process that led to marriage. In a speech similar to Judah’s, Boaz acknowledged that “all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11). In linking the marriage of Ruth and Boaz with “Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah,” the people expressed the wish that the line that began with Tamar and Judah would continue through this family. As the genealogy and the end of the story indicate, this wish was fulfilled in the birth of David. The Narrator uses five brief