Choices

Choices Commentary by Heather Macumber Cite Share Show Bible Passage Read by Ben Quash British sculptor John Warrington Wood captures the celebrated moment in which Ruth clings to Naomi and begs permission to accompany her to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:16). This passionate speech, memorialized in many modern wedding readings, highlights the faithfulness of Ruth. While the sculpture communicates Ruth’s devotion, it also raises questions regarding Naomi’s ambivalent reaction and desires. Scholars have proposed that Naomi is less than enthused about the presence of Ruth, who is both a foreigner and potentially a burden as a fellow widow (Fewell and Gunn 1999: 236; Sakenfeld 1999: 34–35). This ambiguity is discernible in the sculpture, as the women’s embrace is not portrayed as entirely reciprocal. Ruth’s arms are draped over her mother-in-law with her face upraised in supplication. In contrast, though Naomi’s face is bent towards the younger woman, she does not return the intensity of Ruth’s hold. Naomi’s left hand rests lightly on Ruth’s lower back, while her right one gathers her garment as she steps forward. A long journey awaits Naomi, and her posture indicates her determination to return home. Ruth’s name precedes that of Naomi in the title of the sculpture; however, Warrington Wood does not treat Naomi as a supporting character. While the naming of the biblical book after a single character might predispose one to privilege Ruth’s story, Naomi’s journey holds equal importance for the narrator. In the book of Ruth’s first chapter, Ruth’s eloquent words of devotion to Naomi are remembered and revered, yet they are mirrored by Naomi’s lesser-known lament regarding her bitter condition (Ruth 1:20–21). There is an unresolved tension as the women move towards Bethlehem that culminates in Naomi’s angry pronouncement that she has adopted the name Mara meaning ‘bitterness’ (Koosed 2011:62). The chapter ends with Naomi’s experience of emptiness, a lack of blessing that she attributes to her God. References Fewell, Danna Nowell and David Miller Gunn. 1999. ‘“A Son is Born to Naomi!”: Literary Allusions and Interpretation in the Book of Ruth’, in Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader, ed. by Alice Bach (New York: Routledge), pp. 233–39 Koosed, Jennifer L. 2011. Gleaning Ruth: A Biblical Heroine and her Afterlives (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press) Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob. 1999. Ruth, Interpretation (Louisville: John Knox)