{"id":56393,"date":"2019-05-29T21:30:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T18:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=56393"},"modified":"2022-12-21T11:55:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T09:55:38","slug":"from-hostility-to-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/from-hostility-to-hospitality\/","title":{"rendered":"From Hostility To Hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[337,407],"acf":{"old_id":"56393","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37404,"related_cahpter":"230","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","content":"

Judges chapter 19 is a powerful story of immoral hospitality that ultimately leads to civil war. \u00a0The Hebrew root \u201c<\/span>l-y-n<\/span><\/em>\u201d, to lodge, is a <\/span>leitwort<\/span><\/em> or recurring word, appearing 12 times. \u00a0When we compare this story to episodes in the book of Ruth that use the root \u201c<\/span>l-y-n<\/span><\/em>\u201d, we see how Boaz and Ruth provide a \u201cTikkun\u201d, corrective, for these morally corrupt acts of hospitality. <\/span><\/p>\n

In our chapter, as in chapters 17 and 18, the characters\u2019 actions at first appear moral. The story begins with a Levite who has followed his concubine to her father’s house and is repeatedly offered hospitality by her father. Upon leaving, the Levite and concubine travel through the area of Benjamin, searching for new hospitality. \u00a0They find an old man from Ephraim who welcomes them into his home, feeds them and their donkeys and bathes their feet. That night the host seeks to protect the Levite when debased men demand to become intimate with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hospitality takes a corrupt turn, however, when the host offers the depraved men his own virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine in return for keeping the Levite safe. The debased men then rape and abuse the concubine throughout the night. In the morning, the Levite, upon finding his assaulted concubine non-responsive, cuts her into 12 pieces and sends the pieces around Israel, ultimately initiating a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. <\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast to the morally reprehensible acts in Judges 19, Boaz, in the book of Ruth, demonstrates how to virtuously treat a guest. Ruth, with Naomi\u2019s encouragement, secretly lies near Boaz at night, hoping he will offer to become her husband. When Boaz finds Ruth, he reassures her that she is safe by expressing how \u201call the elders of my town know what a fine woman you are\u201d<\/span> (Ruth 3:12).<\/span> Boaz then invites Ruth to stay with him [<\/span>lyni<\/span><\/i>] using that same Hebrew root featured in Judges 19. This root is also in the statement Ruth had uttered when she loyally told Naomi, \u201cwherever you lodge, I will lodge\u201d (Ruth 1:16). <\/span><\/p>\n

In further contrast between these texts, the depraved men who seek to assault the Levite, use the word, <\/span>ve-nedaenu<\/span><\/em>, that we may <\/span>know<\/span><\/em> him, to convey their depraved intentions (Judges 19:22). \u00a0Boaz in contrast, uses a similar word when he states that all the men <\/span>yodeah<\/span>, <\/span>know<\/span><\/em> what a fine woman Ruth is (Ruth 3:12). Boaz then devises a plan to ensure Ruth\u2019s safety by sending her back before it becomes <\/span>known<\/span>, <\/span>yi-vadeh<\/span><\/em>, where she was. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the actions of hospitality on the surface of Judges 19 seem at first righteous, they end in depravity. \u00a0In contrast, in the book of Ruth, Boaz demonstrates virtuous hospitality by reassuring, protecting and ultimately redeeming his guest, Ruth. It is no surprise that Judges 19 opened with the familiar refrain of anarchy; \u201cIn those days when there was no king in Israel\u201d (Judg. 19:1) while the book of Ruth will end with the birth of King David.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a fuller exploration about the contrast between the end of the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth, please see: Raskas, Jennifer R.<\/span> \u201cThe Book of Ruth: A Contrast to the End of the Book of Judges.\u201d<\/span><\/a> Jewish Bible Quarterly. Volume 43:4 (2015): p. 223-232<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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