006_kim_589-601 19/02/15 10:34 Pagina 598 598 YOO-KI KIM to G.R. Clark, the expression “ḥesed for the dead” might refer to YHWH’s acts through Ruth toward the dead men while they were alive 40. However, since Naomi’s saying is embedded in the context of her expectation of future development, “ḥesed for the dead” can better be associated with the anticipated actions of Boaz in his role as a redeemer. The above analysis supports the possibility that Boaz is the agent of ḥesed. Boaz’s redeeming actions are regarded as ḥesed to the dead in that they perpetuate their name. In some respects, Naomi’s blessing may be seen as a hasty and premature utterance based on her inkling of how Boaz would act for her family. In other respects, it reveals Naomi’s joy, hope- fulness, and confidence. IV. The Book of Ruth and Naomi’s blessing The dialogue between Ruth and Naomi (2,19-22) occurs in the episode located between those in which Boaz plays prominent roles. In the preceding episode, Boaz appears as a benevolent landowner who pro- tects and cares for the alien widowed woman. In the following episodes, as a responsible redeemer he accepts her request and marries her after taking appropriate legal measures. The dialogue, placed at the juncture of these episodes, also centers around Boaz. He is the beneficiary of Naomi’s second blessing in Ru 2,20, and thus its object 41. In the blessing, the relative clause elucidates the reason she blesses the beneficiary. In other places of the Hebrew Bible, a blessing is often followed by the grounds for which it is pronounced. In Ru 4,14 the women bless YHWH for not withholding a redeemer for Naomi. In Gen 24,27 Abraham’s ser- vant blesses YHWH for not abandoning his faithfulness and truth from his master. In 2 Sam 2,5 David blesses the men of Jabesh-gilead for showing their faithfulness to Saul by burying him. In 1 Sam 23,21 Saul blesses the Ziphites for having “compassion” toward him by supplying information regarding David’s whereabouts 42. Moreover, Naomi’s blessing of Boaz is followed by her informatory statement about Boaz, not YHWH: “the man is one of our redeemers” (2,20). 40 CLARK, The Word Ḥesed, 200-201. 41 Holmstedt further notes that “Boaz is the topic of the blessing and there is no explicit switch of Topic”. See HOLMSTEDT, Ruth, 141. 42 Unlike Gen 24,27, Ru 4,14, and 2 Sam 2,5, where rva clauses provide the reason for the blessing that precedes, in 1 Sam 23,21 the conjunction yk introduces the reason-clause. Furthermore, in Ru 3,10 the reason-clause fol- lows the blessing asyndetically, that is, without a relative pronoun or a con- junction.