“The women who were her neighbors gave it a name; they said, ‘A son has been born to Naomi,’ and called it ‘Oved. He was the father of Yishai the father of David.”-Ruth 4:17
Don’t you find it fascinating the women neighbors refer to Ruth and Boaz’s first born son as Naomi’s child?
Again, this is another one of those areas where ancient Hebrew thought patterns are far separated from our modern notions of what constitutes a family.
The Hebrew word for son is BEN or בן.
And here’s the thing.
As I explained yesterday, this is one of those unique words that carries multiple meanings.
The term BEN can mean either “son” or “grandson” depending on the context.
Here within the context of Ruth Chapter 4, this child legally replaced Naomi’s son Machlon who had passed away.
Which means this child of Ruth and Boaz’s also became Naomi’s deceased husband’s son!
That’s right!
According to the Hebrew cultural norms of the time, Boaz was considered to be Elimelech’s son.
This was important to maintaining the proper heir of Elimelech’s line.
Again, I’m not getting creative here in an attempt to force fit some narrative…
And I’m not speaking in an allegorical or metaphorical sense either…
I’m telling you Boaz and Ruth’s first child was LITERALLY considered Naomi and Elimelech’s son.
We’ve gotta take the story as it is instead of trying to make it fit our preconceived notions of the way things should be.
Unfortunately, the gentile church for too long has gone hog wild with their imaginations in remaking this story to suit their doctrines.
During these last days, I cannot let that dog hunt anymore.
Because the times of the gentiles are fast ending.
Alrighty, let me close with this.
So the women named the son OVED or עוֹבֵד.
Have any idea what that means?
It means a “Servant of God” or a “worshipper”.
A most apt title for someone born under such divinely arranged circumstances…
Not to mention someone who would be immortalized in the genealogy of the Messiah…
Don’t you think?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“And do not think you can say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
I tell you that out of these stones
God can raise up sons for Abraham.”
-Matthew 3:9
In Judaism, you will never find a “Junior”. We do not name our sons after the father, and perhaps the reason why is related to what you point out in this message.
Throughout the Tanakh when a person is given a name, that is not just their name, but is in the form of “so-and-so, son (daughter) of so-and-so, son of …” well, you get the idea. And this can go bakc three or more generations.
We also see the grandson called the son of the grandfather, and even Abraham, dozens of generations past, is still referred to as “Father Abraham”.
So, if a man from the Tribe of Benjamin was named Benjamin, and people (of course) usually called him “Ben”, and he had a son named Benjamin, who people called “Ben”, then this would have resulted in people asking “What’s your name?” and the son replying “I’m Ben ben Ben.”
Nah- I can’t see that happening a lot.
Thanks for sharing this information Steven. Very useful. Be blessed.
Greetings once again!
As always, your posts are very interesting and thought provoking, as well as educational!
I do have a question regarding the son of Boaz and Ruth…if he was considered as you say “Literally the son of Naomi and Elimelech” why then is he listed in Matthew’s genealogy as son of Boaz and Ruth and not Naomi and Elimelech?
Hi Edward, Thanks for your positive feedback.
Well, of course when I say he Boaz and Ruth’s child was literally considered to be Naomi’s son, that’s obviously not a literal fact.
Of course, literally (or biologically) Obed came from the Ruth’s womb.
Maybe a poor choice of wording on my part.
Talk soon!