Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Dora,

> Some of this is simple Israelite pragmatism.   Judaism has always been very
> down to earth and very pragmatic in its morality.   In a situation where
> there are no good choices or the alternatives are sin or die, one is
> expected to take the course of action that causes the least actual physical
> harm.   I always thought the point of the story was that Tamar made teh best
> she could of a bad situation and did God's will!    The Book of Esther is
> another example of this, and there is yet another example in the Book of
> Ruth - where Ruth "lifts up her skirt" at the harvest festival to the man
> she wants to marry.

HH: The only skirt mentioned in the story of Ruth at the harvest 
festival is Boaz's; see verse 9 below. Perhaps the strangeness of the 
wording caused you to associate the skirt mentally with Ruth.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard

Ruth 3:1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, 
shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Ruth 3:2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou 
wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
Ruth 3:3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment 
upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known 
unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
Ruth 3:4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark 
the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his 
feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
Ruth 3:5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
Ruth 3:6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all 
that her mother in law bade her.
Ruth 3:7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, 
he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came 
softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
Ruth 3:8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, 
and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Ruth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine 
handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou 
art a near kinsman.
Ruth 3:10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for 
thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the 
beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or 
rich.
Ruth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that 
thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art 
a virtuous woman.
Ruth 3:12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit 
there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Ruth 3:13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if 
he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the 
kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, 
then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie 
down until the morning.
Ruth 3:14 And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up 
before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that 
a woman came into the floor.
Ruth 3:15 Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and 
hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, 
and laid it on her: and she went into the city.

> The ancient Israelites just plain did not see female morality the way we see
> it.   As long as you didn't sleep with a different man than one you
> legitimately belonged to, and as long as you did the will of Man and of God,
> you did right in the eyes of God.
>
> Yours,
> Dora Smith
> Austin, Texas
> villandra AT austin.rr.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
> To: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
> Cc: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:20 AM
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Kadeshah
>
>
> >  On 15/07/2004 01:24, Karl Randolph wrote:
> >
> >  >...
> >  >If we take the traditional view that all of Tanakh is to be counted as
> context for all other parts, then Malachi 3:6 that says that God doesn't
> change also includes his condemnation of immorality. In that regard, what
> Judah did with Tamar was wrong. In fact, so wrong that there was no need to
> dwell on it.
> >  >
> >  >
> >
> >  The irony is of course that although Judah thought he was sinning he was
> >  in fact doing the right thing.
> >
> >  --
> >  Peter Kirk
> >  peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> >  peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> >  http://www.qaya.org/
> >
> >  _______________________________________________
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>
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