MovieChat Forums > The Story of Ruth (1960) Discussion > Did anybody else think Tob got a raw dea...

Did anybody else think Tob got a raw deal?


I kind of felt sorry for Tob. He gives Ruth and Naomi the most stuff. He also believes in Ruth the most without any doubt. He pretty much turned the Judges around from stoning Ruth while Boaz was having his doubts. He seemed to be a lot more fun than the dour Boaz. Ruth repays him by lieing to him in front of all his friends that she slept with Boaz. She does this on their wedding day no less. To add insult to injury she marries Boaz wearing the dress he paid for. I don't know if the Bible ever mentions what later on happened to Tob, but I bet he stayed drunk for a month.

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Well, according to your description of the scenario, it certainly seems as if Tob deserves a great deal of pity. However, you neglected to mention that in the movie Tob is portrayed as a rich snob who must possess whatever he wants -such as Ruth, and only because he considers her a prize due to her beauty. All that he does, including sending her food, acting courteous, and speaking up for her at her trial, are done with the sole intent of trying to win her over. In the end, when he finds that none of his ways have worked, he attempts to wed her against her will. Thank god for Boaz!

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I felt sorry for Tob at the end, too. They embarrass him in front of the whole town. He's willing, when Ruth announces in front of *everybody* that she doesn't love him, to accept it and hope that she'll learn to love him, as he's a patient man. He even graciously tries to make it look like she's doing him a favor by being honest. When that doesn't dissuade him, Ruth implies that she's actually slept with Boaz. As soon as Tob says basically okay, hey, THAT I can't overlook, and "gives" her to Boaz, the two of them trot right over to the Elder and they both swear that nothing happened -- again, in front of *everybody.* Trickery!

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[deleted]

I know that nothing happened, but I do think that Ruth was implying something actually had, something shameful enough to cause Tob to immediately stop considering her a pre-wife and start calling her "woman of Moab" and "wanton". Otherwise, what is Boaz implying DIDN'T happen when he takes her over to the elder and says, "Ruth of Moab, widow of Mahlon, swear with me that nothing passed between us on that night, or any other time, except spoken vows of love."? He's not denying that the two of them were alone together.

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In no way does Ruth try to "seduce" Boaz. According to the customs of that day, when a woman did what Ruth did, it was a form of marriage proposal. She is asking Boaz to fulfill his option under the Levirate law, and marry her, as the widow of a dead kinsman. Laying down near to him, and all that (read the text) was one of the few ways a woman of those days had of proposing marriage. Tob just can't deal with it, because his ego and need to possess won't let him NOT be suspicious.

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The Bible doesn't mention the Tob character at all - it was dreamed up by the writers of this movie, as was much of the rest of the movie.

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It is true the scriptwriters took some creative license. But there is a character like Tob. He is not named but there was another man who had the opportunity to marry Ruth.

In chapter 3, verse 12 Boaz says "Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I."
In chapter 4, Boaz approaches the other relative and points out that he has first claim to buy the land belonging to Naomi's family and to marry Ruth. The other man relinquishes his claim and Boaz announces his intention to marry Ruth.

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The writers had to give "the other man" a name. Tob was as good a name as any. Poor Jeff Morrow was just recovering from playing the lead in the movie "The Giant Claw". He didn't need anymore indignities.

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Several other threads mentioned that some of this movie's story was changed from what is written in the Biblical story of Ruth. I don't have a problem with giving a name to the man only identified as the "guardian-redeemer" (NIV Bible) or "kinsman" (King James version). But the way I read the story Boaz offered this man the first right of refusal to buy some property from Naomi, but in acquiring it the kinsman had to take Ruth as his wife. He declined as it had something to do with endangering his own estate (NIV), inheritance (KJV). So the right to acquire the property and marry Ruth passed to Boaz. And the rest, as they say, is history.

BTW, another poster in this thread referred to Ruth as the grandmother of King David. She was actually the great-grandmother. Ruth + Boaz > Obed > Jesse > Eliab and his seven brothers, the youngest being David,

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