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NASB | Ruth 3:11 "Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ruth 3:11 "Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. |
Bible Question:
Ruth is called "a woman of excellence", or, in other translations, a "virtuous woman". How can this be, if Ruth is in flaggrant violation of the Law: Deut 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD, And what about Boaz, who instructs the reapers to allow Ruth to glean even among the sheaves, and tells them to purposely drop handfuls for her? How does this square with: Deut 23:6 "You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days. How is it that Boaz marries Ruth, while Ezra and Nehemiah have the people "put away" thier Moabite wives? Ezra 9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. Ezra 9:2 "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness." Ezra 9:3 When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Ezra 10:11 "Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives." Nehemiah understood the law to exclude Moabites - 13:1 On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, Neh 13:2 because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. Neh 13:3 So when they heard the law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel. Neh 13:23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Neh 13:24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. Neh 13:25 So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. So my question is, if Moses commanded not to allow a Moabite into the congregation of Israel, nor to seek after their prosperity, and both Ezra and Nehemiah confirm that this specifically included marrying Moabite women, how is it that Ruth is excluded from this? How is it that Boaz keeps all points of the Law perfectly, then totally and completely disregards this Law regarding the Moabites? Could it be that Ruth was racially a Jew, while living in the "fields of Moab"? This would seem to fit all the critiria. A "Moabite" woman, in the sense of being an inhabitant of their land, who is racially a Jew? What do you think? Love in Christ, Mark |
Bible Answer: Next ... How is it that Boaz marries Ruth, while Ezra and Nehemiah have the people "put away" thier Moabite wives? Well ... Ezra and Nehemiah are after Ruth had dies and I believe the Jews were taking women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab ... when they should have kept their own Jewish wife - or find a Jewish one. |