Naomi’s Reality: 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. Jewish tradition is full of fables about Boaz. The Talmud identifies him as the minor judge Ibzan (Judg. 12:8) and reveres him as a patriarchal figure on the level of a Kirta or a Danil in Canaanite myth (b. B. Bat. 91a). According to the Talmud, he becomes a widower on the very day Ruth arrives in Israel and is rich enough to throw lavish wedding parties for every one of his sixty children (b. B. Bat. 91a). Christian tradition similarly conventionalizes him. Spurgeon sees him as a type of Christ, often referring to Jesus as “our glorious Boaz” or “our bounteous Boaz” (Morning by Morning, March 19 p.m.; Till He Come: Communion Meditations and Addresses [L…