Saved by the belle

Looking forward to competing our exploration of Ruth today. It's a gem: perfectly composed and easily digestible as a story. Yet, at a deeper level, it subverts our assumptions. For a start, Naomi turns out to be the central character, not Ruth. And while Boaz emerges as hero, it is only because the one originally cast for that role steps aside. Ostensibly a morality tale about faithfulness, some of its details jar: Ruth's brazen advances on Boaz, the reference to Tamar's entrapment of Judah. The apparent upshot is that God's blessing prevails despite human misbehaviour. What a relief!