by Tessa Afshar
She shook her head mutely with such violence that her elaborate arrangement of braids started to come undone. He took her hand and caressed it, wanting to soothe her, wanting to impart assurance into the scepter of fear that he sensed rising in her. The vehement evidence of her genuine dismay melted him. She didn’t merely want a kinsman redeemer. She wanted him.
“If he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself.”
“Will he want to redeem me, do you think, Boaz?”
It was the first time she had called him by name. The sound of it on her lips made happiness coil inside him until he wanted to grin like a drunken oaf. He did not care if he appeared foolish. He had not felt so close to another human being for over a decade. He noticed that her face was stamped with dismay she could not hide. What had she asked him? The point of it, now that he remembered, was not to speak his name.
Clearing his mind of its pleasant cobwebs, he gave her a comforting smile. “Leave him in my hands, Ruth. Trust me. And trust the Lord who brought you to me.” He leaned over, promising himself one last touch. His fingers grazed against her soft cheek, her temple, her ear. He noticed the earrings and bent closer to examine them, sparkling against the dainty whorls of her ear.
“You are wearing the earrings! I am so pleased.”
“Naomi said you intended them for me. But I thought perhaps Mahalath made a mistake when she included them in your gifts.”
“No mistake. They remind me of you. I wished you to have them.”
Ruth played with one dangling pearl. “You honor me. They seem very old.”
“They have been in my family for generations. Since the days of our captivity in Egypt. My fathers have presented them to their wives and passed them to their sons throughout the years. Nahshon, the leader of the tribe of Judah, gave it to his wife. And his son, Salmon, gave them to Rahab.”
“And you gave them to me? Before … before I was anything to you.”
He did not feel free to declare his heart to her yet. Not when there was Jaala in the way. “I wanted no one but you to have them.”
“Naomi has told me about Rahab. How your people took her in and counted her as one of them in spite of her Canaanite heritage.”
“She was much admired by all who knew her. Loyal, like you, and courageous too. Salmon’s love for her is legendary in our family. He used to call her his pearl, because of these earrings. She was an irreplaceable jewel to him, sparkling like these precious pearls.”
She gazed at him directly then. He was not surprised that she had picked up on the import of what he was telling her. “They remind you of me?”
“You are like a pearl too, Ruth. An irreplaceable jewel. I’ve thought of the hardships you have had to endure, and how you once told me that your life had become like an unending night. Like those earrings caught in the darkness of this threshing floor.”
She ran a tentative hand over the jewels dangling against her cheek.
“They are no less valuable because the darkness hides them, are they? No less beautiful or desirable?”
She shook her head, making the pearls shiver.
“When trouble comes into our lives, we are tempted to think less of ourselves. Tempted to believe that God thinks less of us, or else He would not allow such pain to have rule over us. Yet, just as the darkness of night cannot overcome the worth of these jewels, your sorrows made you no less precious. Not to God. Not to others.”
Her eyes widened. He could see the reflection of tears in them. Tears she held back. “Do you really see me like that?”
“Yes.”
“I will never forget this night. I shall always treasure your words.”
Trust her to prefer his words to his pearls. He smothered a laugh. Come morning, he would find Jaala and make Ruth his, whatever it took.
“Ruth, you bring joy wherever you go. No matter what happens, I want you to know that. Mahalath, who trusts no one, smiles around you and speaks without fear. You changed Dinah’s bitterness with your kindness. You influenced Adin out of his hard-hearted attitude, and if they are now happy together, it is because of you. And Naomi, who could scarcely speak for grief, laughs again and has hope. This is all your doing. Your presence is like a balm.”
Ruth made a small noise, half laugh, half refute, enjoying the words without believing them. He stared at her, unable to stop. He should send her home, but could not bear the thought of her walking alone in the dead of night lest some evil should befall her. On the other hand, if she stayed, she ran the danger of being found with him and having her reputation smirched.
“Stay here, with me, for the night. You must leave before others awake and recognize you. But until then, lie down here, and I will watch over you.” He threw his cloak over her, tenderly tucking it around her, loving her closeness. She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the hay. She must have been exhausted from the stress of waiting upon him.
Boaz spent the remaining hours of the night praising, praying, and if truth be told, plotting. His approach to Jaala required careful planning. He could not rush forward and lay himself bare before that man. Jaala would only take advantage of his vulnerability. He needed the kind of calm, purposeful strategy he applied to business. Jaala needed to be handled with the greatest of care.
Before sunrise, Boaz whispered Ruth’s name. She was a light sleeper and awoke at his first soft call. To his amusement, she spent no time coming to her senses but knew instantly where she was and with whom.
“Shalom, my lord.”
He wanted to correct her, to remind her that she had already called him by name. Then he recalled that she did not belong to him yet. That Jaala had a right to her he did not. The thought made him grind his teeth. Not for long, he determined.
“You must leave before the sun rises, so that no one knows a woman came to the threshing floor with me.”
She nodded, taking the time to fold his cloak into neat quarters. Before she could rise, he held her back with a motion of his hand. “Bring to me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.”
She gave him a confused look, but obeyed, holding the shawl open over her belly. Boaz filled it with seed. He poured six generous measures of barley and wrapped the shawl and tied it around her waist. “I don’t want you to go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.”
Before she had taken ten steps, he was already on his way back to the city gate.
By the time Ruth returned home, the sky had turned a deep blue and the sun shone with comforting warmth on her face. She found herself teetering between laughter and fear. Boaz cared for her. He thought she was a pearl, precious and valuable!
Worthy to wear his Rahab’s jewels.
On the darker side, there was another man who had a right to her. How great an obstacle would he prove?
Naomi, when she saw her coming down the road, ran to her, and without wasting time on a greeting, panted, “How did it go, my daughter? I spent the night praying for you and Boaz.”
Ruth wrapped her arms around Naomi and laughed. “I could not have dreamt that he would be so tender toward me.”
“Did I not say so? Tell me every detail.”
Ruth handed over her shawl, bulging with barley, and over a meal of warm bread and cheese, she told her mother all that had come to pass the night before.
“I told you there was no mistake about those earrings. Fancy Boaz being such a poet, calling you a pearl in the night. Have I not found you a good husband?”
“The very best,” Ruth said as she took a deep swallow of water. “Let me tell you the rest.”
When she told Naomi about asking Boaz to act as her kinsman redeemer, Naomi clapped a hand over her mouth. “You asked him to do what? But I never told you to do that!”
Ruth had expected Naomi’s surprise, though she found her apparent dismay puzzling. “During the day, as I prayed, the idea came to me. Do you remember, weeks ago, when I first told you about Boaz, you explained to me what a goel was? I remembered your
words as I prayed this morning.
“It is right that if I should marry, you and your line should be provided for as well, Naomi. If Boaz marries me just for me, then the name of Elimelech will die out. But if he marries me as a kinsman redeemer, on behalf of Elimelech and Mahlon, then their names shall live on, if God chooses to open my lifeless womb, don’t you see? Our firstborn son, should by some miracle God choose to bless us, shall be your grandchild as much as my son. There is small chance of it, I know, given my barrenness. But who knows what God will do for your sake, Naomi?”
Tears spilled down Naomi’s cheeks and stained the front of her tunic. “It is a gracious offering, child. A gracious offering.” She stood with sudden vehemence, overturning the leftover bread and cheese that sat between them. “But—there is a complication.”
“I realize that now. I never knew we had a kinsman closer than Boaz who could be our redeemer. Who is this man? How is it that I have never met him?”
“We may be closer by bonds of blood, but there was no love lost between Elimelech and him. I have not seen him in years. Nor have I any wish to.”
Ruth felt dread running up her spine as real as a physical touch. She came to her feet. “Does this mean that I would have to marry him if he chooses?”
Naomi turned, her movements awkward. “No. At least I don’t think so. However, he is a powerful man. If he should set his mind on having you, it might prove hard to resist him.”
“I will resist him,” Ruth burst out, sounding more sure than she felt. “But then Boaz could not marry me. Not if this man chooses to redeem me first.”
“There is that.” Naomi bit her lip.
“What have I done?” Ruth asked, feeling sick.
“Boaz is cunning. He will find a way to keep you for himself.”
Ruth sensed that Naomi held something back. Her heart raced harder and a bad taste filled her mouth. “Who is this man?” she asked again.
“Jaala.”
Ruth felt the strength leave her legs and collapsed on the floor. “Mahalath’s Jaala? The harsh lord who savaged her with his cruelty while she was his slave?”
“That one. That is why I never approached him to ask if he would act as our kinsman redeemer. I did not wish to place either of us in his power.”
“I see.” The silence that followed was filled with dread.
Ruth rubbed a trembling forefinger over dry lips. “It is up to Boaz, then. He alone can undo this tangle.”
Naomi nodded. “He shall find a way.”
With an impatient hand, Ruth wiped the tears that wet her cheeks. “I am still glad that I took this route. If Boaz succeeds, then your son may live on through us. Your name shall continue, Naomi. I want that for you, no matter what danger I need to face in order to obtain it.”
“You are a precious pearl, Ruth. My little jewel. The Lord blessed me the day you came into my life. To think I almost left you in Moab. How grateful I am that you chose to come with me.
“Now, let us wait upon the Lord, for He did not bring you all the way from Moab simply to break your heart. He will give Boaz aid to further his cause. And knowing how Boaz dotes on you, he will not rest until this matter is settled this very day. I am certain of it.”
“It’s a torment to be so close to having the desire of my heart, and yet so helpless in the waiting.”
“Don’t give in to your fears. Together we’ll wait and pray. And we shall see what happens.”
Ruth tried to smile. But the turmoil in her heart almost choked her.
Boaz knew where to find Jaala. Everyone passed through the city gate at some point during the day since most of the fields as well as the threshing floors lay outside the city walls. He hoped he would not have to wait long until the man showed up, for the idea of lingering grated upon him worse than a toothache.
He found an empty bench, shielded by a narrow overhang, near the entrance of the gate. Other businessmen and leaders of the town were slowly gathering. The gate was the judicial and administrative center of Bethlehem. No other place in town boasted enough space to accommodate large gatherings. If men wished to have witnesses to a simple transaction or to conduct more complicated matters that required a court, they came to the gate.
Boaz found himself in no mood for casual conversation with his friends and neighbors. To his relief Jaala showed up uncharacteristically early. Before he could continue walking along, Boaz hailed him.
“Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” He pointed at the empty space next to him on the bench.
The man gave Boaz a frowning inquiry before coming over. “You have made up your mind about that parcel of land I mentioned to you?”
Boaz had forgotten about the land. “We can talk about that later,” he said, wanting to dangle that possibility to keep Jaala interested. “I do have a matter of business, which we need to discuss, first. It will need witnesses, if you agree.”
The man raised bushy brows and shrugged. Boaz called ten of the elders of the town and asked them to sit near. Accustomed to such transactions, they complied with ease.
Boaz addressed Jaala. “Do you remember Naomi, Elimelech’s wife?”
“Vaguely.”
“She is widowed and has returned from Moab, where she buried both her sons. She has grown sadly destitute.”
“Elimelech was always an idiot. I am not surprised he died in a foreign land, and his sons with him. And of course he left his wife with nothing. What’s this to do with me, Boaz? I have no interest in a tale of woe.”
“No, I realize. But there is financial gain for you, if you will hear me out. In her need, Naomi is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention.”
The man sniffed. “How so? What’s it to do with me?”
“I want to suggest that you buy the land. In the presence of these people here, so that we might have the witness of the elders of the people, and make it an official bargain. You are her kinsman redeemer, and if you wish, you can help her in her need. The price is more than reasonable.”
Boaz stretched his legs and leaned indolently against the wall. Everything about him suggested casual interest at best. Not by one inflection did he betray how he awaited the man’s response with a hitch in his breathing. He saw Jaala flush and knew that, like a fisherman, he had caught him in his net. Jaala was ever greedy for a good bargain, and he could sense one in the picture Boaz had painted. Cheap land, a grateful widow, and the respect of the community for having acted on behalf of Elimelech. All at little cost to himself.
Boaz pinned an encouraging smile on his mouth and lowered his lids to hide the coldness of calculation from Jaala’s scrutiny. He wanted to feed Jaala’s hungry greed. He wanted the man to burn with desire for ready land until he grew blinded to potential pitfalls. He planned to spring the steep price in such a way that Jaala would be shocked and completely put off by it. He intended to drag Jaala through a hairpin ride of emotions, up and down, and up and down again, until the man balked at the notion of being straddled with a foreign widow.
Ruth was going to belong to Boaz, and Jaala would not stand in the way.
“If you wish to redeem the land, do so. But if you do not, tell me, for at the moment no one has the right to do it except you. However, I am next in line.”
The man gave a slow smile, satisfaction leaking from every feature. “Oh, I will redeem it.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion,
And instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
And everlasting joy will be yours.
ISAIAH 61:7
Boaz gave the man’s shoulders a friendly tap. “Good. Good. Did I remember to mention, on the day you purchase the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite, you also acquire the dead man’s widow?”
“What? You mean I have to marry
the Moabite to get the land?”
Boaz bit down on a smile. Here came the crucial moment when the man would back off. “I’m afraid so.”
“You might have mentioned it from the beginning!”
“Didn’t I?”
“Of course not.” Jaala studied Boaz for a long moment, his brows lowered, tense frown lines pleating his forehead. “Well.” He slapped a broad hand against his knee. “What’s one more wife? Fine.”
Boaz stopped breathing. This was not the response he had expected. His plan was unraveling before his eyes. “You want the Moabite?”
Jaala made a face. “If it means helping relatives. Send for her so I can have a look at her.”
Helping relatives? Jaala just wanted the land! Boaz could feel sweat break out on his brow. Once Jaala saw Ruth, noted her fragile beauty, he would want her in earnest, Boaz had not doubt. The man would pounce to take hold of her. In her eyes, he would detect fear and lap it up like a thirsty viper. It would only make her more desirable in his perverse eyes. Perchance, if he intercepted her seeking Boaz’s help—one pleading look, a single despairing entreaty—Jaala would not give her up for the price of three cheap fields. He would want what Boaz wanted. He had to interrupt Jaala’s train of thought now. Take back control of the situation or he would lose Ruth.
“How good of you. Especially to willingly bear the burden of raising her child so that the name of Elimelech will continue,” he said, forcing himself to sound bored. “That is a necessity in order to maintain the name of Mahlon. It is his property, after all. It should be his lineage who inherits it.”
Jaala sprang to his feet, shaking the wrinkles out of his tunic. “Wait now. You mean, to have the land, not only must I marry this foreign widow but once I beget a son on her, the child does not even belong to me or my name? It belongs to Elimelech’s lineage!”
