The Son and City: Ruth and Hannah

Daughter Zion, Bride Zion, and Mother Zion

Last Substack, I suggested that we find the climactic antithesis of the Son and the City in the last chapters of Judges. The story reflects the degree to which Israel had descended into anarchy a mere three generations after Israel settled in the promised land. The book’s finale reveals what happens when a people reject God — they also reject God’s likeness in their neighbor. The likeness of our neighbor to God is twofold: (1) our neighbor is made for God, fitted to God as a seal and its impression and (2) our neighbor as male or female mirrors something of our end as a people destined to be with the Son in the Spirit. The Levite defected from God before he objectified and desecrated his wife. When he broke the second tablet of the law in Judges 19, he merely made clear that he had no regard for the first tablet. The Levite was not alone. The book of Judges indicates that the Levite was representative of the people. In Judges 19-21, there was no king in Israel. No Father. No Son and Shepherd. No Lord and Giver of Life who engraves his law with living letters on human hearts. Like the rich, young ruler of Mark 10, the Levite might have boasted even after the blood bath and the additional seizing of 600 women, “All these things I have kept from my youth,” and yet we see his murders, adulteries, thefts, lying, and greed. The “natural use” of his second wife began with taking her living body (19:1) and ended with his taking her dead body (19:28) to avenge himself on the men of Gibeah — on the men who wanted to take him. They wanted to use him before they settled for the more “natural use” of his wife, a dusk to dawn affair. By the way, though the men of Gibeah were massacred and their city razed by the Israelites’ in their third and final offensive, the story of that city continued. From the ashes of Benjamin’s Gibeah came Israel’s first king, Saul, and the first capital of Israel’s united kingdom, sometimes called “Gibeah of Saul.” Over and against Zion, the kings’ exploitative rule over God’s people began in a city renowned for exploitation:

“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons . . . your daughters . . . the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves . . .. your grain and of your vintage . . .. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys . . . your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.” (1 Sam 8:11-17)

During the time of the Judges, the priest and the tabernacle carried forward the symbolism of the Son and the City, in which I believe is found the covenantal significance of the man and woman of Genesis 2. The son-man represents the means of covenantal union with God. The city-woman represents the end or goal of covenantal union with God, our life to come in Zion (Ps 48:2). During the next era, Israel’s united kingdom, sonship is tied to kingship, and most explicitly to David, and cityhood is tied to most explicitly to Jerusalem and her people, the fortress of Zion, taken by David from the Jebusites in 2 Samuel 5 (cf. Ps 89:3-4).

Before I go to Zion, whose importance is not only sustained, but elevated until the consummation of our hope in Revelation, I want to touch on Boaz and Ruth and Elkanah and Hannah. Both couples stand in antithesis to the unnamed Levite and his wife. In other words, once we see the Levite and his wife, we are more prepared to see the line of David in Ruth and Boaz. We are also prepared to see David’s forerunner Samuel. David and Samuel foreshadow Judah’s lion and his forerunner John the Baptist from the tribe of Levi. There is an unfolding of both the son (David and Samuel) and the city (Ruth and Hannah) that points to David's greater son and Jerusalem Above, the Son and the Spirit manifest.

The book of Ruth begins with a journey toward the promised land and toward a faithful son in Bethlehem of Judah. The story of Judges 19 is the journey of a daughter of Judah with an unfaithful son away from Bethlehem. In other words, Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth are returning from “exile” and moving toward life, contrasted with the unnamed Levite's wife leaving Bethlehem of Judah for an unnamed town in the “remote hill country of Ephraim” and unknowingly toward death at the hands of her faithless husband, host, and the sons of Gibeah. There is life in the “house (bet) of bread (lehem),” both for the Levite’s wife and for Ruth — one is taken to that life and the other is taken from that life.

In Judges 19 and in Ruth 1, Bethlehem carries the symbolism of Zion. In clinging to Naomi, Ruth is rejecting her father’s house and Moab and choosing instead Naomi’s people and God, but most emphatically Naomi’s place. Ruth emphasizes where they are going when joining herself to Naomi: “Wherever you go . . .wherever you live . . . wherever you will die and be buried, there I will (too)” (1:16-17). Like Abraham, Ruth seeks a place she has not seen. The daughter of Abraham moves like her father, looking for a people and a city she recognizes by faith, and for this she is given an enduring name and voice (2 Kings 21:7).

Not only Judges 19 and Ruth 1, but 1 Samuel also opens with a journey. Just as Ruth moves toward Bethlehem, so Hannah moves toward Shiloh, toward the house of the Lord, where the tabernacle resides. Three women and two places are found in Judges 19, Ruth 1, and 1 Samuel 1. They place before us two cities, both with an enduring significance. The name Bethlehem points to abundance, and the name Shiloh points to rest. These are the hallmarks of the Son’s city —

“For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his home: ‘This is my resting place forever; I will make my home here because I desire her. I will abundantly bless her food; I will satisfy the needy with bread. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will shout for joy. There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown he wears will be glorious.’” (Ps 132:13-17)

In Ruth 2, the antithesis between the Levite’s wife and Ruth continues. The true kindness of Boaz is contrasted with the feigned kindness of the Levite. When both men appear, the text extends the hope that they are indeed sons who mirror the kindness of the Son. The Levite pursues his wife in order to speak “kindly,” literally “to her heart” (עַל־לִבָּה). Boaz also approaches Ruth to speak kindly to her. Opposed to empty sentiment, Ruth recognizes Boaz as one who truly speaks “to the heart of his maidservant” (עַל־לֵ֣ב שִׁפְחָתֶ֑ך) [Ruth 2:13 WTT]. The sincere kindness of Boaz will become increasingly evident as the story progresses and increasingly greater acts of kindness prove Boaz to be a “worthy strength” gibbor hayil (גִּבּ֣וֹר חַ֔יִל) [Ruth 2:1 WTT]. Naomi draws attention to this very point when she asks the Lord to bless Boaz “because he has not abandoned loving kindness, hesed, to the living or the dead” (2:20). Boaz stands with the Son, who redeems the dead and brings them to life, over and against the Levite whose lack of sincere kindness becomes increasingly evident in Judges 19 until the horrific end when his worthlessness and weakness are undeniable (cf. Eph 2:6). The Levite sought to redeem his own life at the cost of his wife. It is important to recognize that Ruth’s hope from the beginning to the end is not in the kindness of mere man, but in the faithfulness of God in whom she has taken refuge. Hannah’s hope in 1 Samuel 1 is the same. We see that Elkanah’s question to Hannah goes unanswered: “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” What is better than ten sons is the Son enthroned on Mt. Zion amidst the heavenly host, the God of Armies יהוה צְבָאוֹת (cf. Is 24:21-23; 31:4-5). First Samuel 1:3 is the first of 279 designations of God as Yahweh Sabaoth in the canon. He is the God to whom Hannah prays in 1:11 and to whom Hannah offers her first born, Samuel.

In Ruth 3, Boaz as a son united to the Son comes into clearest focus, and Ruth is fully his match. The kindness of Boaz in 2:13 and 20 enables him to see the kindness of Ruth in 3:10, just as the nobility of Boaz in 2:1 enables him to see the nobility of Ruth in 3:11. The love of God for his people, which Naomi recognizes in Boaz’s kindness, is eventually attributed to Ruth in 4:15. Genuine kindness, nobility, and love originate in God and are mirrored in his people. And they mirror it to one another. For example, Yahweh is Ruth’s shelter in 2:12, and yet Ruth and Naomi come to see that Boaz’s wing shelters them in God’s providence (3:9). Yahweh’s wings, together with Boaz’s wing, become a refuge for Naomi and Ruth. A son in the image and likeness of the Son is a gift from God, a true protection for the widow and the foreigner whose hope is in God (Deut 10:18; Ps 146:9). In chapter 3, Boaz simply stands with the Son who spreads his Spirit-tabernacle over his people, and Naomi and Ruth stand with the bride as the congregation under the wing of his Spirit.

In chapter 4, I suggest that the representation of Ruth as the city of God comes into clearest view. Ruth has moved from devoted Daughter Zion in chapters 1-2, to Bride Zion in chapters 3-4. She is the prize for which the Son will not rest (3:18) until he brings her to rest (3:1). The book of Ruth, however, does not end there, but with Ruth as Mother Zion, the fortress from which the Messiah will come. She stands with Boaz, the son, “blessed in Ephrathah (synonymous with Bethlehem) whose name is renowned in Bethlehem.” Not only the son, but also the city is the source of blessing for all generations. The glory of the Son is matched by the glory of the Spirit-city from which the redeemer of the world will come. The names of the mothers of Israel mentioned by the elders and people — Rachel, Leah, Tamar, and Ruth —correspond with the house of the incarnate Son who will come from heaven to be born of Mary in the city of David (Luke 2:11). House, heaven, city all point to sacred space and the symbolism of the woman. In 4:16, the Son and the City come together in the blessing that the women of the city give to Naomi, who also reflects Mother Zion as she receives her grandson Obed, the grandfather of David. The women at the gates proclaim that the son of Boaz will renew Naomi’s life and sustain Naomi in her old age. Is this not what we are promised in Boaz’s greater son who renews and sustains us today and is our portion forever? And yet we are reminded that the Son does not stand alone. What on earth is better than one or even seven sons? It is the renewing and sustaining love of the Spirit, our refuge today, our city tomorrow. Not only the Son (typified by Boaz) but also the Spirit (typified by Ruth and Naomi) beckon us with this promise— I will be yours and you will be mine. The greater Ruth will harbor us and the greater Naomi will nurture us. Far from the death and destruction in Judges 19-21, the story of Ruth raises our thoughts to the Son in Zion bringing us from death and despair to life and hope (Ps 3:4; 20:2; 87:7; Is 51:3-5).

Ruth ends in 4:18-22 with a genealogy of sons that begins with Perez, who is mentioned in 4:12 as “the son Tamar bore to Judah.” Tamar is the first woman mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy (Matt 1:3). Why these women? How do these women in the line of Joseph mirror the city, the tent dwelling of the Spirit? As many others have pointed out, Tamar might be an unlikely woman to draw attention to, whether in the book of Ruth or in Matthew, but I find her inclusion leading our thoughts to Zion : (1) First, Tamar is a widow, like Ruth. First associated with death, that is not their enduring identity. Tamar and Ruth are recorded as life, mothers of the Son born from Zion above. (2) Tamar was forsaken by Judah and his son, Onan, just as Ruth also emerges from a people forsaken by Judah’s house. Such are the origins of the Spirit-bride. She is raised up from insignificance and brought to significance and honor. “Not a people” have become “a people.” Those shown no mercy have received mercy and become the inheritance of the Son in the Spirit. The Lord has risen on those waiting in the shadows, and his glory has appeared over them. Tamar and Ruth have received a portion of that glory in his presence (cf. Gen 1:2; Luke 9:34; 1 Peter 2:9; Is 60:1-3. (3) Another similarity is that just as Tamar was told by Judah to return to her father’s house, Ruth was urged by Naomi to go back to her father’s house. Instead of going back, true Daughter Zion forgets her father’s house and clings to a living hope in the house of Israel; therefore, her memory endures through all generations . . . her praise for ever and ever (cf. Ps 45:17). (4) Finally, in Tamar and Ruth, we see Zion as a mixed multitude. She is far from monolithic. The tribes and tongues and nations, Zion’s great multitude, are the Son’s and our inheritance in the city of the great King. They are raised up and brought to Zion for his and our eternal joy (Ps 2:8; 48:2; Is 51:11).

In Matthew’s genealogy, not only Tamar and Ruth, but Rahab and “Uriah’s wife” are found in the line of Joseph, the husband of Mary. In a list of men who father sons are four named women. Tamar was outstanding among the women who bore children to the Patriarchs; Rahab among the women of the Conquest; Ruth among the women of Judges; and Uriah’s wife among the women of the Kingdom— yet all four women are marked by scandal, whether Tamar’s solicitation of Judah by the roadside, Rahab’s prostitution, Ruth’s descent from Lot’s daughter, or “Uriah’s wife’s” association with David’s sin. First things, however, give way to last things. The nobility of the women runs deep. This brings us to the last thing that all share in common. (5) All three are associated with extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice. Tamar boldly confronts the injustice and deception of Judah and is condemned to death — “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” Rahab lays down her life for the Israelite spies and the safety of her own family in Jericho; Ruth leaves what she knows and cleaves to Naomi and to Naomi’s God and her people in a land that Ruth has never seen. Uriah’s wife risks her life when she reveals Adonijah’s attempt to usurp the throne of David (1 Kings 1:12-21). Through their faith, they commend themselves as true Daughter Zion and the faithful bridal people of God, and yet in the genealogies of the sons, their final identity is as the realm of life. They represent the dwelling place of the Son in the Spirit. Each points ahead not only to the woman who will bear the Seed, the Son of heaven sent to destroy the works of the devil, but the realm from which the Son will descend. The Son who descends is destined to ascend to that City and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:33). In other words, the four royal matriarchs point to the Revelation 12:1 woman, “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars,” who gives birth to her offspring amidst the menacing presence of the dragon and warfare in heaven and on earth. She overcomes because greater is he that is in her than he who is in the world.

Mary does not stand alone in her courage. She stands in the line of her foremothers who faced the dragon and overcame, sealing the woman’s final identity with the Spirit and the realm of life in Revelation 22. From Zion the Spirit and the bride beckon us to come and receive Sabbath rest in the bridal city of the Lamb. This is the assurance we receive in Revelation. The Son stands on Mt. Zion with his harvest, the first fruits for God and the Lamb, and a Voice from heaven says, “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’” (Rev 14:13). The Voice from heaven, the Father, declares rest for God’s people. The Lamb, from whom and for whom are all things, redeems God’s people unto rest. And finally, the Spirit responds with the final affirmation because he has worked all things on earth to the end he “endoxates.” The Spirit declares “yes” because he is sacred space personified, the Glory robe of the enthroned Father and Son, a tent pitched in the heavens. The Spirit has taken to himself a true “body,” and that body is a tabernacle and our final home.

The themes of exaltation, honor, glory, and strength in the stories of Tamar, Ruth, and Naomi are woven together in the life and prayer of Hannah. Like Ruth, she stands for Daughter Zion, Bride Zion, and Mother Zion. As Daughter Zion, she faithfully seeks the Son in the City, the greater Shiloh, looking to him for her needs. This picture emerges as we find her near the threshold of the tabernacle in the presence of Eli, the high priest. The Son in the City is the theme of her triumphant prayer — “There is no one holy like the LORD. There is no one beside you! There is no rock like our God” (1 Sam 2:2). As Bride Zion, she is loved. Elkanah loves her, but there is something better to her than all earthly good, better than Elkanah’s love, better than ten sons — “My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is lifted up by the LORD. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation” (2:1). He is the one thing she seeks — the Son in his tabernacle (cf. Ps 27:4). As a type of Mother Zion, she gives birth to Samuel, three sons, and two daughters, but that is not about whom she sings. The theme of her song is the LORD, the Lord’s king, and his anointed (1 Sam 2:10). This is why she echoes in the song of Mary praising the Lord’s greatness, rejoicing in God her Savior. Greater than seven sons, greater than ten sons, greater than the love of a husband, is the Mighty One whose mercy is from everlasting (Luke 1:50). He has remembered his people and visited them from on High.

Thank you for reading. Next Substack I look forward to introducing the work of Christl Maier on gender and sacred space in her book Daughter Zion, Mother Zion. Her research paves a path to more clearly see the Lord, the Giver of Life in the realm of life.