John’s Gospel’s Re-Presentation of the Four Women of the Red Line of Hope
The previous appendix discussed how John’s Gospel recasts the David Story, and strives to show motifs of Salvation for all or some of the characters therein. It also demonstrates how John’s Gospel is making a powerful commentary on the refrain of Paul, that “We are all parts of each other.” (Ephesians 4:25; Romans 12:5)
This chart shows how the four women of the Red Line of Hope’s segment from the Hebrew Scriptures—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba—are all re-presented in stunning new ways in John’s Gospel.
Mother of Jesus (Mary), John 2 Bathsheba (mother of Solomon)
| First verse of chapter highlights importance of Mary, by saying that she is at the wedding, before the text even says that Jesus is there (John 2:1) | Bathsheba’s importance is highlighted by Solomon setting out a throne for her. The women of the RLH paved the way before Solomon arrived. |
| Jesus and his disciples invited to the wedding celebration (John 2:2) | Adonijah holds a feast to celebrate his appointing himself as king (1 Kings 1) |
| Wine runs out | David kills Uriah, destroys marriage of Uriah and Bathsheba |
| Woman, what to you and to me? | David’s refrain to the three sons of Zeruiah, discussed above. |
| Do whatever he tells you | Solomon basically says to Bathsheba: I will do what you tell me to do…. (1 Kings 2:20) |
| Jesus’ response, has, to this point, rejected Mary’s implied request. Then he does what she has asked him to do. | Adonijah wrongly assumes that Solomon will do whatever his mother tells him to do. So he tries to get Bathsheba to get Solomon to give him Abishag, David’s last mistress.
Bathsheba tells Solomon that she has a request for Solomon the king. Solomon says that he will do whatever his mother asks him. She presents Adonijah’s request. Solomon, instead, executes Adonijah. |
| The master of the feast (a Wisdom figure) compliments the groom’s plans for the feast | The Queen of Sheba (a Wisdom figure) compliments Solomon on his table, court, and more. |
| “The good wine.” Jesus is a far better development for humanity than Solomon. | Solomon was extraordinary for his time. |
Samaritan Woman at Well, John 4 Rahab, Book of Joshua
| Initial discussion of Baptisms, around the Jordan River, by Jesus and/or his disciples, in John 4:1 | In the beginning of the Book of Joshua, the Israelites crossed the Jordan, and the spies met Rahab at Jericho, near the Jordan. |
| Jesus comes to Samaritan city of Sychar, and meets the woman at the well | 2 spies come to Jericho and meet Rahab |
| The main body of the party, the disciples, is missing and arrives later | The main body, the Israelites, is missing and arrives later |
| The land that Jacob gave to Joseph his son…. (John 4:5) | The patriarchs settled in the land of Canaan. Then, Joseph went down into Egypt, and his father Jacob followed him. More than 400 years later, Joshua will recommence the Israelite occupancy of Canaan, picking up where the story left off at the end of Genesis. |
| Woman at well is an outcast in her society;
After meeting Jesus, she will become an apostle to her people |
Rahab is an outcast in her society;
Rahab remains on the outside also of Israelite society, all the way up to the Samaritan woman’s time…. |
| Jesus was tired from the journey
(John 4:6) |
When the two spies arrive at Rahab’s house after their journey, “they lay down there.”
(Joshua 2:1) |
| Woman speaks to the people after encounter; she becomes an evangelist of the Logos, the Word, Jesus | Rahab speaks to the men of the city; lies to save the spies, ensuring the destruction of Jericho |
| Jesus stays there for two days…. | The two spies stay there, and then sneak away |
| Jesus is alone; he has sent the Apostles ahead to get food for the journey. | The two spies are alone; they have been sent ahead by the journeying Israelites to scout the land and prepare to destroy Jericho. |
| Jesus converts the city of Sychar. | The Israelites destroy Jericho. |
| Woman has a bucket and a rope to draw water | Rahab lets spies down the rope, then puts another cord, the shani (literal “Red Line” in the Red Line of Hope), and saves their lives. |
| She feels tension with Jesus because he’s a Jew; then she becomes a believer and an apostle, leading her people (John 4:9ff) | Rahab knows about YHWH; but the people of Jericho are annihilated by the Israelites |
| She does not have a husband now | At the time, Joshua did not have a wife; Matthew says he married Rahab, see above |
| “I know that Messiah is coming (the one called Christ); when he comes, he’ll announce all things to us.” | “I know that YHWH has given you the land….” (see Joshua 2:9-13) |
| Enter into labor of others | Evidently, God promises Israelites that they will despoil the labor of others |
Mary, sister of Lazarus, John 11 & 12 Ruth, Book of Ruth
| 11:2 Using dramatic foreshadowing, John tells us that this is the same Mary of Bethany who will anoint Jesus in the following chapter. Acts and discussion of anointing/washing will happen in Chapters 11, 12, and 13, when Jesus imitates Mary in washing the disciples’ feet.
This episode will end with a sweet odor filling the house. |
Using dramatic foreshadowing, the inspired author of the Book of Ruth, in the book’s final verses, points forward in time to the birth of David.
The tragic initial chapter of Ruth will lead to a glorious development in the house of Perez, foreshadowing David. |
| Mary’s brother Lazarus died, but Jesus raised him to life.
This will lead to Jesus’ death, followed by Jesus’ Resurrection. |
Ruth’s husband died; she finds a new husband, Boaz, and they are important to Salvation History |
| He stayed/abode in the place he was for two days (John 11:6) | Elimelech and his family “stayed” (Ruth 1:2) in Moab; additionally, in Chapter 1 of Ruth, forms of the word “two” appear nine times. -Naomi departed from the “place” where she had been. |
| Let us go to Judea (11:7) | Naomi tries to dissuade her two daughters-in-law from going with her to Judea. Ruth goes with her nonetheless. |
| The disciples warn him about returning to Judea, because the Jews are seeking to stone him. (11:8) | Naomi hears that the drought in Judea is over, and so decides to return to Beth Lehem (house of bread) because God had given lehem (bread) to his people. (1:7) |
| If anyone walks in the day he does not stumble because he has the light of the day.
(11:9) |
Ruth leaves the threshing floor of Boaz just when the early light is appearing, but before people could be recognized in the light. (3:14) |
| Lazarus’ “sleep” is interrupted, and Jesus is going to “wake him.” (11:11) | Boaz’ sleep is interrupted by Ruth (3:8) |
| “Then Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘let us go, even us, that we may die with him’.” (11:16) The name “Thomas” is from the Hebrew word “ta’am,” meaning twin; his Greek nickname Didymus also means “twin.” | At the end of the Book of Ruth, the twin Perez is oddly highlighted, twice, as the beginning of a new lineage. |
| The people console Mary and Martha (11:19) | Her two daughters-in-law console Naomi |
| “Therefore Martha, when she heard that Jesus is coming, met him; But Mary was sitting in the house.” (11:20) | After the night with Ruth, Boaz goes to the gateway of the city to meet the other potential legal ‘redeemer’, and has him “sit down here.” (4:1) |
| A bit later, Martha “called her sister Mary secretly, saying….” (11:28)
The Gospels, Acts, and the Letters of the New Testament are full of hints and hidden lessons of many new modes of communication with the Holy Spirit. |
“And she (Naomi) saw that she (Ruth) had strengthened herself to go with her, and she ceased to speak to her.” (1:18) There may have been a deeper level of communication developing between the two women here. Naomi may have been teaching her new spiritual modes of communication. |
| Jesus “…troubled himself. And he said, ‘Where have you put him?’” (11:33-34) | Boaz “trembled…. And he said, ‘Who are you?’” (3:8-9) |
| Lazarus is raised from the tomb in one of the most shocking and open miracles of the New Testament. Jesus has explicitly prayed to God before the miracle, asking God to do this. | God stays entirely silent during the Book of Ruth, except for the slightest spiritual hints. And God blesses everyone. Everyone in this story becomes happy. Later, the New Testament is a handbook for learning the new, quiet, very powerful communication of the Holy Spirit. |
| Lazarus emerges, “his feet and hands having been bound with sheets, his face being bound with a cloth.” (11:44)
Jesus then orders him to be untied, freed. |
Ruth uncovers Boaz’ feet. (3:7) |
| Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had died, whom he had raised from the dead. (12:1)
As Bruno Barnhart shows in The Good Wine, Jesus is recreating the Creation in six new days. Parallel to Genesis 1, woman and man are being recreated on the Sixth Day of the New Creation. Specifically, Jesus’ four encounters with women in John 2, 4, 12, and 20 together comprise the Sixth Day. |
Boaz pours six measures of barley seed into her garment. (3:15, 17)
When Boaz awakes from his sleep (like Adam), it is as if a new Creation is happening, and he asks the woman the beautiful and mysterious question, “Who are you?” The Book of Ruth may have been written much later than the books that surround it in the Hebrew Scriptures. It points forward to the radical surges of compassion that Jesus and the New Testament will bring to humanity. |
| Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with oil | Ruth uncovers Boaz’ feet. (3:7) |
| Mary pours the oil | Boaz pours the seed into Ruth’s garment |
| Lazarus has new life | Ruth has a new husband, resulting in new life, the birth of Obed, who leads to David and Solomon |
| God gives new life to Lazarus | God kills Onan for spilling his seed (or for treating Tamar badly). (Genesis 38)
God rewards Boaz for his kindness to Ruth and Naomi. Boaz marries Ruth, and becomes an important part of the lineage of Judah, leading to Jesus. Boaz has an important place in Salvation History because of his kindness. |
| Sweet odor in the house (12:3) | Blessing of house of Boaz (and Naomi, and Ruth) |
Near the end of the Book of Ruth, when the elders and people gathered at the gate witness Boaz when he says that he will redeem Naomi and marry Ruth, they say, “May YHWH grant the woman who is coming into your house (be) as Rachel and Leah, of whom both built the house of Israel.” These sisters, Rachel and Leah, are like Martha and Mary, friends of Jesus who help build the early Church. A bit later the people say, “And let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” We see here a moving, a progression, a focusing, from the entire people of Israel to the tribe of Judah. This will lead to the Christ Event, to Jesus. We also see the author of the Book of Ruth make a knowing nod to the Red Line of Hope, and the growing development of the Feminine in humanity and in society that will also lead to the Christ Event.
Mary Magdalene, John 20 Tamar, Genesis 38
| Mary Magdalene goes to tomb, later searches for Jesus’ body (20:1; 11-18) | Tamar goes to see age of Judah’s son Shelah (Genesis 38:14) |
| Mary Magdalene is like a widow searching for her lost husband. | Tamar is a widow, searching for her promised husband, Shelah. Later, Judah will send someone to search for his signet ring, bracelet, and staff. |
| Mary did not recognize Jesus (20:14) | Judah did not recognize Tamar (38:15) |
| Mary mistakenly, though innocently, thinks that Jesus is the gardener of the garden. | Judah mistakenly thinks that Tamar is a whore (zonah), and is later wrongly told that Tamar has played the whore. |
| 2 angels are seated, wearing white garments | Tamar had been wearing mourning clothes for a long time (black clothes) and puts on other clothing to view Shelah. |
| There are two angels in the tomb.
|
Tamar’s first two husbands, Er and Onan, had died. |
| Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? | “Let her be burned.” Judah’s response upon hearing of Tamar’s pregnancy. |
| From whom he cast out 7 demons
(Luke 8:2)
Jesus tells Mary not to hold him physically yet. Jesus mentions a time very soon when he will ascend to his Father in heaven.
Jesus tells Mary not to hold him yet. |
Demon Asmodeus killed 1st 7 husbands of Sarah.
Then Archangel Michael and Tobias cast Asmodeus out, and the marriage is consummated. Archangel Michael returns to heaven.
Judah is not intimate again with Tamar, upon realizing that she has borne him sons through which his lineage shall grow, all the way to Jesus. |
| Jesus gives Mary a message for his brothers (20:17) | Er, Onan, and Shelah were brothers, all sons of Judah |
| 6 days of Creation; 6th day | Creation, fall, recreation |
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