Ruth 4

3 1 AND Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, 2 that it may be well with thee? And now is there not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens 3 thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself there- fore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing- floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drink- 4 ing. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou 5, 6 shalt do. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest I will do. And she went down unto 7 the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of 8 corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his 9 feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread 10 therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at 11 the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest: for all the city of my people 12 doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am a near kinsman: 13 howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to 14 thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morn- ing: and she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, Let it not be known that 15 the woman came to the threshing-floor. And he said, Bring the mantle that is upon thee, and hold it; and she held it: and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and he 16 went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my 17 daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six 18 measures of barley gave he me; for he said, Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

4 1 Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kins- man of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down 2 here. And he turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, 3 and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. And he said unto the near kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth the parcel of land, which was our 4 brother Elimelech’s: and I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying, Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and 5 I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, 6 to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on 7 thee; for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, for to confirm all things; a man drew off his shoe, and 8 gave it to his neighbor: and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. So the near kins- 9 man said unto Boaz, Buy it for thyself. And he drew off his shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was 10 Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his 11 brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and 12 do thou worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Beth-lehem: and let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of 13 this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, 14 and the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman, and let his 15 name be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of life, and a nourisher of thin old age: for thy daughter-in-law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven 16 sons, hath borne him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became 17 nurse unto it. And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18, 19 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron; and Hezron begat Ram, 20 and Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon; 21, 22 and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed; and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

The Book of Ruth gives us a glimpse of every- day life in Bethlehem; in home and in harvest- field, in its general gossip and its law-suits, more than three thousand years ago. Glancing over the lines of this sweet and pure pastoral idyl, we feel that rarely did human story more impressively demonstrate the fine and favorable issues of seemingly suppressed lives, the hidden wealth of true and unobtrusive souls, for na- tions and for the race. Clifford.—We have a picture, which evermore lives in the hearts of men, of the true heroism of a gentle woman, a witness of the purity and blessedness of the domestic life in many an unknown home in Israel, an early gathered sheaf and first-fruits, reaped at “the beginning of barley harvest,” and prophesying of the gathering in of the Gentiles, a lesson to Israel of its calling among the na- tions, and a rebuke of exclusiveness and hatred. Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson might seem to teach that Israel was set to be God’s sword, Naomi and Ruth teach the better lesson that it was appointed to be God’s torch, raying out the light of his name into the darkness. A. M.— If, as regards its contents the Book of Ruth stands on the threshold of the history of David, as regards its spirit it stands, like the Psalms, at the threshold of the Gospel. Not merely on account of the genealogy of Christ, which leads up to David and Boaz, but on account of the spirit which the teaching of David breathes, do we love to remember that Israel’s great king sprang from the union of Boaz and Ruth, which is symbolical of that between Israel and the Gen- tile world. Cassel.

3:1. My daughter, shall I not seek out for thee a rest? The expression rest, or resting-place, when used in such circumstances as environed Ruth, would be at once understood. It was a home to which Naomi pointed, a home for her daughter’s heart. In such a home, if warm and pure, there would be repose for the affections. Morison.

2. There is an immense amount of Naomi in the book. She is so largely in it that the book might with propriety be called the “Book of Naomi.” As a kinsman, the law of the Hebrews opened a direct way for Boaz to enter into mar- riage with Ruth, and the plan of Naomi was to set the law at work. Gregg.

The tale which follows needs no apology, for it is quite pure to those who are pure. It may read strangely, but let us remember that it be- longs to a social state and an order of manners as different as possible from ours. Naomi sug- gested nothing that would shock the moral ideas of the time, while she placed a just confidence in the religious integrity of Boaz and the virtuous simplicity of Ruth. D. F.—All the actors in what was to follow were prepared to take their parts. The manner in which it was brought about must not be judged by our western notions, although we are prepared to defend its purity and delicacy in every particular. Nor could Naomi have well done otherwise than counsel as she did. For the law which fixed on the next-of-kin the duty of redeeming a piece of land (Lev. 25 : 25), did not connect with it the obligation of marrying the childless widow of the owner, which (strictly speaking) only devolved upon a brother-in-law (De. 25 : 5) ; although such seems to have been the law of custom in Bethlehem, and as we believe, in strict accordance with the spirit and object if not with the letter of the Divine commandment. Thus Naomi had no legal claim upon Boaz. Lastly, in accordance with the law, it was not Naomi but Ruth who must lay claim to such marriage (De. 25 : 7, 8). A. E.

7. We needed no guard around our tent. The owners of the crops came every night and slept upon their threshing-floors to guard them, and this we had found to be universal in all the region of Gaza. We were in the midst of scenes precisely like those of the Book of Ruth, when Boaz winnowed barley in his threshing-floor, and laid himself down at night to guard the heap of corn. Robinson.

Natives of the East care little for sleeping accommodations, but rest where weariness overcomes them, lying on the ground. They are, however, careful to cover their feet, and to do this have a sheet of cloth that they tuck under the feet, and drawing it up over the body suffer it to cover the face and head. Neither men nor women alter their dress at night, and the laboring class, or travellers in a serai, where there are men, women, and children, rest together, the men with their feet covered, and the women wrapped in their veils or sarees. Postans.

9. Boaz put his own hand to the work of winnowing barley, and having supped with a cheerful heart, fell into a sound sleep at the end of the heap of corn in the threshing-floor. Then at his feet Ruth lay down in silence. It was the form of claiming the kinsman’s protection. D. F.—She reminded him that she had the claim of a childless widow on the next of kin. What might have seemed at variance with a customary standard of self reverence was transformed by that claim, by the sanction which the law gave to it, into the truest modesty. E. H. P.

10. Her employment of the word “kinsman,”

man," or goël, was evidence to Boaz that she was thinking of the respect which she owed to her husband’s memory. Her concern in discharging that duty struck the heart of Boaz ; and all the more as, in his opinion, she might easily have found open doors, had she wished for them, in quarters where there was no connection of kinship with her deceased husband. “She did not go after any young man, whether poor or rich.” She preferred, above all such, her first husband’s elderly “kinsman.” Morison.

11-15. In reply to his inquiry, the few words she speaks—exquisitely beautiful in their womanly and Scriptural simplicity—explain her conduct and her motive. Two things here require to be kept in mind : Boaz himself sees nothing strange or unbecoming in what Ruth has done ; on the contrary, he praises her conduct as surpassing all her previous claims to his respect. Again, the language of Boaz implies that Ruth, although daring what she had felt to be right, had done it with the fear which, in the circumstances, womanly modesty would prompt. We almost seem to hear the low whispered tones, and the tremor of her voice, as we catch the gentle, encouraging words of Boaz’s reply : “My daughter,” and as he stills the throbbing of her heart with his kindly-spoken, fatherly : “Fear not !” No thought but of purity and goodness, and of Israel’s law intruded on the midnight converse of those who were honored to become the ancestors of our Lord. And now he, on his part, has explained to Ruth, how there is yet a nearer kinsman, whose claims must first be set aside, if the law is to be strictly observed. And, assuredly, if observance of the law of redemption, with all that it implied in Israel, had not been the chief actuating motive of Boaz and Ruth, there would have been no need first to refer the matter to the nearer kinsman, since there could be no possible hindrance to the union of those whose hearts evidently belonged to each other. A. E.

18. Naomi assured her that Boaz, having undertaken this matter, would approve himself a faithful, careful friend ; He will not be at rest, till he have finished the matter. Naomi believes Ruth has won his heart, and therefore he will not be easy till he knows whether she be his or no. This she gives as a reason why Ruth should sit still and not perplex herself about it, that Boaz had undertaken it, and he would be sure to manage it well. H.

4 : 1-10. The story turns on what is known as the Levirate law, the obligation laid upon the brother of one who died married but childless, to take the widow of the deceased and to raise up seed unto his brother. Failing a brother, the duty passed on to the next of kin. It might involve a burdensome addition to the kinsman’s household. It might bring, as a compensation, the right of purchasing, or, in the technical language of the Law, “redeeming,” the inheritance which the widow might otherwise be compelled to sell for what she could get to a stranger. From the Hebrew verb which expressed the latter act, the kinsman so acting was called the goel, or “redeemer,” and the term came by a natural association to be used for the kinsman upon whom the duty and the right devolved. E. H. P.

It is an old-world picture that is drawn in the narrative, unveiling to view the grave, solemn manners of primitive but well-mannered times. The city had but one gate, through which, therefore, every one must needs pass. It would hence become the principal place of concourse for the townsfolk. It was the place of primitive marketing and bartering. It was the place of primitive judicature. Boaz was careful to be early in the morning at this gateway, and immediately on arrival he took steps to secure a judicial settlement, if needed, and, at all events, a complete attestation of the facts of any nuptial arrangement that might be made. He invites certain venerated fathers to be seated on the stone benches at the base of the city wall, as he had an affair to transact which he wished them by their presence to attest. Boaz opens his case with his kinsman. It was this:—Naomi, recently returned from the land of Moab in reduced circumstances had resolved to sell the property which had belonged to her deceased husband. Now was the opportunity of the nearest kinsman. In virtue of being the nearest, he was entitled to the first offer of the property. “Buy it, therefore,” said Boaz, “before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt act the part of the nearest kinsman (as thou art entitled to do), then act it, and buy the property.” The kinsman seemed glad that he should have such an opportunity of adding to his patrimonial estate, and accordingly, in presence of the elders and other inhabitants, he heartily said, “I will act the kinsman’s part.” But after brief pause Boaz resumed, and said in the presence of the judicial conclave, “In the day when thou buyest the land from Naomi, thou must buy it not from her only, but from Ruth also, as prospective heiress; and more, thou must buy it with Ruth at present upon it, as its inalienable appurtenant, in order that the name of her deceased husband may, by the blessing of the God of Israel, descend with it in the line of her posterity.” The kinsman was not prepared to accept the property on Naomi’s terms, lest it might mar his own inheritance. Hence he said to Boaz, in the presence of the elders, “I cannot act the part of the nearest kinsman; do thou it, Boaz, in my room.” Morison.

Boaz brought, first, before him the privilege of the kinsman: redemption of the land. This he accepted. But when Boaz next reminded him, that this privilege carried with it a certain duty toward Ruth, and that, if the latter were refused, the former also was forfeited, he ceded his rights to Boaz. The bargain was ratified according to ancient custom in Israel by a symbolical act, of which we find a modification in De. 25: 9. Among all ancient nations the “shoe” was a symbol either of departure (Ex. 12: 11), or of taking possession (Ps. 60: 8). In this instance the kinsman handed his shoe to Boaz—that is, ceded his possession to him. Alike the assembled elders, and those who had gathered around to witness the transaction, cordially hailed its conclusion by wishes which proved, that “all the city knew that Ruth was a virtuous woman,” and were prepared to receive the Moabitess as a mother in Israel. A. E.

11. The Lord make the woman like Rachel and like Leah. Such a solemn benediction of those who were going to be married was very ancient. The Jews continue the practice to this day; which, they say, is always in the presence of ten grave persons at the least, conformable to this example of Boaz, and the eldest of them pronounces the benediction, which is a sort of ratification of the engagement entered into. Bp. II.—In this benediction, reference is made to the patriarchal families, and especially to the house of Pharez, an ancestor of Boaz, because he was the only grandson of Jacob, from whom sprung two generic families in Israel. Remark also the characteristic frankness of Scripture, which, in tracing the origin of what may be called the Holy Family, conceals no stain of shame upon the lineage. Tamar and Rahab both are in the line of which David came, and a Greater than David. The reputation of Ruth is without moral taint, but she also took her place in the family, as a special trophy of the mercy of God, from the doomed people of Moab. D. F.—It heightens greatly the interest of this narrative that the people of whom it treats were in the lineage of Christ according to the flesh. How all the distinctions both of nation and character are merged and confounded in His incarnation! Verily, He humbled Himself in assuming our nature! and it gives forth this lesson, that there is no degradation so sunken and low, no turpitude so utterly worthless and vile, as to be beyond the reach of His grace, or the possibility of being restored and elevated under the economy of His Mediatorship. T. C.

Three heathen women are found in the genealogy of Christ, and such women as Rahab and Tamar. God is also the God of the heathen, and his great plan of salvation embraces all heathen nations. How false, therefore, is the fancy, that in the Old Testament there is exhibited a narrow-minded restriction of the grace of God, as if it were bestowed on Israel alone! C. G. B.—We may see, in Ruth’s entrance into the religion of Israel, a picture of what was intended to be the effect of Israel’s relation with the Gentile world; that they had another mission than destruction, and were set in their land, as the candlestick in the tabernacle, that light might stream out into the darkness of the desert. The story of the Moabitess, whose blood flowed in David’s veins, was a standing protest against the later narrow exclusiveness which called Gentiles dogs, and prided itself on outward connection with the nation, in the exact degree in which it lost real union with the nation’s God, and real understanding of the nation’s mission. A. M.

13. Boaz took her, with the usual solemnities, to his house, and she became his wife. Boaz had prayed that this pious proselyte might receive a full reward of her courage and constancy from the God of Israel, under whose wings she was come to trust; and now he became an instrument of that kindness, which was an answer to his prayer, and helped to make his own words good. Now she had the command of those servants with whom she had associated, and of those fields in which she had gleaned. H.—Ruth hath gleaned all the fields and barns of a rich husband; and, that there might be no want in her happiness, by a gracious husband she hath gained a happy seed; and hath the honor, above all the dames of Israel, to be the great grandmother of a king, of David, of the Messiah. Oh, the sure and bountiful payments of the Almighty! Who ever came under his wing in vain? Who ever lost by trusting him? Who ever forsook the Moab of this world for the true Israel, and did not at last rejoice in the change? Bp. H.

16. There was rejoicing over the birth of the child at Bethlehem which Ruth bare to Boaz: “and Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it.” It would seem as if there was already a kind of joyous foretaste of the birth and infancy which, in after-times, was to be forever associated with the name of Bethlehem. It was the first appearance on the scene of what may by anticipation be called even then the Holy Family, for that child was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. Stanley.

In some sense this is the Christmas story of the Old Testament, of which the scene is also laid in Bethlehem. There is the same simple surrender on the part of the mother, the same earnest and true Israelitish spirit on that of Boaz, as of the foster-father of Jesus. And the child is one in whom Jew and Gentile meet. All is unexpected, all is God directed; and the joy with which Bethlehem greets the new-born infant finds its wider fulfilment in him who is David’s better Son. A. E.

Naomi has some human light again in her landscape; she will see the children’s children, and take them by the hand into the coming barley-harvests; she will have some appropriate hopes and joys and interests still. Life to her will not be desolate, because she has still a God above her and a world around her to call forth interest and hope. So it ever is. Trust in the Lord, and you shall never want any good thing. W. M. S.

18-22. In this genealogy there is evidently an omission of some names between Nahshon and Salmon or Salmon and Boaz, because if Nahshon were the grandfather of Boaz we should have only two generations for two hundred and fifty years, the period which intervened between the death of Moses and the time of Gideon. It is probable also that there are omissions in the earlier part of the list, because from Perez to Nahshon are only five generations, including both extremities, and these are too few for a period of at least four hundred and thirty years. The Jews were accustomed to omit unimportant names in their genealogies. W. L. A.

The story of Ruth is an exquisite study, not of mere righteousness and conscientiousness, but of love operating spontaneously and benevolently out beyond the requirements of law and the prescribed bounds of duty. It is a history of righteousness ripened to self-sacrificing loveliness. In it all questions of law and duty are outstripped and outshone by the unwritable law of kindness. Not once does any leading character in the book fall back upon his or her own rights, or consent to do this or that for mere conscience’ sake. At every turn, law is swallowed up in love. Naomi, for love of her daughters-in-law, renounces all supposable claim upon them; but Ruth, for love of Naomi, will not be released. And so on to the book’s end. Every line is fragrant with the unselfish activity that cannot stop at righteousness. The lesson is a great one, especially when taken with those that have forerun it. As long as we are satisfied to be merely just and righteous, we shall never be so. Self will always somewhere block the way, saying with Naomi’s nearer kinsman, “I cannot, . . . lest I mar mine own inheritance.” Much less shall we lead the unconverted to God. Whether in preaching or in practice, it is only when, like Naomi and like Boaz, we make God’s religion lovely to behold, that the heathen heart responds, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Cable.

The Book of Ruth contains evidence not only of an acquaintance with what is known as the Levirate Law, but also of a conviction of its binding force. That law finds expression in De. 25 : 5. sqq, an acknowledged part of the Deuteronomic Code. Acquaintance with this Law is indicated in the words of Naomi to Orpah and Ruth as well as in those of Boaz to the kinsman, and also in the whole history of which these words form but a part. Again, the Book of Ruth bears evidence to an acquaintance with the law of a goel, or redeemer (Lev. 25 : 15), during the time of the judges. In comparing the historic statements in Ruth with this law, there are two facts worth noting: (1) Boaz would not redeem the property of Naomi until he had first “advertised” the nearer goel. His summons to the elders indicates the fact that he recognized a well-known prior claim to his own. (2) The goel recognized the redemption as his duty and assented to it until he found that it involved acquiescence in the Levirate Law, that in taking the property he must take the wife. How came he to recognize the redemption as a duty, had there not been the obligation of law in it? Thus the short history of the book before us gives its evidence to the existence both of a Levitical and a Deuteronomic Code previous to the later quarter of the fourteenth century before Christ. N. W. Wells.

SEVEN YEARS’ SERVITUDE UNDER THE MIDIANITES. CALL TO GIDEON. THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND FROM FOUR TRIBES ASSEMBLE AT HIS SUMMONS. SIFTED BY A DOUBLE TEST TO THREE HUNDRED MEN.