OH, GROW UP! :
The female priest was newly-minted. We were studying The Book of Ruth. Naomi tells Ruth to go to the threshing floor and sleep at Boaz's feet.For you see, they were already prudes.
This is where the priestess popped out with:
"In seminary, I learned that when feet is mentioned in the Bible it means genitalia."
I was stunned.
I asked if she was serious.
She said, "Yes."
I said, "So you are telling me that Naomi instructed Ruth to go and lay at the genitalia of Boaz?"
She said, "Yes."
I recall saying something along the lines of "You mean God wants women to use sex to get what we need?"
She said, "Well, this falls under the category of doing what you need to."
Again, more astonishment on my part. I thought this such a violation. I asked her what St. Paul meant when he said in the New Testament, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News."
She ended class.
We became Catholics.
Cf. NAB Ruth 3:4, note 1: "Confident of the virtue of Ruth and Boaz, Naomi advises this unusual expedient to her daughter-in-law for the purpose of introducing her claim."
2 comments:
I would submit that in the bit of sentence that you omitted (without ellipses to note that editing had been done) ... "Now, being a woman there were tears welling up in my eyes by this point, as I thought this such an violation." ... one can see that it is not mere prudery causing this reaction. Her reaction is to the idea that this leads to using sex to get what one wants.
Which I would think that anyone would not think is a good way to interpret God's instructions, especially as she phrased the question to the instructor.
I removed that bit about her crying because it made her look like a baby on top of being a prude.
I'm suggesting that she (and probably her teacher) were woefully ignorant of Jewish customs in the time of the Judges and that she's projected 20th century, Western mores upon the biblical text and drew inappropriate conclusions on how this passage ought to influence her conduct.
Someone with a greater appreciation of Ancient Near-Eastern marriage proposals and rites would possibly find Ruth 3:4 breathtakingly beautiful with an exciting bit of risk. Just because these stories are true doesn't mean that they are devoid of good story-telling devices: intrigue, suspense, thrill and mystery. Did she consider for a minute that her knee-jerk reaction was off-base? A little humility goes a long way in personal Bible study ...
In short, she can't be much familiar with the sacred text if she was so easily scandalized.
I'm not defending the teacher. She willfully shook-up her student and did nothing to repair the damage. In her case, a little learning was a dangerous thing.
I did a lot of paring and spell-checking to make her text readable and more direct. I suspect that in a past life, I was an editor.
Do you know this woman personally? Would an apology be in order? I saw versions of this post on so many blogs that I took it a "Web lore" and, therefore, public domain.
I appreciate your comment and enjoy your "Well Said" posts greatly. I wish I knew how you get those Onion horoscopes! Charis.
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