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THE POWER OF REDEMPTION:

THE BOOK OF RUTH AND
A RAISIN IN THE SUN
Denise Mason

On the surface, the book ofR uth appears to be a pleasant story

about two ordinary women in a peaceful village that takes place “in toe
days when judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1 NRSV), a time when intertribal
warfare and violence were commonplace. As an historical short story,
it provides a welcomed respite in toe midst of ^ p t u r a l accounts filled
with brutality. Under circumstances that would normally be fraught
with tension and discord, Naomi and her d u ^ te r-in -la w Ruth work
together to find security in a society that offers little protection to
widows. Some modem faith communities have questioned how this
story relates to contemporary society but one answer may lie in the
striking Smilarities between toe book o f Ruth and Lorraine Hans‫־‬
berry’s drama ‫ م‬Raisin in the Sun‫ ؛‬some of the parallels drawn by the

D enise M ason graduated from Notre Dame o f Maryland

University in Decem ber 2012 with a B.A . in Liberal Studies and
a minor in R eligious Studies. She received the university’s award
for outstanding achievem ent in Liberal Arts and is also a member
o fth e Kappa Gamma Fi National Catholic Honor Society. She is
currently enrolled in the M asterofContem porary Communications
program at N D M U .
playwright to this historical narrative are in faet intentional rather than
eoineidental.* In both Ruth and A Raisin in the Sun, the eharaeters rely
on solidarity and loyalty to transeend the limitations imposed on them
by societal structures that marginalize people based on gender,
ethnicity, and social class in order to achieve r^em ption.

Authorship

Jewish tradition assigns authorship for Ruth to Samuel but it is

not implausible that the story of Naomi and Ruth originated with
women tory-tellers since it is told from a primarily female perspective.
Because women as singers in ancient Israel are w^l-documented
throughout the Old Testament, this hypothesis is worth considering/
Although there is no definitive proof ofthe author’s gender, Katherine
Sakenfeld points out in her c o ^ e n t a r y that biblical scholar Dr.
Fokkehen van Dijk-Hemmes identified three elements that suggest
possible female authorship. First, she finds that the author does not
present toe normally seen male point of view. She bases this
observation on toe fact that toe women are cooperative rather than
competitive. Secondly, reality is defined from a woman’s perspective.
For instance, at that time widowed women would have been expected
to return to their father’s house yet Naomi implores her daughters-in-
law to “Go back each ofyou to your mother’s house”(Ruth 1:8 NRSV).
The third point is toe way toe author presents the roles o f men. Naomi
focuses on her sons as protectors rather than as progenitors of male
heirs. Nevertheless, there are some men in every culture who can
identify with a woman’s viewpoint so this is not the only criteria to rofy
on when trying to d‫؛‬rtermine toe gender ofthe author ofRuth. However,
female authorship should not totally be roled out, whether from toe oral
tradition or in a written form.3

There is ‫ س‬question that ‫ م‬Raisin in the Sun was written from

a woman’s ^rspective. Although Lorraine Hansberry’s work is not
utobiographical, it is undeniable that her childhood influenced her
writing, thoughts and beliefs. The Hansberrys were a very middle-class
family whose lifestyle afforded their daughter many economic
^vantages. Hansberry grew up surrounded by strong women and she
had great respect for both her mother and grandmother, but neither of
them was a model for her characters. In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansbercy
created three formidable women who represent three different
generational points of view. Lena is foe “black matriarch incarnate‫ ״‬and
Beneatha is characterized as foe dreamer.4 Ruth is foe peacemaker who
embodies her biblical namesake as a faithful wife and d u ^ te r-in -la w .
She bridges foe gap between old and new with quiet strength and
determination. Through her chracters, Hansberry allows foe audience
to view feminism through foe eyes of African American women.

Purpose

There is considerable debate among inte^reters about foe

purpose o f the book of Ruth. Some argue that it has a political agenda
and that its p u jó s e may have been to defend foe Davidic monarchy
against its opposition. The mention ofEphrathah in foe verse 1:2 and
again in verse 4:11 definitely is intended to point to David. Further, the
conclusion mentions David as Naomi’s great-grandson and again in the
genealogy. But it seems unlikely that those who would have questioned
the le g im a c y of David’s kingship would have been convinced to
change their minds based on foe qualities o f his great-grandmother.
Furthermore, there is no evidence that the genealogy is historically
based.* Another suggested purpose for Ruth is that it was more of a
social commentary of the post-exilic period where Jewish men were
married to non-Jewish women. This presented a challenge to foe faith
community’s purity perspectives and consequently, the Israelites were
being forced to choose between casting out foreigners and adopting an
inclusive position. The author uses everyday experiences to construct
a parable that encouraged foe audience to identify wifo the characters
and their attitudes.6 Although she is a Moabite, Ruth is the
personification o f what it means to live as a loyal Israelite. Still another
purpose proposed for foe book is that it was to edify and entertain.
Short stories like Ruth appeared in the oral tradition of story-tellers and
frequently advocated a life style that honored foe ancient laws and
customs. Levites would have related such instructional stories in the
town plaza to entertain the villagers. Within this framework, foe book
of Ruth could have served as an “interpretation o f the meaning of
Israel’s theological commitment,” especially for those living in foe
remote o u n try sid e /
 Like the book of Ruth, A Raisin in the Sun has been seen to
have more than one purpose. Although the play premiered prior to the
Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, it dramatizes the pohtieal issues
that were so eritieal to obtaining racial equality. For many, the play
was, and eontinues to be, eonsidered the “quintessential eivil rights
drama.”®However, Hansberry herself intended the work to be a soeial
commentary on injustice and a call for societal changes. She said, “The
question is not whether one will make a social statement in one’s
w o rk -b u t only what the statement will say, for if it says anything at
all, it will be social.”9 While the play does make a social statement, it
is not done at the expense of its ability to engage the audience.
Hansberry’s emotional drama is interspersed with humor that viewers
find entertaining and this has contributed to the play’s popularity with
both blacks and whites.

Literary Devices

Puns are a favorite device o f the author of Ruth and nowhere

is this more apparent than in the names given to the characters. The
names the author uses for Naom i’s deceased sons are symbolic oftheir
unimportance in the narrative. Mahlon derives from the Hebrew word
for “sickness” and sounds very similar to the name of the disease that
struck Egypt prior to the Exodus. Chilion comes from the Hebrew word
meaning “consumption.” The name of Naomi is rooted in the Hebrew
word for “pleasant or sweet” and the author uses the name Mam, which
means “bitter” in Hebrew, as a pun when Naomi says to the women of
Bethlehem “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty
has dealt bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:2 NRSV). The names o f her
dughters-in-law also are plays on words and seem to signal the
decisions that the two young women will make. Ruth’s name recalls the
word for “woman companion or friend” and is consistent with her
action toward her m o th e ‫־‬in‫־‬law. Similarly, o ^ a h ’s name ttanslates
from toe Hebrew word “orep” as “back of the neck.” Her response to
Naomi is to return to her home, and in doing so, she shows Naomi toe
back of her neck. Boaz is a name that means “in him is strength” and
his name foreshadows his agreement to Ruth’s request for him to
“spread your cloak over your servant” (Ruth 3:10 NRSV). Using
Bethlehem as Naomi’s home is also a pun employed by toe author. The

4
name of the city means “house o f bread” ami the irony is that Naomi
and her husband originally migrated from there because of famine.

Lorraine Hansberry also used some clever puns for the names
o f her eharacters. She chose to name the daughter-in-law in her play
Ruth after Naomi’s daughter- in-law in the Bible, who tells her mother-
in-law that she will follow her and that “your people shall be my
people.” Like the biblieal Ruth, Ruth Younger is with the family
because o f her choice to marry into it. The character of Beneatha is
strong-willed and opinionated, especially in her exchanges with her
brother, Walter Lee. Her name is obviously a pun since she sees
everything and everyone as “beneath her.” However, Joseph Asagai
nicknames her Alaiyo, the African word for “one for whom bread is not
enough.” It is interesting to observe that the name is a play on words to
symbolize Beneatha’s hunger for a better life. Whether ٠٢ not
Hansberry chose to use the name Alaiyo to draw a connection to the
physical hunger o f Naomi and Ruth is not known. But, it should not be
dismissed entirely since Hansberry artfidly employed symbolism and
wordplay throughout A Raisin in the Sun.

Hesed

The most compelling similarities between Ruth and A Raisin

in the Sun can be seen in the common themes they share. The universal
themes offam ily loyalty, racial bias, poverty, and redemption are found
in both of these works. Such complex subjects add multiple levels of
meaning to each story. They provide a vehicle to show their audiences
who they really are rather than who they think they should be by
leading them to recognize themselves in the characters.

Unlike most biblical narratives, the story of Ruth centers on

family rather than the nation oflsrael. The story opens in Moab, where
toe widowed Naomi has received word that toe famine has ended in her
homeland o f Bethlehem. Because boto o f her sons have also died, she
is left wito no protection in this foreign land and decides to return
home. Concern for her two widowed daughters-in-law compels Naomi
to urge them to leave her and return to their “mother’s house” so that
they might find security through remarriage. Hebrew society only had
two roles for women; they either lived in their father’s house as
unmarried virgins or as faithfol ehild-bearing wives in the homes of
their husbands or their husband’s family.™

Because Naomi has no other living sons who ean perform the
duty oflevir, the obligations of levirate marriage laws do not apply. The
levirate marriage laws found in D uteronom y provided deseendants for
husbands who died without heirs and proteetion for widows who had
no sons. The law states that if a man dies without leaving a son, his
widow is forbidden to marry outside o f the family. Her husband’s
brother, known as the levir, takes her as his wife and the first-born son
ofthat union is eonsidered the son of the deeeased brother. In this way,
the husband’s line of descent continued and the young widow retained
her place in the home of her husband’s family. However, if the levir
reihsed to perfo™ his duty under the law, a ceremony was performed
where he would remove one o f his sandals and give it to the widow,
thus freeing her to remarry outside ofthe family. The levirate marriage
law proved to be good for the social structure since it prevented the
“sociological misfit, the young childless widow.”11

The young women in the book ofR uth have been loyal to their
husbands beyond what was expected and Naomi urges them to go home
to begin the process of remarciage. She is under no obligation to see to
the welfare ofR uth and Orpah. Her actions are motivated by kindness
and loving loyal commitment known in the Hebrew tradition as hesed.
Hesed is a powerfhl t e ^ that refers to care and concern for someone.
It leads to actions that rescue a person from a desperate situation in
circumstances where the rescuer is in a unique position to provide the
necessary help. However, hesed goes beyond any normal expectation
ofkindness or concern. Human acts of hesed are associated with God’s
covenantal love. In her act of hesed, Naomi says to Ruth and Orpah
“May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead
and with me” (Ruth 1:8 NRSV). There are three general aspects that
apply to hesed. First, it is not associated with concepts, only with
people. Secondly, hesed is performed for someone with whom a
relationship already exists. Finally it combines attitude with specific
action. A free moral decision and a willing commitment to fulfill one’s
obligations regardless o f foe Crcumstances are essential to hesed.
Marriage, for example, is a covenantal relationship where hesed could
be shown. Husbands and wives can make the moral choice to carry out
their martial eommitments and to love, honor and cherish their spouse
even when they would prefer not to.

By doing as Naomi says, Orpah represents the model of

obedient womanhood. Her behavior is neither condemnable nor praise-
worthy; she is behaving exactly as expected. She provides a toil for
Ruth, who reftrses to leave Naomi and becomes an X raordinary model
o f “biblieal faithftrl living.’’^ Through her choice to remain with her
mother-in-law, Ruth in turn shows hesed to Naomi and to the entire
family that she became part o f through her choice to marcy Naomi’s
son. The significance of this is heightened by their age differences, their
ethnic differences, and their relationship as mother-in-law and
daughter-in-law, which in most cultures is seen as potentially
discordant, because hesed is always performed by toe most powerfirl
person in the relationship.

Boaz shows hesed himself and the author paraRels it with the
loyalty exhibited by Ruth. Impressed with toe m ^nanim ous acts of
kindness that Ruth has shown to Naomi, he himself shows generosity
and concern for the two women beyond what is eustomary. Boaz is in
a position to provide these women with help that is essential to their
well-being. By going beyond all reasonable expeetations, he proves to
be an upright man. Because he is not Naom i’s nearest kinsman, Boaz
has no legal obligation to redeem Naom i’s property. However, when
toe nearer kinsman refuses to redeem toe land himself, Boaz freely
makes toe moral choice to ^ rc h a s e the land and marry Ruth, thereby
providing security for both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. His
actions preserve the family’s inheritance and continuity. Clearly toe
audience would view Boaz’s uncommon behavior as an act ‫أه‬hesed
that rescued a family that would not have survived without him.

Like the book of Ruth, A Raisin in the Sun is a thoughtfirl story

about family relationships and the roles family members have in
fulfilling each other’s needs. Lena is toe wise matriarch who gives
testament to toe power of dreams. Her goal is to keep toe Younger
family together and provide toem with hope and security. She plans to
aceomplish this by purchasing a home for them. She controls toe money
and toe discipline and is quiek to remind everyone that “the true
‘M ama’ is Mama Lena.”^ However, her controlling nature is tempered
by her maternal earing and Hansberry s ^ b o liz e s this with M ama’s
nurturing o f a seraggly plant. Her d g h te r-in -la w Ruth has resigned
herself to her role as earetaker, wife, and mother rather than seeking out
personal fulfillment. She denies her own dreams in an effort to
strengthen and eneourage the dreams of her family. She supports her
mother-in-law’s deeision to purchase a house but she also wants to
support her husband’s dream to own a liquor store. Ruth shows hesed
in her active dedication to care for the Younger family as she continues
to carry out her familial duties in spite o ^ n tra d ic tio n s by her mother-
in-law, indifference from her husband, and weariness from overwork.
She even considers an illegal abortion rather than risk placing the
economic burden of another child on the struggling household. Clearly,
aborting an unborn baby is a huge sacrifice for her but she sees it as the
only way to protect the family. Mama tells Walter that “When the
world gets ugly e n o u g h -a woman will do an^rthing for her family. The
part that’s already living” (A Raisin in the Sun, 1.2). Beneatha and
Walter Lee also dream of improving the family’s situation but their
ideas arc very different from M ama’s, which forces Ruth to take on the
unwanted but necessary role p e a c e m a k e r .

Racism

Another common theme found in both Ruth and ‫ م‬Raisin in the

Sun is racial bias. Ruth is identified as a Moabite, a foreigner from a
land that had once been considered an enemy of Israel. Although
M oab’s relationship with Israel was cordial, it was not welcoming/*
Moab carried many negative moral and emotional connotations for foe
audience. They would have been awarc that Moab was associated with
refusing to provide food and water to the Israelites on their journey
from Egypt and that as a result, Moabites werc excluded from “the
assembly of the Lord” (Deut 23:3-6 NRSV). As a result, they might
have felt some animosity or at least indifference toward Ruth and it is
even possible that impoverished Israelites would have argued that
foreigners like her were taking resources away from them. Although
Naomi’s own feelings about her Moabite dughter-in-law are
ambiguous, Ruth has proven her loyalty by abandoning her own culture
in order to care for her mother-in-law. By uniting these women in
solidarity, foe author effectively contradicts foe xenophobic writing
found in Deuteronomy 23:3-6 .٧
 Ruth had no safety net beeause she had no ties o f her own to
the community in Bethlehem but Boaz was willing to offer her
proteetion. When he asks his foreman for information about Ruth, the
servant responds by emphasizing that she is a Moabite who returned
from Moab with Naomi. This mention of her nationality could simply
be a statement o f fact but it could also be construed to imply her low
social and economic position as a foreigner. Some interpreters believe
it could even be a crude tereotypical remark insinuating that all
Moabite women are sexually available and aggressive because of
M oab’s association with Lot’s incestuous daughters.^ This
interpretation would explain why Boaz said to Ruth, “I have ordered foe
young men not to bother you” (Ruth 2:9 NRSV) and why Naomi
instructed her to stay close to the young women while working in foe
field.

The lack o f ethnic tolerance toward Moabites also creates a

dilemma for Boaz. Beuteronomy admonishes the Israelites “never to
promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live” (Deut.23:6
NRSV). As a prominent member of the community, he stood to lose
some of his status by marrying a Moabite woman. By linking the laws
ofredemption and levirate marriage, Ruth provides Boaz with a way to
“pursue his interest in a Moabite girl and still maintain his public
reputation.” ^ Boaz tells Ruth “all foe assembly ofm y people know you
are a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11 NRSV) and this elevates her status to
his equal so that she is ‫ س‬longer perceived as a foreigner.

Although racial bias is evident throughout ٨ Raisin in the Sun,

it is not the primary theme. Because they are African American, foe
Younger’s am the outsiders who are alienated from the dominant
culture. Lorraine Hansberry expressed the idea that home ownership
was no d u r a n c e o f removing the status of outsider. The Younger
family folly understands the consequences of racism they will
encounter by moving to an all-white neighborhood but they aro not
intimidated. Referring to foe fears of their foture white neighbors,
Beneatha asks if they think foe Younger’s intend to eat them. Ruth
replies, “No, honey, marry ،em” (A Raisin in the Sun, 2.3). This
comment reflects society’s fears of integration and miscegenation. It
leaves foe audience to decide whether or not all races can live together
harmoniously in the same neighborhood. However, Hansberry also
questions assimilation as a way to break raeial barriers. Beneatha
expresses her disdain for George ^ r e h i s o n , who is willing to
assimilate to white eulture at the expense of his Afriean heritage.
Beneatha, on the other hand, feels that it is important to find her
identity in her eultural roots, possibly ra k in g her aetions more like
those of Orpah.

Poverty

Poverty is one more theme found in both the book ofR uth and
inA Raisin in the Sun. Naomi and her d u ^ te rs -in -la w find themselves
i r a vulnerable place within tire community because of the structure that
supports the social system of patriarchy and as a result creates female
economic dependence. Deuteronomic Code appealed to the Israelite
community to show h m anitarian regard for the marginalized members
o f society, including widows, toe needy, toe poor, and strangers (Deut
24:17 NRSV). These people fell outside o f the socioeconomic system
and had to depend on the charity ofthe community. As a result, the law
included provisions for the poor to glean the fields of the wealthier
landowners. The law forbade property owners from stripping their
fields clean during the harvest. They were to leave the edges and
anything acidentally missed for the poor and resident aliens who had
no fields of their own to sow. In order to support toemselves, Naomi
and Ruth werc forced to glean grain for their sustenance but this was
viewed as a temporary solution since it was not a reliable way for the
women to provide for themselves. The fact that Ruth felt the need to
ask permission to glean is viewed by some interpreters to indicate that
even though landowners were expected to obey the law, they did not
always comply. However, it is also possible that because she was a
Moabite, Ruth did ‫ آس‬know the ways ofthe law or social conventions.
If that is toe case, then Naomi, who would have been familiar wito the
law, was negligent in her instructions to her daughter-in-law when Ruth
informed her of her intentions to find a field to glean.18

The Israelite society was an abarían one and property was

considered a form of wealth. The reader is informed that Naomi has a
piece o f land that belonged to her late husband but she needs to have it
redeemed from the kinsman who is currently in possession of it. The
land will be useless to her if she cannot afford to hire workers to

10
cultivate it so she needs to make arrangements to sell it. However, she
also sees marriage between Ruth and Boa/ as ‫؛‬١ path to financial
seeurity for herself and her daughter-in-law. With this in mind, she
takes the initiative to set a plan in motion to assure that Ruth will have
a home.

A Raisin in the Sun is a realistic ^ rtra y a l of économie

oppression, hike Ruth and Naomi, the Younger’s ‫ ﺗﺎ־ال؛‬battling poverty·
They are outsiders in the mainstream societal structure because oftheir
economic inequality. Both Ruth and Walter work for white employers.
Even if their neighbor Mrs. Johnson considers Walter Lee’s
e m p l o ie n t as a chauffeur to be a “good job,” the reality is that the
family members work at menial jobs in order to survive. Poverty has
robbed the family of educational opportunities, social standing, and
human dimity. Homeownership represents security and happiness but
that dream has been deferred because the Younger family has had to
struggle for economic survival. The life insurance money that Walter
Sr. left for his l 1‫؛‬m‫؛‬ly will provide them with an opportunity to change
their financial position. Walter is ashamed o f his poverty and lack of
upward mobility and his obsession with the insurance check as a way
to achieve affluence is “faithful to the cultural psychology of American
poverty.” '‫؟‬

Redemption

The major theme in the book o f Ruth is that o f redemption.

Although it is only eighty-five verses long, the word “redeem” and its
derivatives “redeemer” and “redemption” are used twenty-three times.‫“؛‬
Simply put, redemption means to rescue, save, or liberate. From the
beginning, ft is evident that Naomi is most in need of redemption for
she was empty and bitter as a result of her loss. Under the law, a
childless widow was allowed to own property. However, because of the
famine in Bethlehem, Elimelech and Naomi had been in Moab for
many years and her late husband’s property had been out ofhis control
at the time ofhis death, ft is possible that the property she needs to have
redeemed was sold prior to the migration and needs to be bought back.
It is also possible that an unnamed kinsman o f Elimelech was
controlling the land. At any rate, the property would not have been left
unused for ten years and under the laws of redemption, it is the duty of
the nearest tànsman te buy the land that belongs to Elimeleeh’s heir,
who ‫ ط‬this ease is Naomi.

The r^em p tio n laws were a legal obligation designated in the

Deuteronomie code. The nearest kin was assigned the role of redeemer
in the family5s legal affairs and the purpose was to keep family property
under family eontrol. The redeemer could be asked to buy baek land
that had been sold outside the family due to eeonomic necessity. The
law also allowed the redeemer to buy back family members who had
sold themselves into slavery, to receive money paid as restitution to a
deceased family member for a wrong done against that member, and to
avenge the murder of a family member. Although redemption applied
primarily to finaneial matters, a redeemer could also step ‫ ط‬to reseue
a family member fi‫־‬om distress or danger.

As Naom i’s kinsman, Boaz takes on the role of redeemer. He

confronts a nearer kinsman in a public forum before the elders. Because
the nearer kinsman is currently in possession ofthe property, Boaz asks
him if he is willing to redeem it. Boaz creates a situation that ean only
be resolved in his favor. If the nearer kinsman agrees to redeem foe land
under foe law but refoses foe moral obligation to marry Ruth, Boaz will
marry her and raise the child o f their union as foe son of her deceased
husband. In that way, their child will beeome the heir to the property
since foe law allows for return o fth e land to a legitimate claimant. If
the nearer kinsman reihses to redeem the land, Boaz will redeem it
himself and marry Ruth, thus obtaining foe land and an heir for foe
land. There is no legal obligation for the redeemer to marry Ruth under
the levirate marriage laws; Boaz voluntarily agrees to take on that duty,
indicating that the eulture must presume a moral obligation to offer
marriage. In foe end, the nearer kinsman relinquishes his right of
redemption to Boaz because he is not able to firlfill the moral obligation
o f mareiage to Ruth. However, the nearer kinsman is never eondemned
for his relhsal to marry her and she is not a participant in the sandal
removal act as she would have been if the kinsman had truly been a
reluctant levir.^

Naomi also finds redemption for her family through the

redemptive action of Ruth. Naomi wants an heir and Ruth provides a
son for her. This child assures that Naomi will have eeonomic seeurity

12
late in her life and serves as a symbolic replacement for the sons she
lost. Naomi’s life had been empty at the beginning of the story but now
thanks to Ruth, it was onee again full. It is Ruth’s hesed that has
brought about this reversal in Naom i’s life.“

Walter is the eharaeter who is redeemed in A Raisin in the Sun.

His bittemess over his own life strains his relationship with Ruth. He
acknowledges their problems and he resents that her nurturing makes
him feel emasculated. Mama treats Walter like a child and he reacts
with anger and frustration. His dreams of success are tied to his
perceptions o fh is manhood. When he remains silent in response to the
news that Ruth is considering an abortion, Mama tells him that he is a
disgrace to his father’s memory. In the end, Walter finds his voice and
stands up to Karl Lindner. By refusing Lindner’s offer, he assumes his
role as the head of the Younger household, redeeming his father’s
memory and offering a strong model for his son Travis. Through this
redemptive action, Walter affirms his worth and redeems his dignity
and integrity. It is Lena who acts as W alter’s redeemer; just as Naomi
orchestrated ‫؛‬١ situation for Ruth to gain protection, Lena controls the
situation that allows Walter to regain his pride. Her wisdom and
compassion make it possible for Walter to evolve as a man.

God’s Response to Human Initiative

God is virtually absent from foe book of Ruth. All o f foe

outcomes are a result ٠٢ good choices made by righteous people. There
is no mention o f divine agency yet human faithfulness is rewarded.
God’s only direct action is to allow Ruth to conceive. The
consummation might be a human act, but foe narrator says١٤١ she only
;)‫؛‬
conceived through foe grace of God. “When they came together, foe
Lord made her conceive and she bore a son” (Ruth 4:13 NRSV). God
is seen as responding to human initiative. God can use even foe least
likely person to bring about redemption.

In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha says, “God is just one idea I

don't accept. It's not important. I am not going out and be immoral or
commit crimes because I don't believe in God. I don't even think about
it. It's just that I get tired o f Him getting credit for all foe things foe
human race achieves through its own stubborn effort” (A Raisin in the

13
Sun, ‫ )ل ل‬Tenu adheres to traditional Chnstianity and IS outraged by
such blasphemy For this denial o f the existence o f God, Mama slaps
Beneatha powerfully aeross the faee and forces her to reluctantly say
that God IS still in her mother’s house Onee again, Beneatha’s actions
mimic Orpah’s, who even though she lu v e d Naomi, could not follow
her and aeeept her God

Renita Weems thinks that Afriean Ameriean women might see

their “own reality mirrored in the eharaeter ofR uth ”23 As a woman, as
a foreigner, as foe uneleeted woman, or as the displaeed widow, African
Ameriean women often feel like Moabites in a modem soeiety Ferhaps
God IS trying to work m them to bring them from emptiness to ftillness

The book o f Ruth eelebrates foe strengfo of women, foe

^ ln erab ility of marriage, and foe endurance of the human spirit ft
eompels the audienee to constantly reconsider foe morality o f foe
decisions bemg made in a world where everyone IS compromised by the
rules The challenge for contemporary women IS to see Ruth reflected
m the outsider and to ask who might God use to bring about
redemption Most o f us are more often foe recipients of kindness and
forthfidness rather than the rescuers of those struggling to survive but
immigrants, the poor and marginalized, or those seeking asylum might
become the tools for our own acts ofhesed

Notes

1Anne Cheney, L orraine H ansberry (N ew York Twa)me, 1984), 61

*Carol M eyers, “In the Household and Beyond The Soeial World o f Israelite
W om en,‫ ״‬Studia Theologica 63, no 1 (2009) 29
^Katharine D oob Sakenfeld, Ruth, Interpretation A Bible Commentary for
Teaehmg and ? rea eh n g (L ouisville W estminster/ John K nox, 1989), 5
*Cheney, L orraine H ansberry, 60
5Sakenfeld, Ruth 3
6Kathleen A Robertson Farmer, “The B ook o f Ruth,” m The N ew
Interpreters B ible gen ed Leander E K eck (N ashville A bingdon, 1998), 7 902
^Edward F Campbell, J r , Ruth, Anchor B ible, (Garden City, N Y
Doubleday, 1975), 20
8 H aroldBloom , “Summary and A nalysis,” in L orrain eH an sberry s A R aisin
in the Sun, B lo o m ’s Guides, ed Harold B loom (N ew York Infobase, 2009) 17
‫؟‬Margaret B W11kerson,”The Dark V ision o f Lorraine Hansberry Excerpts
from a Literary Biography,” The M assachusetts R eview 28, no 4 (1 9 8 7 ) 649

14
 10R ichardK alm m ,“L evirateL aw ” m T h e A n ch o rB 1b le D 1ct 10nary,Gá David
N oel Freedman (N ew York Doubleday, 1992), 4 2 9 6 -2 9 ?
n Ib 1 d ,2 9 7
pDanna N olan Newell and David f i l l e r Gunn, C om prom ising Redem ption
R elating C haracters in the ofR uth (L ouisville W estminster/ John K nox, 1990),
12
pTrud 1er Harris, “On Fortrayals o f Strong Blaek W om en’' in L orraine
H ansberry 's A Raisin in the Sun, 111
pN aney M Tisehler, Men an d Women o f the B ible A R e a d e r’s G uide
(Westport, CT Greenwood, 2002), 215
1‫؟‬Farmer, “The B ook o fR u th ,” ? 902
16Tod Linafelt and Tim othy K Beal, Ruth and E sther, B ent Olam Studies
in Hebrew Narrative ‫ ه‬Foetry (C ollegeville, M N Liturgical P ress,1999), 31
p Ib 1 d ,5 6
18Ib id , 26
19Lloyd w Brown, “On Irony in the Play,” in L orraine H ansberry ’s A Raisin

’’0Farmer, “The B ook o fR u th ,” 7 892

‫' أ‬Linafelt, Ruth a n d Esther, 7!
’2Sakenfeld, Ruth, 82
22Farmer, “The B oo^ o fR u th ,” 7 946

15
 ‫آلﻣﺂورلم؛‬

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