Graybill & Guillaume/Ruth, 13. Is Ruth a Rapist? The Sexual Victimization of Boaz

The threat of sexual violence looms over the book of Ruth, for Ruth herself, but also for Boaz whose consent over whatever happened on the threshing floor is conspicuously missing from the conversation. This chapter fills this lacuna by examining the sexual ambiguities and the possibility of Boaz’s consent in the narration of the scene on the threshing floor in Ruth 3. Coupled with Ruth and Naomi’s deliberate subterfuge, this shows Boaz to be a victim of sexual violence, and Ruth his assailant.