On Erev Shavuot (June 8), our chavurah read the book of Ruth together, as is customary during the festival. We had only gotten to verse two—“The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion”—when one of our Israeli members spoke up. “Those are terrible names,” he said. “Mahlon means, like, a sick person, and Chilion means someone who is going to be destroyed.” We found it hard to imagine that these were the names, or the meanings of the names, that their mother intended for them at birth. But they certainly add to the drama of the story. As we went on, we saw that every name in Ruth contributes to the unfolding drama. Mahlon and Chilion do indeed die early in the story; their widows are Orpah, whose name means something like “back of the neck,” which is what she soon shows her mother-in-law, and Ruth. Ruth’s name sounds like a feminine form of rea, meaning neighbor, acquaintance, or friend, and she soon utters unforgettable words of near friendship: “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried” (Ruth 1:16-17a, NJPS).
As we read Ruth together, we considered each name as a foundation stone for the whole narrative. As if to reassure us that we were not wandering too far afield by focusing on names and their meaning, the text of Ruth does the same. Naomi returns with Ruth to her home town of Bethlehem or “House of bread”—not a good place to leave during a famine, as Naomi’s family did, but a good place to return to when all your resources run out. She says to her friends who greet her there on her return, “Do not call me Naomi [or pleasantness] . . . Call me Mara [bitterness], for Shaddai has made my lot very bitter” (Ruth 1:20). Perhaps the bitter Naomi is resorting to sarcasm in calling God “Shaddai,” which is related to the word for “breast.” “Why shouldn’t I be bitter? The God who is supposed to nourish and sustain me has left me hungry and poor.”
But, of course, as the story progresses God does sustain Naomi, through her kinsman Boaz or “strength is in him.” The first person named in the book of Ruth was the family’s patriarch Elimelech. He dies early in the story, but not before reminding us through his name that God is his, and our, king. Boaz, another family patriarch, combines with Elimelech to speak of divine strength and sovereignty, which come to dominate the whole story in the end. Before we get to that end, however, we come across another character who, in this narrative of names, explicitly does not have a name. Boaz is a kinsman of Naomi, in a position to redeem her and Ruth from their poverty by purchasing Elimelech’s share of the family’s land holding from Naomi, taking Ruth as his wife, and raising children through her “so as to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate” (Ruth 4:6). There is, however, another, even closer, relative, who has the first right of refusal on this act of redemption. Boaz goes to the gate of the city to find this kinsman and summon the town elders, so the matter can be legally resolved without delay. Oddly, when the other kinsman comes on the scene, he is not named; or rather he receives a non-name, “P’loni-Almoni.” My Israeli friend says this Hebrew phrase is like “John Doe,” or we might say, “Old what’s-his-name.”
Why, in a book that is all about names, does this character not merit a name? He doesn’t seem to do anything wrong, but then he doesn’t do much of anything at all! He has the opportunity to step boldly into the tale of redemption, to not only restore property to its rightful place in the family holdings, but to lift Naomi and her daughter-in-law out of poverty, and to acquire a young wife, an eshet chayil or woman of valor (Ruth 3:11), for himself. But the opportunities for redemption don’t speak to him; he decides it is all too risky and might endanger his existing estate. P’loni-Almoni comes to the threshold of destiny, steps back from the edge . . . and remains P’loni-Almoni.
The lesson for us is that sometimes doing the right thing requires boldness. Obedience to God is not usually the lowest-risk option. P’loni-Almoni is interested in redeeming the property of Elimelech because it is probably a decent investment, but acquiring Ruth and raising a family on behalf of another man’s legacy is a whole different matter. His story reminds us that we cannot substitute self-improvement, even with spiritual packaging, for the self-sacrifice that following God will inevitably demand. Yeshua will teach us later on in Scripture that we become someone, we get a name, when we lose ourselves for him.
As if to underline all the names of the book of Ruth, and its lesson about acquiring a name, the account ends with a name. In the original Hebrew, David--which means "beloved"--is the last word in the book. All its characters have a name as they contribute to the story of this great name in Israel, who in turn becomes the ancestor of the Son of David, the one whose name is above all names.
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