How to use Themes in Your Prayers (Ruth 2.19, 20)

Blessed be the man who took notice of you

Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

Background

Up to this point in the book of Ruth, we have encountered a prayer of intercession, a prayer-vow, and a prayer of blessing. In the last reading (2.19–20), Boaz offered two blessings upon Ruth. The present passage has Naomi offering two blessings upon Boaz. What is the function of these four blessings? Are they connected (apart from being part of the same story)?

Picking up where we left off in the last passage, Boaz continued to treat Ruth in an exceptional manner—more like a guest than a poor widow with no family. At lunch, he invites her to eat along with his workers. After the meal, he instructs her to pick grain right alongside his workers again. He even tells the workers to give Ruth some of the grain they have harvested.

When the day is over, Ruth takes her grain stalks and beats them to separate the grain from the chaff. When finished, she had an ‘ephah’ of barley (about 40 pounds of grain). This is a month’s worth of grain for an average male worker! Boaz has blessed Ruth, and this is why Naomi then offers a prayer of blessing on Boaz. When Ruth arrives, Naomi sees the grain she has gained and asks her where she picked the grain. Before Ruth can answer, Naomi prays:

Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” (1.19)

Ruth tells Naomi that she worked in the fields of Boaz, and Naomi prays again:

Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

Naomi informs Ruth that Boaz is one of her relatives—a ‘kinsman-redeemer.’ Many translations render the last word as ‘nearest kin,’ but the Hebrew word refers to a person in a clan or tribe who would recover losses and right wrongs for the clan. He might go after a murderer, help with economic problems, or buy a clan member back from slavery. Naomi is not just describing his role in the clan—she sees him as their redeemer. She believes he will save them.

The two blessings offered by Naomi in Ruth 1.19–20 are connected with the two blessings offered by Boaz in Ruth 2.4 and 12. In the prior section, Boaz encountered his workers and, rather than just saying, shalom, he offered a prayer-blessing upon them: “the Lord be with you.” We noted above that Boaz did not just view his workers as laborers for his own gain, he saw them as spiritual people who were in a relationship with him and God. So he asked God to bless them.

In this reading, Naomi’s first prayer-blessing is a request that God bless the man who “took notice” of Ruth. Just as Boaz “took notice” of his workers as valued people, Naomi asks God to bless Boaz because he also “took notice” of Ruth.