so they had to take advantage where they could.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And so I get the sense that Naomi is the one saying, "Hey, if you sleep with him, then you're his wife. You're in, like Tony Gwynn, like Errol Flynn, you are in." And Boaz is like, "Oh, we don't have to do it this way. We can make it nice and official with the chancla, and we can make sure that the family name carries on, and we can do it all out in the public, in the sight of the judges, so that they can all be witness to this." And so I get the sense that the plan started off as a bit of a scheme, that Boaz kind of came over the top to say, "No, we're going to do this legit." And so both of them are kind of putting on display their willingness to go to bat for someone who is in need. And I think that's one of the rhetorical messages here- Yeah ... is go above and beyond.

Dan Beecher I think I can see that, but I also look at chapter 3, and then when I read it, and I read it in different translations, and I read a bunch of people's explanation of it.

Dan McClellan Mm-hmm.

Dan Beecher But to me, she goes in and she uncovers his feet and lies down. Now, to me, the way that makes sense to me is she actually does something to him, but he may be passed out. And then maybe it didn't count or whatever.

Dan McClellan He can't consent.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher And so when he does wake up and is like, "Ah, who are you, lying at my feet?" I don't know that that's at my feet. I don't know why that isn't just like they're spooning or something. And he's like, "Well, I don't know who you are." So, I don't know. I feel like she did the trick. I feel like she did it.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher But then he's like, "Let's make the whole city see this as not a trick or something."

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher He legitimates it further.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher The trick is kind of legitimate, right? If he sleeps with her and she tricks him into sleeping with her, that almost counts, especially if she bears his child from it.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher That's what we learn from Tamar.

Dan McClellan And I can't argue against that reading. I don't think there's an argument to make that the story definitely precludes that. That's just my reading of the story. Certainly, the story is wearing the uniform of what's these euphemisms.

Dan Beecher So, so yeah. You can take the euphemism to however far you need the euphemism to go.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher That's the thing about this, is that there's nothing definitive.

Dan McClellan Yeah. When I was getting licensed as a massage therapist, the phrase we were taught to use when we're bringing somebody into the area, we say, "Undress to your comfort level."

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So interpret to your comfort level.

Dan Beecher Yeah, I suppose so. But I guess what I want to say is, I read so many different blog posts and various whatevers, and all of these people were certain. You know what I mean?

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher None of them were writing as though there was any question in their mind one way or the other about what's happening, and it's just like, we don't know.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher How about a little uncertainty, people?

Dan McClellan Yeah. I think that's folly when people are just so committed to one dogma or another that it has to be one way or another, that they're like, "Oh, this very clearly means this. This obviously means that." And frequently we're wrong when we try to dig in our heels on that kind of stuff.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan So, I don't know for sure. I have a way that I think makes better sense to me, but I'm not going to pretend that I can say another reading is wrong.

Dan Beecher Right. Fair enough.

Dan McClellan All right.

Dan Beecher Let us then move on to our Who's That?

Dan McClellan All right. And who is that, that we're who's that-ing?

Dan Beecher We said earlier that it's Sennacherib.

Dan McClellan Oh, that's right.

Dan Beecher And I don't think that we're any closer to understanding, or at least I'm not, because as I said, I have no idea who this guy is.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan So, we're going to start with a 30,000-foot view, and really the event that we're wanting to talk about here is the invasion of Sennacherib, when it comes into the northern kingdom, Israel, down to Judea, and lays siege to Jerusalem. And, I want to introduce the story because, well, with this paper that was recently published in a journal that was trying to suggest that the author thinks they know where the siege camp, where Sennacherib was staging this invasion, is located.

Dan Beecher Mm.

Dan McClellan And, unfortunately, this was publicized with the claim that archaeologists proved the supernatural story of the angel having killed 185,000 Assyrian troops- ... that is associated with Sennacherib's siege.

Dan Beecher So that's somebody trying to say everybody should doubt everything that I'm saying right now.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher It was ridiculous.

Dan McClellan But there is something very interesting behind it that I want to get to.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan But to start, Sennacherib was a king within the Neo-Assyrian Empire. So, the Neo-Assyrian Empire is the first millennium BCE empire where the Neo-Assyrians, they took over from the Babylonians, and then later on, the Neo-Babylonians are going to take over from the Neo-Assyrians the land of Mesopotamia.

Dan Beecher Okay. But Sennacherib takes over- And Mesopotamia, sorry, is modern-day Iraq area?

Dan McClellan Yes.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan Yes, around that area. So, prior to Sennacherib, we got Sargon II. He dies in 705 BCE. So Sennacherib takes over in 705, and he rules from 705 to 681 BCE. So, about 24 years-ish, he's in charge of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan There's a part where he's got a bunch of nations that are vassals.

Dan Beecher Mm.

Dan McClellan So, a vassal is basically somebody you've gone and roughed them up, and then you've said, "You're going to pay me so much money every year, and you're going to send me soldiers when I go to war, and you're going to support me, and I won't kill you."

Dan Beecher I won't squish you.

Dan McClellan Yes, because they are larger, they are stronger, they can mess you up.

Dan Beecher We heard about vassalage in the context of when we talked about Moab throwing off vassalage- Right ... from Israel.

Dan McClellan Right. So that was 2 Kings 3.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan That was a little bit before what's going on here, and this is a parallel story, because we have Hezekiah is the king in Judah, and Hezekiah decides to throw off vassalage. to Assyria after Sennacherib takes over. And so Sennacherib, the new king, he's got to go in and he's got to show who's boss.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So he decides to invade, to restore. There are two options. You restore them to vassalage, or you run a scorched earth campaign, and the Assyrians are the innovators, basically, of the scorched earth campaign. They are the ones who made this famous.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan So Sennacherib comes through and destroys pretty much everything in the northern kingdom of Israel. Now, 17 years earlier, either Shalmaneser V or Sennacherib's dad, Sargon II, had already come through and routed the northern kingdom and sent the northern kingdom into exile. But they go through again, they beat up the northern kingdom, they come through Judea, they beat up a bunch of Judea. And Sennacherib is stationed at a place called Lachish, which is about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem, and he's making plans to go lay siege to Jerusalem. And Hezekiah and all the people in the area, they've kind of gathered into Jerusalem and they've fortified the walls, and Hezekiah has carved the tunnel that we now know as Hezekiah's Tunnel that goes from a spring that brings water inside the city walls. And so they're preparing for this siege, and there is so much archeological data left over from this, because one, Sennacherib destroyed a bunch of stuff, but at the same time, there are also indications that the Judahites actually dismantled stuff, decommissioned temples.

Dan Beecher Oh, okay.

Dan McClellan Like the temple at Arad that we have discovered and partially reconstructed was found under six feet of soil. They may have actually hidden the temple under earth in order to protect it from the invasion. That's one theory about how it got the way it was. But Sennacherib comes through and home base is basically Lachish. And if you go there, you can see a lot of really cool artifacts there. You can go through the city gate where they would've attacked. You can see the big hill that they created in order to get their siege engines up to the top to break down the walls. It's a fascinating place. But Hezekiah gets obviously kind of spooked by this because he doesn't have a lot of options.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So we're in 2 Kings 18, and I think there's something fascinating about this story. Hezekiah's taken over, he's thrown off vassalage. I think that's in 2 Kings 18:7. "Adonai was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him." And so Sennacherib gets wind of this and goes, "Oh, really?" So, we have in verse 13, "In the 14th year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish." So Sennacherib's in Lachish. King Hezekiah sends him something saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me, I will bear." The king of Assyria demanded of King Hezekiah of Judah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. At that time, Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of Adonai and from the doorpost that King Hezekiah of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib knocks on the back door and says, "Hey, I'm in town. Pay me my money."

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan And Hezekiah goes, "Right away, sir."

Dan Beecher Yes, sir.

Dan McClellan And gets him his money. And then in verse 17, it's weird because then Sennacherib suddenly says again, "Pay me my money." Repeats the same stuff. "Why are you rebelling against me?" And then we have this story about Rabshakeh is the messenger who comes to Jerusalem and basically gives him this ultimatum, "Don't think that your God is going to protect you. None of the other gods of the other nations protected them. You're going down, son." And here we have then Hezekiah's wringing his hands, doesn't know what to do, goes to Isaiah, gets help from Isaiah. You can look in Isaiah chapters 36, 37, and 38 are all about what happens during this siege. So it's interesting that we've got two different responses.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Hezekiah's first response is, "Take my money."

Dan Beecher Mm-hmm.

Dan McClellan Hezekiah's second response is, "Not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent."

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan And a lot of scholars will say this sounds an awful lot like two different tellings of the same story. And one of the things that I think is fascinating is when you look in the Hebrew, the first story where Hezekiah immediately pays Sennacherib the money, his name is written in Hebrew, Hizkiyahu, which is Hezekiah in Hebrew.