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In the book of Ruth, seed images help shape Naomi's reversal from emptiness to fullness. In ch. 1, Naomi has no hope of having another son, yet in ch. 4, she receives Ruth's son. In ch. 2 food is used to indicate Boaz's acceptance of and generosity towards Ruth beyond all expectations by consciously shaping his actions in a direct reversal of Deuteronomy's ban on Moabites. In ch. 3, Boaz tells Ruth to hold out her garment and then places six measures of barley on her—an unrealistically heavy amount—which makes her appear pregnant. Ruth tells Naomi that Boaz did not want her to return to her mother-in-law ‘empty’. This use of ‘empty’ plays off of the other occurrence in ch. 1, implying that Obed's birth fills Naomi's emptiness. Attention to the symbolic relationship between food and fertility gives greater shape to the interactions between Ruth, Boaz and Naomi and moves the story towards fullness in ch. 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commentators on Ruth 3.3-4 often pause to note the kethib-qere found in these verses, explaining the unusual form of the kethibs יהרריו and יהבבשו as archaic second feminine singular perfects. This article suggests that the kethib forms found in Ruth 3.3-4 are not archaic, but are the result of an intentional emendation of the text by a scribe intent on reconciling the passage with the teaching of the Torah. The effect of this change is to remove Ruth from any possible intimate encounter with Boaz and replace her with Naomi. Thus, these two readings should be considered as an unrecognized occurrence of tiqqune sopherim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]