In Ruth 1:1-2 we read, "Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there." - [NASB]
Ephrath, by the way, is just the older name for Bethlehem, so that an Ephrathite was just someone from Bethlehem in Judah. Don't let that confuse you.
A famine in Judah prompts Elimelech to move his family to the land of Moab. He dies in land of Moab but Noami, his wife, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion continue to live in the land of Moab. Both sons of Elimelech wed Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah), and they too die in the land of Moab. Naomi then hears that the Lord has blessed Israel in giving them food, and determines to return to Israel. She sends Ruth and Orpah away, each to the house of their respective father, but Ruth clings to her and refuses to leave her - choosing the land, and God of Naomi over the land and Gods of Moab.
When they arrive in Israel, Ruth sets out to provide for Naomi by going into the fields behind the harvesters and gleaning what they leave behind. She ends up gleaning the field one of her deceased father-in-law's closest relatives, a man named Boaz. Boaz has heard all that Ruth is doing for Naomi, and instructs Ruth to stay on his land where she will be protected, fed and treated well. Ruth does so, and for the rest of the harvest provides for herself and Naomi in this way.
When the harvest has ended, Naomi returns the favor by seeking provision for Ruth by instructing Ruth in how to present herself to Boaz. Naomi tells Ruth to go the the threshing floor after dark find out where Boaz is sleeping, uncover his feet and lie down. Ruth does as she is told, and when Boaz discovers her, Ruth declares that she is his close relative, and Boaz agrees to redeem her, if possible, since there is a closer relative whose right to redeem the wife of Mahlon, Elimelech's son takes precedence over his own.
The closer relation, upon learning that in order to redeem Elimelech's land, he would also have to redeem the wife of Elimelech's son (and according to the levarite law, raise up children for Mahlon who would then inherit the land), declined, and so Boaz redeems Ruth.
Then Boaz and Ruth are wed, she gives birth to Obed, and Naomi becomes the wet nurse, and we are told that this same Obed ends up being the father of Jesse, who in turn is the father of King David.
Reading through the genealogies of Christ, both in Matthew and in Luke, we see that Obed (King David's grandfather) is indeed listed as father of Jesse, and the grandfather of David. Yet here I stand a bit confused. You see, Obed is listed as the son of Boaz in both these genealogies, but what I would expect to find would be Obed listed as the son of Mahlon, the son of Elimelech - since according to the levarite law, Boaz redeemed Ruth in order to raise up a son for Mahlon.
Who wants to shed some light on this for me?Update: I think I figured it out.
In order to understand it, pretend that Boaz was already married when he met Ruth, and already had sons. Were this the case, whatever sons Boaz had through his "normal" marriage - these would inherit the lands of Boaz, and whatever sons he had through the levirate marriage to Ruth - these would inherit the lands of Mahlon. The sons of Boaz through the "normal" marriage would be called the "sons of Boaz" and the sons of Boaz through the levirate marriage would be called the "sons of Mahlon".
I think anyone familiar with the law of levirate marriage can see that plain enough.
But Boaz did not have a another wife at the time, nor did he have an existing heir.
I was looking at this whole thing in this way: since Obed was Mahlon's rightful heir through the legitimate levirate union of Boaz and Ruth - legally speaking, Obed was the son of Mahlon.
That is clearly true. Obed was the legal son of Mahlon.
Here is where I was overlooking something that became obvious only after I saw it. I was so focused on obed as Mahlon's heir, I forgot that Boaz had land too.
What happens to Boaz's land when he dies? Does Boaz's land become the property of Elimelech's family when Boaz dies just because Obed is the legal heir of Mahlon's land?
The answer is, quite obviously, no. Because Boaz wasn't married, Obed becomes not only the heir of Mahlon, but the heir of Boaz as well. Obed is the legal son of both Mahlon and Boaz, but he is the natural son of Boaz as well.
So when I ask, why doesn't the NT genealogies call Obed the son of Mahlon? The answer is because even though he was legally the son of Mahlon, he was just as much, if not more, the son of Boaz, and it quite understandable that he is called by the more well known, and closer tie.
Problem solved, I think. Labels: queries |
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