006_kim_589-601 13/02/15 12:50 Pagina 597 THE AGENT OF ḤESED IN NAOMI’S BLESSING (RUTH 2,20) 597 falls short of the concept of ḥesed. Allowing Ruth to glean among the sheaves, leaving extra for her, inviting her to share his meal, and instruc- tions to his servants in her favor go beyond what the law requires of him. Even Campbell, who is on the side of “YHWH”, views Boaz’s earlier deeds as acts of ḥesed 33. What the expression “ḥesed for the dead” refers to cannot be deter- mined on the basis of the present form of the story. In the preceding episodes, neither Boaz nor YHWH are reported to have done anything to the dead during their lifetime or after their death. Morris explains this by resorting to the concept of “a strong sense of family” 34. That is, Boaz’s actions performed in favor of Ruth and Naomi can also be interpreted as ḥesed for the dead members of the family. According to Glueck, Naomi’s blessing has been triggered by Boaz’s honoring his deceased kinsmen and fulfilling his obligations by his special kindness to Ruth 35. However, ḥesed for Ruth and Naomi in itself can hardly be identified with ḥesed for the dead. Rather, by mentioning “the dead”, Naomi anticipates the future de- velopment of the narrative. The term ḥesed looks forward to the events that will lead to the marriage of Ruth and Boaz 36. Joüon expresses Naomi’s anticipation when he writes, “Il s’agit donc de Jéhovah qui, par Booz il est vrai, montre sa bonté envers Noémi et Ruth en subvenant à leurs besoins; sa bonté envers les morts, car Booz étant un goël, Noémi espère et prévoit qu’il épousera Ruth et suscitera ainsi une postérité à son mari défunt” 37. It is also to be noted that there is no other place in the Hebrew Bible where “the ḥesed of God is mentioned in reference to the dead” 38. YHWH exercising (or abandoning) his ḥesed for the dead is a concept alien to the ancient Israelite religion, according to which the realm of death was the level of the world “from which YHWH was absent and from where he could usually not be addressed” 39. Since YHWH ruled only the realm of the living, the dead could not have any relationship with YHWH. According 33 CAMPBELL, Ruth, 106. 34 L. MORRIS, Ruth. An Introduction and Commentary (TOTC; Leicester – Downers Grove, IL 1968) 280. 35 GLUECK, Ḥesed, 42. 36 HUBBARD, Ruth, 187. 37 JOÜON, Ruth, 63-64. 38 GLUECK, Ḥesed, 41. 39 Z. ZEVIT, The Religion of Ancient Israel. A Synthesis of Parallactic Ap- proaches (London – New York 2001) 664. On the contrary, Cohen suggests that Ruth 2,20 could function as the sole evidence for such a concept, adduc- ing the rabbinic tradition according to which “God buried the dead” (b. Sotah 14a). See COHEN, “Ḥesed”, 20, 29. However, such an interpretation goes far beyond what the text means.