Ruth and Boaz: Mirror Characters

Ruth’s generosity reverses the downward spiral of the megilla’s narrative and launches its arduous movement toward resolution. Ruth, however, cannot act independently. Everything she ultimately offers Naomi (food, children) is given to her by Boaz, who is also portrayed as a paragon of generosity. If the first critical shift in the book is initiated by Ruth, its final pivot is completed by Boaz. It may be most accurate to conclude that the success of the narrative rests upon the coming together of this couple.

Ruth and Boaz’s marriage represents the conjoining of two similar personalities, whose traits are ideal for producing both the personal solution for Naomi’s tragedy and the national solution for the self-centered, miserly, and slothful society during the period of the judges. In order to convey the similarity between Boaz and Ruth and highlight the important traits that they share, the Book of Ruth presents several linguistic parallels between these characters.