The Blessings, Curses, and Oaths in Ruth

 

The Blessings, Curses, and Oaths in Ruth

using the ESV Bible

The story of Ruth can be seen in these blessings, perceived curses, and oaths. In these statements, we can see Naomi's desperation and change of heart, a love story between Boaz and Ruth, and God's work of redemption and continuing the family line toward King David and Jesus Christ. Here's a list of the verses containing blessings, curses, and oaths in the book of Ruth.

Chapter 1

v. 8-9 (Naomi to daughters-in-law, after Naomi chooses to return to Israel) “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!”

v. 11-13 (Naomi to daughters-in-law, after they yearn to go with Naomi) “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

v. 16-17 (Ruth to Naomi, after Orpah chooses to stay in Moab) “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and 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 so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

v. 20-21 (Naomi to women of Bethlehem, upon their return) “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

 

Chapter 2

v. 4 (first blessing, Boaz to reapers, as Boaz returns from town) “The LORD be with you!”

v. 4 (second blessing, reapers to Boaz) “the LORD bless you.” (both blessings echoing the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26)

v. 11-12 (Boaz to Ruth) “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

v. 13 (Ruth responding to Boaz) “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

v. 18 (Naomi to Ruth, about unknown farmer) “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.”

v. 20 (Naomi to Ruth, upon hearing the farmer is Boaz) “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”

 

Chapter 3

v. 9 (Ruth to Boaz, as a proposition) “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”

v. 10 (Boaz responding to Ruth, full of blessings and an oath) “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

Chapter 4

v. 4 (Boaz to closer redeemer, then redeemer’s response, in the presence of Bethlehem’s elders) “So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

v. 5-6 (Boaz clarifying the redemption deal, then redeemer’s response, in the presence of the elders) “Then Boaz said, ‘The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.’ Then the redeemer said, ‘I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.’”

v. 7-8 (closer redeemer to Boaz, in deed and word) “Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, ‘Buy it for yourself,’ he drew off his sandal.”

v. 9-10 (Boaz to the people of Bethlehem) “Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, ‘You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.’” 

v. 11-12 (The people of Bethlehem responding to Boaz) “Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.’”

v. 14-15 (The women of Bethlehem to Naomi, upon the birth of a son to Boaz and Ruth) “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 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 given birth to him.”

v. 17 (The women of Bethlehem to Naomi, about Obed’s name) “A son has been born to Naomi.”

v. 17 (One of the purposes of the book of Ruth) “They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”