Excursus: The Line of Boaz

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As of this writing I have not read anything on the fact of Boaz’ family prior to his marriage to Ruth. We aren’t given alot of information on the family, but what we are given provides a great deal of insight, in my opinion, of the man Boaz.

Boaz is a wonderful OT example of righteous living. His righteousness and kindness to Ruth and Naomi were a result of his acknowledgement of God’s righteousness and kindness to Israel. He had great reason to be sensitive to this because of his family’s history.

New Testament Clues – Boaz’ Family

Matthew 1:5-6 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of David the king.

Boaz was the son of Salmon and Rahab, and the Great-Grandfather of King David, thereby an ancestor of Jesus Himself.

Old Testament Clues – Boaz’ Mother

Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.

Rahab is the woman referred to as “the Harlot” in the book of Joshua.

Joshua 2:8-11 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. 10 “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

Rahab, a Canaanite in the city of Jericho, was convinced of YHWH’s supremacy over the Egyptian and Canaanite gods.

Joshua 6:25 However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

By virtue of her faith, she worked to protect YHWH’s people. Her faith and kindness were rewarded and she became a part of the people of God.

Matthew 1:1-5a The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab,

She eventually married a descendant of Judah by the name of Salmon. Her son Boaz became the seventh in the line of Judah. Genetically, Boaz was only half-Israelite. Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth, was only one-quarter Israelite.

This may explain Boaz’ sensitivity to Ruth’s situation. No doubt Rahab’s entry into the people of God was equally awkward. Rahab’s religious upbringing (paganism), previous occupation (harlotry), and ethnicity (Canaanite) were not the most endearing of qualities. Nevertheless, she became a part of YHWH’s covenant people, marrying an Israelite of the Tribe of Judah, and eventually bearing a son named Boaz.

Boaz had seen how God worked in the lives of his own parents. Despite his mother’s origin and life before faith, his father had taken her as his wife. She became a part of God’s people, and bore Boaz. Boaz was, perhaps uniquely, prepared for taking the risk of loving Ruth.

CONCLUSION
Seemingly, Salmon and Rahab were both people of strong faith as seen in the faith of their son Boaz. Boaz would prove instrumental in not only the assimilation of Ruth, a pagan Moabite, into the people of God, but would be seen as a type of Christ, a Kinsman Redeemer. Through the lens of Scripture, we can see the Providence of God at work in all manner of situations, and in many unexpected lives, to bring about His purposes.

God was at work preparing Boaz for Ruth before Boaz and Ruth existed.