ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 SIULAI 7, 2023

נכר Noticing the Unnoticed

FAKATOKANGA’I ‘A E TA’E’ILOA

RUTH 2:8, 10

THEN BOAZ SAID TO RUTH, "NOW, LISTEN, MY DAUGHTER. DO NOT GO TO GLEAN IN ANOTHER FIELD OR LEAVE THIS ONE, BUT KEEP CLOSE TO MY YOUNG WOMEN. . . ." THEN SHE FELL ON HER FACE, BOWING TO THE GROUND, AND SAID TO HIM, "WHY HAVE I FOUND FAVOR IN YOUR EYES, THAT YOU SHOULD TAKE NOTICE OF ME, SINCE I AM A FOREIGNER?"

LUTE 2:8, 10

8 Pea lea ‘a Poasi kia Lute, ‘Ikai ‘oku ke ongo‘i, nga‘ata? ‘Oua te ke ‘alu ki ha ‘api kehe, pea ‘oua foki ‘e hiki mei heni, ka ke nofo ai pē mo ‘eku tu‘unga fafine ni. 10 Pea fakafo‘ohifo ‘e he fefine, ‘o punou ki he kelekele, ‘o ne pehē kiate ia, Ko e hā kuo u ta‘imālie pehē ai ho‘o ‘ofa, ‘o ke tokanga‘i au; ‘osi, ko e kehe au?

As both a widow and a foreigner, Ruth was dangerously vulnerable. She could be mistreated or maligned. Or she could be ignored as worthless, a persona non grata. Mercy was the last thing she expected to receive. So when she "found favor" in the eyes of Boaz, she was shocked that he should take notice of her, a foreigner. Ruth used a lovely rhetorical expression. 

"Take notice" is a form of the verb nakar, and a female "foreigner" is a nokriya. To capture the pun, we might say Ruth is asking Boaz, her redeemer and future husband, "Why have you noticed the unnoticed?" Our lives often feel meaningless and worthless. Do we even matter? Does anyone truly see us? Our Redeemer, the Bridegroom of the church, certainly does. He nakars the nokriya. He notices the unnoticed. "Even the hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matt. 10:30). He counts your teardrops (Ps. 56:8). In his eyes, we have all found abundant favor.

O Lord, whose eyes are toward the righteous and whose ears toward their cry, see and hear us, your children (Ps. 34:15).