Ruth and Esther: Divergent Narratives, Convergent Narratology

Aside from featuring a heroine, the biblical books of Ruth and Esther seem hardly alike.^[1]

Setting – Ruth takes place in rural Judea, in Bethlehem, in the period of the Judges, before the establishment of the monarchy. Esther takes place in Shushan ha-birah, the fortressed-capital city of the Persian empire in the period of the Persian kings, over a half millennium later, after the dissolution of the Judean monarchy.

Language – Ruth employs classical Hebrew on the model of the books of Samuel and Kings, along with some locutions mostly found in late biblical Hebrew. Esther is of late biblical Hebrew, replete with Persian words and practices.^[2]

Content – In Ruth, a Moabite woman, marries an Israelite, leading to the fathering of a king; in Esther, an Israelite woman marries a gentile king with no mention of heirs. Ruth revolves around family; Esther revolves around politics. Ruth is idyllic and agrarian, a story of passivity versus activity without villains or dramatic heroism; Esther is hellish and urban, a story of good versus evil with villains and heroes. In Ruth, the worst eventuality is the destitution of two widows. In Esther, the worst eventuality is the destruction of a people.^[3]

On the surface, the narratives of Ruth and Esther share little. A story, however, can also be analyzed by its narratology, how the story is constructed and told. Narratology focuses on questions of emplotment, the fashioning of a narrative structure or plot by connecting the various elements in a coherent manner. This involves the arrangement of the individual elements into a larger framework to create a sense of purpose within the narrative. In sum, narrative deals with plot; narratology deals with emplotment. As narrative, Ruth and Esther diverge; as narratology, however, they converge.

A Self-Contained Narrative: Time, Place and Character

The most obvious convergence between these stories is the status of Ruth and Esther as heroes in both senses, namely, most admired and most active in moving the story forward to its conclusion. On its own, this is not very significant, as there are many biblical heroines who determine the outcome of the story from Eve to Rebecca, from Rachel to Tamar, from Rahab to Yael, from Deborah to Abigail and then later, in the Apocrypha, Judith.

More significant is the sharing of the three narrative unities of time, place, and character. Unlike the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, and David, which extend over a lifetime, or take place in several countries, or involve a change of characters, Ruth and Esther both span less than two years, occur primarily in a single city—Bethlehem for Ruth, Shushan for Esther—and begin and end with the same characters, Naomi and Ruth for one, Mordechai and Esther for the other. Each is self-contained, not part of some grand narrative as in Genesis-Exodus and Joshua-Kings.

In addition, God plays a backseat role in both—neither speaking, nor directly addressed, nor directly intervening.^[4] Ruth attributes much to God positively (1:6, 4:13) and negatively (1:13, 21–22),^[5] but it is the coincidence of events that most points to a behind-the-scenes director. Ruth happens to glean in the field of Naomi’s kinsman Boaz (2:3); Boaz happens to visit his field while she is there (2:4); and the other potential redeemer for Naomi and Ruth happens to pass the town gate while Boaz is there (4:1).

Coincidence is also a feature throughout Esther. Mordechai happens to overhear two servants plotting against the king (2:21); and Haman happens to arrive just as Achashverosh decides to reward Mordechai (6:1). The absence of an explicit God in each story is countered by the presence of an implicit God.^[6]

Marriage and Family

Focusing on the pattern or structure of events, we find that both narratives begin with the loss of a spouse—Ruth loses her husband; Achashverosh loses his wife—which creates an expectation of a turnaround to make up for the loss. Ruth marries Boaz, who assumes the perquisites of the deceased Mahlon (4:9–10). Esther marries Achashverosh and assumes the perquisites of the banished Vashti (2:17b).^[7]

In both cases, the older relative (Naomi and Mordechai) mentors the younger relative (Ruth and Esther) by guiding the younger on turning around their situation. In both cases, the advice is accepted by the younger though adjusted by their feminine wiles to turn the tables and achieve their goal. Both Ruth (3:3) and Esther (5:1) get dressed up for the occasion. The result is that both induce their leading man (Boaz and Achashverosh) to intervene and save them and company. The dramatic tension grabs the reader’s attention awaiting the outcome of the heroine’s daring encroachment on the space of the man in control.

Mid-night

The night is the common watershed, constituting the turnaround leading to the resolution of each story. It is the setting for Ruth’s appeal for Boaz’s aid:

^{רות ג:ח} וַיְהִי בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיֶּחֱרַד הָאִישׁ וַיִּלָּפֵת וְהִנֵּה אִשָּׁה שֹׁכֶבֶת מַרְגְּלֹתָיו.

^{Ruth 3:8} At mid-night, the man gave a start and recoiled—behold a woman lying at his feet.^[8]

Is also the setting in which Achashverosh is reminded of Mordechai’s service to him:

^{אסתר ו:א} בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא נָדְדָה שְׁנַת הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר לְהָבִיא אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֹת דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים וַיִּהְיוּ נִקְרָאִים לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ.

^{Esth 6:1} That night, sleep eluded the king, and he ordered the book of records, the annals, to be brought; and it was read to the king.

The king decides to reward Mordechai, just as Achashverosh’s chief courtier, Haman, is about to ask the king to execute Mordechai (vv. 3–4).

Both resolutions involve a type of exposure, admittedly somewhat distinct, at the respective deciding point: Ruth exposes the “leg” of Boaz at his threshing floor (3:6); Esther exposes Haman’s plot to Achashverosh at her party.

Ruth’s and Esther’s Independence

How do Ruth and Esther implement their center-making roles? Both deviate from their mentors’ advice about how to intervene. Ruth subtly amends Naomi’s advice. Naomi instructs Ruth to interrupt Boaz’s sleep on the threshing floor and do what he says

^{רות ג:ד} וִיהִי בְשָׁכְבוֹ וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב שָׁם וּבָאת וְגִלִּית מַרְגְּלֹתָיו וְשָׁכָבְתִּי [וְשָׁכָבְתְּ] וְהוּא יַגִּיד לָךְ אֵת אֲשֶׁר תַּעַשִׂין.

^{Ruth 3:4} When he lies down, note the place where he lies down, and go over and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you are to do.”

Instead, Ruth turns the tables, leading Boaz to say:

^{רות ג:יא} וְעַתָּה בִּתִּי אַל תִּירְאִי כֹּל אֲשֶׁר תֹּאמְרִי אֶעֱשֶׂה לָּךְ....

^{Ruth 3:11a} And now, my young lady, have no fear, whatever you say I will do for you.

Naomi assumed that Boaz, the wealthy landowner, would call the shots; Ruth, the destitute foreigner, proves otherwise. Note also the parallel between Boaz and Achashverosh. The former says to Ruth “whatever you say I will do for you”; the latter says to Esther:

^{אסתר ט:יב} ...וּמַה שְּׁאֵלָתֵךְ וְיִנָּתֵן לָךְ וּמַה בַּקָּשָׁתֵךְ עוֹד וְתֵעָשׂ.

^{Esth 9:12b} Whatever is your wish, it shall be granted. And whatever is your request? It shall be done.

Esther, for her part, deflects Mordechai’s rash advice to barge in on the king and plead the case of her people. Instead, she sets up Haman by inviting him to a party in her private quarters with her husband, with whom she has not been for thirty days (4:11b). The impervious Haman, so full of himself (7:5b), as Achashverosh notes, falls for the trap, oblivious to the repercussions of a ménage à trois.^[9]

Removing Obstacles

In both stories, the man in control (Boaz or Achashverosh) responds favorably to the heroine’s entreaty and disposes of or circumvents a potential spoiler, Peloni almoni—Mr. So-and-So (Ruth 4:4–10) or Haman (Esth 7:10). The removal of legal obstacles smooths the way to the final resolution. For Ruth (4:4–10), a prior claim needs to be circumvented to allow Boaz to exercise his option. For Esther (8:8–11), a previous edict needs to be circumvented to allow for Jewish self-defense.

Naomi and Mordechai Take Center Stage

In the end, however, the prominence of the younger heroines, Ruth and Esther, yields to that of the older mentors, Naomi and Mordechai. Naomi, who begins as the mother of Ruth’s husband (1:2), ends up as the mother of Ruth’s child, nearly edging Ruth out (4:17). Mordechai as Esther’s uncle/cousin leads her at first (2:5),^[10] but by the end, he has edged her out, as evidenced by the closing encomium to Mordechai:

^{אסתר י:ג} כִּי מָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי מִשְׁנֶה לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ וְגָדוֹל לַיְּהוּדִים וְרָצוּי לְרֹב אֶחָיו דֹּרֵשׁ טוֹב לְעַמּוֹ וְדֹבֵר שָׁלוֹם לְכָל זַרְעוֹ.

^{Esth 10:3} For Mordecai the Jew ranked next to King Ahasuerus and was highly regarded by the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brethren; he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his kindred.

Following suit, 2 Maccabees designates Purim as “the day of Mordechai” (13:42).

Women’s Advice

Both books record two interventions of women offering advice. In Ruth, the local women first respond negatively to Naomi’s self-pitying bitterness upon her return to Judea and the irony of being called Naomi, which plays on the Hebrew for pleasantness (1:19–20). They later respond positively to the birth of Obed, her new-born, as it were, grandchild/child (4:14).^[11]

In Esther, the first intervention is positive, reflecting Haman’s spectacular rise:

^{אסתר ה:יד} וַתֹּאמֶר לוֹ זֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ וְכָל אֹהֲבָיו יַעֲשׂוּ עֵץ גָּבֹהַּ חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה וּבַבֹּקֶר אֱמֹר לַמֶּלֶךְ וְיִתְלוּ אֶת מָרְדֳּכַי עָלָיו וּבֹא עִם הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל הַמִּשְׁתֶּה שָׂמֵחַ וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר לִפְנֵי הָמָן וַיַּעַשׂ הָעֵץ.

^{Esth 5:14} Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a stake be put up fifty cubits high, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then you can go gaily with the king to the feast.” The proposal pleased Haman, and he had the stake put up.

The second is negative projecting his spectacular fall:

^{אסתר ו:יג} וַיְסַפֵּר הָמָן לְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ וּלְכָל אֹהֲבָיו אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ חֲכָמָיו וְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ אִם מִזֶּרַע הַיְּהוּדִים מָרְדֳּכַי אֲשֶׁר הַחִלּוֹתָ לִנְפֹּל לְפָנָיו לֹא תוּכַל לוֹ כִּי נָפוֹל תִּפּוֹל לְפָנָיו.

^{Esth 6:13} There Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had befallen him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish stock, you will not prevail; you will fall before him to your ruin.”^[12]

Succession

Both end in unexpected succession. Ruth ends in an unexpected genealogical succession—from Ruth and Boaz to Obed and David, Boaz’s great-grandson (4:22)—thus projecting three generations forward:

‏^{רות ד:כא} וְשַׂלְמוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת בֹּעַז וּבֹעַז הוֹלִיד אֶת עוֹבֵד. ^ד:כב וְעֹבֵד הוֹלִיד אֶת יִשָׁי וְיִשַׁי הוֹלִיד אֶת דָּוִד.

^{Ruth 4:21} Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Obed, ^4:22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

Esther ends with an unexpected political succession—the rise of Mordechai as second in command of Persia (10:3). Mordechai is introduced as great-grandson to Kish, thus retrojecting three generations backward:

^{אסתר ב:ה} אִישׁ יְהוּדִי הָיָה בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה וּשְׁמוֹ מָרְדֳּכַי בֶּן יָאִיר בֶּן שִׁמְעִי בֶּן קִישׁ אִישׁ יְמִינִי.

^{Esth 2:5} In the capital Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.

Reversals

Two tales of dizzying reversals; so different in content, yet so alike in structure. Both feature individual and collective reversals. Ruth: Individually, a Moabite childless, destitute widow becomes the Jewish spouse of a wealthy landowner and progenitress of David, the future king of Israel. Collectively, in the period of the Judges are planted the seeds of the future monarchy. Esther: Individually, an orphan Jewish girl becomes the spouse of the king of Persia. Collectively, a people threatened with extermination emerge politically dominant and religiously attractive.^[13]

In both cases, an outsider becomes an insider through a marriage that is of questionable propriety, if not once downright prohibited. Ruth, a widowed onetime non-Israelite woman, marries an Israelite landowner. Esther, an orphaned Jewish woman, marries a non-Jewish Persian king (Achashverosh).

Both highlight a reversal of religious loyalty. For Ruth, it also involves the individual switching of ethnic loyalty:

^{רות א:טז} ...עַמֵּךְ עַמִּי וֵאלֹהַיִךְ אֱלֹהָי.

^{Ruth 1:16} ...Your people are my people, and your God my God.

For Esther, it involves the mass switching to Jewishness throughout the Persian empire:

^{אסתר ח:יז} ...וְרַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים כִּי נָפַל פַּחַד הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם.

^{Esth 8:17b} Many of the native population profess to be/act like Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

Ruth, who aligns with God and people, is blessed to God by her people (2:20, 3:10). Esther, who aligns with her people (8:6), saves herself and her people (8:5).^[14]

Most dramatic are the reversals in Esther regarding Haman and Mordecai.^[15] Haman, seeking the king’s authorization to shame Mordecai by hanging him in public (5:14), is authorized by the king to honor him in public (6:11). Wishing to be exalted by the king (6:6b), Haman is debased by the king. Instead of riding on the king’s horse exultingly, he draws Mordecai on it humiliatingly (6:11). Finally, Mordecai displaces Haman as the king’s second, getting Haman’s ring (8:2) and adorned in the royal garments, לְבוּשׁ מַלְכוּת (13:15), of Haman’s aspiration (6:8). Thus, Haman instead of hanging is hanged. Mordechai instead of being hanged on raised gallows is raised to viceroy of Persia.

Esther, instead of going down with her people (7:4), becomes the savior of her people (8:5–6). As Esther assumes Vashti’s role (2:17b), so Mordechai assumes Haman’s role (8:2a). Indeed, the leitmotif וְנַהֲפוֹךְ הוּא, “reversal” (9:1, 22), epitomizes the whole book, smacking of a Divine hand. In an upside-down moral world only a reversal can set things right.

Terminology

The commonality between the two narratives is reinforced by their shared terminology, starting off with וַיְהִי בִּימֵי, “And was in the days of” (Ruth 1:1; Esth 1:1) This unique biblical opening establishes the link from the outset.^[16]

Favor

The linkage is tightened by Ruth’s and Esther’s shared use of terms for finding favor in the eyes of their patron, making them stand out from among the women courting the attention of their patron. Regarding Ruth and Boaz, it says:

^{רות ב:י} ...וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו מַדּוּעַ מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ לְהַכִּירֵנִי וְאָנֹכִי נָכְרִיָּה.

^{Ruth 2:10b} She said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes to acknowledge me, being that I am a foreigner?”

Esther repeatedly invokes the same expression to describe herself having found Achashverosh’s favor:

^{אסתר ז:ג} וַתַּעַן אֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה וַתֹּאמַר אִם מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאִם עַל הַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב תִּנָּתֶן לִי נַפְשִׁי בִּשְׁאֵלָתִי וְעַמִּי בְּבַקָּשָׁתִי.

^{Esth 7:3} Queen Esther replied: “If I have found favor in Your Majesty’s eyes, and if it pleases Your Majesty, let my life be granted me as my wish, and my people as my request (cf. 5:8, 8:5).^[17]

The חֶסֶד also appears in both books, albeit of contrasting meanings. For Esther, it is her external beauty, her grace (2:9, 17); for Ruth, it is her internal beauty, her kindness (3:10) or that of God (1:8, 2:20).

Good Mood

The drinking of Boaz and Achashverosh on the verge of making a fateful decision also appears in corresponding terms. Ruth says regarding Boaz:

^{רות ג:ז} וַיֹּאכַל בֹּעַז וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיִּיטַב לִבּוֹ....

^{Ruth 3:7} And Boaz ate and drank and got into a good mood....

Esther says regarding Achashverosh:

^{אסתר א:י} בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי כְּטוֹב לֵב הַמֶּלֶךְ בַּיָּיִן...

^{Esth 1:10a} On the seventh day, when the king got into a wine-induced good mood...

Caretaker

Two rare Hebrew usages clinch the case for verbal linkage between the narratives.^[18] The first is the term for guardian or caretaker. Naomi, upon taking care of Ruth’s child, is designated אֹמֶנֶת, a term that designates a protective woman,^[19] and usually refers to female caretakers of royalty:^[20]

^{רות ד:טז} וַתִּקַּח נָעֳמִי אֶת הַיֶּלֶד וַתְּשִׁתֵהוּ בְחֵיקָהּ וַתְּהִי לוֹ לְאֹמֶנֶת.

^{Ruth 4:16} Naomi took the child and held it to her bosom. She became his ʾomenet.

Using the same term for Mordechai (אֹמֵן) designates him, mutatis mutandis, Naomi’s double:

^{אסתר ב:ז} וַיְהִי אֹמֵן אֶת הֲדַסָּה הִיא אֶסְתֵּר בַּת דֹּדוֹ כִּי אֵין לָהּ אָב וָאֵם....

^{Esth 2:7a} He [Mordechai] was ʾomen to Hadassah—that is, Esther—his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother.

Looking Forward

The second is the rare usage of the verb שבר for “looking forward.” Elsewhere, it refers to looking forward to God’s providence or deliverance.^[21] Here alone it applies to non-Israelites in a general context. In Ruth, it is the false hope that the widowed Ruth and Orpah might marry future sons of Naomi:

^{רות א:יג} הֲלָהֵן תְּשַׂבֵּרְנָה עַד אֲשֶׁר יִגְדָּלוּ הֲלָהֵן תֵּעָגֵנָה לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת לְאִישׁ....

^{Ruth 1:13a} Should you look forward to when they grow up? Should you on their account debar yourselves from marriage?

For Esther, it is the false hope of the enemies of the Jews looking forward to dominating them:

^{אסתר ט:א} וּבִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ הוּא חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם בּוֹ אֲשֶׁר הִגִּיעַ דְּבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ וְדָתוֹ לְהֵעָשׂוֹת בַּיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר שִׂבְּרוּ אֹיְבֵי הַיְּהוּדִים לִשְׁלוֹט בָּהֶם וְנַהֲפוֹךְ הוּא אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁלְטוּ הַיְּהוּדִים הֵמָּה בְּשֹׂנְאֵיהֶם.

^{Esth 9:1} And so, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—when the king’s command and decree were to be executed, the very day on which the enemies of the Jews had looked forward to getting them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power.

Redemption

Both resonate with their own peals of redemption. For Ruth, redemption is that of Israel in its land;^[22] for Esther, redemption is that of Israel outside its land. Were it not for the restraints of historical verisimilitude, the introduction of Mordechai as a descendant of Kish, who was exiled from Jerusalem along with the Judean king (2:6), could have prompted a finale of the return of Israel to its land, similar to the end of Chronicles or the beginnings of Ezra or Nehemiah. The result is that Esther only features an interim redemption, dependent on the whim of a mercurial king.

Esther deftly molds the various plot elements and literary strategies of Ruth into its own version of redemption. As in Ruth, female intuition and initiative engineer the redemption determining the destiny of Israel. The insights and plans of the women prevail over those of the men. Whereas the men—Achashverosh, Haman, Mordechai, and Boaz—tend to misread the situation somewhat blinded by their own set of circumstances; the women—Esther, Vashti, Zeresh, Ruth and Naomi—perceptively size up the situation knowing what to do and when to do it.

Singularly engaging, Ruth and Esther are eminently readable, plot-based narratives, unlike the other three Megillot. Every scene advances the narrative. All purported incidental elements are integrated; nothing remains extraneous. Like a well-structured drama, each character, however introduced, ends up contributing to the plot at the appropriate time. The result is the two most self-contained yet reverberating literary gems of the Bible.

In the final analysis, the surface differences fail to mask the subsurface commonalities. Esther so echoes Ruth that the divergences of narrative pale before the convergences of narratology.^[23] The correlation of the roles of Naomi and Mordechai, Boaz and Achashverosh, and—above all—Ruth and Esther seal the case. It’s the latter two who render the midrashic observation regarding the Exodus applicable to both heroines of Shavuot and Purim^[24] as we look forward to the merit of righteous woman effectuating other redemptions:^[25]

^{בבלי סוטה יא:} בזכות נשים צדקניות...נגאלו ממצרים.

^{b. Sotah 11b} By virtue of the righteous women… Israel was redeemed from Egypt.^[26]