Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 1:19

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, [Is] this Naomi?

19. all the city was moved] was in a stir; so 1Sa 4:5, 1Ki 1:45 (‘rang again’). Beth-lehem was a small place; Naomi’s return without her husband and sons could not escape notice; it aroused keen excitement, especially among the women a graphic touch, true to life.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And they said – i. e. the women of Bethlehem said. They in the Hebrew is feminine.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Rth 1:19

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.

Constancy

I. That they are to be admitted into our fellowship whom we find to be constant in a good course, and true lovers of goodness, whatsoever they were before. Naomi thus admits of Ruth, no doubt, with great comfort. Thus Paul alloweth of Mark (2Ti 4:11), though before he had refused him (Act 15:38), and willeth others to entertain him (Col 4:10-11).

II. That God leaveth not His in distress, or altogether comfortless. Naomi went out with husband and children, and lost them; she returneth not alone, but God sent her one to accompany her and to comfort her.

III. That a true resolution will show itself in a full execution. She resolved to go with Naomi, and so she did, till she came to Bethlehem. By this may we learn to know the difference between solid resolutions and sudden flashes, raw and undigested purposes, between true resolutions and such as be made in show, but in substance prove nothing so, never seen in the effects.

IV. In this their travel to Canaan, and therein to Bethlehem, note three things: their unity, fervency, and constancy. They went together lovingly, they ceased not to go on, they did not linger, they took no by-paths, neither forgat they whither they were going, till they came unto Bethlehem in Canaan. As these thus went to Canaan, so should we unto the spiritual Canaan and heavenly Bethlehem; we must go in unity (1Co 1:10), and be of one heart (Act 1:14; Act 2:1; Act 2:46; Act 4:24), in a godly fervency (Rom 12:11; Tit 2:14; Eze 3:14), as Elijah, Nehemiah, the angel of Ephesus (Rev 2:1-2), and as our Saviour, whom the zeal of Gods house had eaten up. And we must go in a constant spirit, and not be weary of well-doing, for he that continueth to the end shall be saved. (B. Bernard.)

True friendship

1. Such is the faithfulness of our heavenly Father to all His children, that He never fails nor forsakes them; but when one comfort faileth them, He findeth out another for them. The loss of one relation is made up out of Gods fulness by raising up another.

2. There be but few friends that are true friends. Here be but two together.

3. Such are fast and faithful friends indeed that accompany each other to the worship of God–to Bethlehem. Many there be that do accompany each other to Bethaven, or house of wickedness, to play-houses, and places of revelling, etc. This is rather a betraying than a befriending one another. A carnal friend is but a spiritual enemy, who advised the ruin of his soul for the recovery of his body (2Sa 13:3). The truest friendship is to save and deliver a friend from the greatest evil, which is sin; but to tempt any to it, and to tolerate them in it, is not the part of a true friend, but of a real enemy.

4. Tis matter of astonishing admiration to hear of, and be eye-witnesses of, the great afflictions that do befall some persons, both great and good.

5. God works wonderful changes in persons, families, cities, countries and kingdoms. (C. Ness.)

The backsliders return

Naomi had wandered. But Naomi might return. God had not cast her away. He will never cast away those who truly love Him. He calls them back again to true repentance. He heals their backslidings and loves them freely. Then, like Peter, they may strengthen their brethren. They have an experience of human infirmity which they had not before. They know the dangers and temptations which surround the Christians path. They can comfort others with the consolations wherewith they are comforted of God. But the backslider must return with total self-renunciation. Thus Naomi even renounces her right to her former name. Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. They said, Is this Naomi? Yes, I was Naomi when I was contented and happy in the house, and among the people of God. I was Naomi when we took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company. How foolish was I thus to wander from His holy ways! Call me not Naomi now. I have no right to that name. All was pleasant then. But the remembrance is bitterness now. Call me Mara. Let me come back as the poorest of the poor, sorrowful, and self-condemned. The backslider feels no claim to a former Christian character. He is compelled to say, Call me not a Christian. I have forfeited that blessed name. Call me a sinner, the chief of sinners. But as such, suffer me to return again to God. I am no more worthy to be called a son; make me as one of Thy hired servants. The backslider must come back with conscious emptiness. He has nothing to bring; nothing to offer. Naomi says, I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. How true is this! What can you bring back from your wanderings in Moab but the bitter remembrance of your folly? Nothing but sadness can come from a careless backsliding from God. And so far as your own acts and conduct are concerned, you must return to Him with perfect emptiness. If Divine grace and long-suffering shall receive you–if the Holy Spirit shall consent to restore you, and lead you back to the mercy-seat, once more accepted–it will be all as a free gift to the chief of sinners. Yet how precious is the expression, The Lord hath brought me back! Yes, though I am empty, and have nothing; though I am vile in His sight, and mine own clothes abhor me, though I was worthy of His rejection and His wrath, yet He did not leave me in my sin, nor suffer me, unpardoned, to perish. But I come back empty. Everything has failed me except the loving-kindness and mercy of my God. No condition can be more humbling than this. Let this work of the Holy Spirit have free course in you. Do not attempt the least justification of yourselves. Speak not, think not, of any temptation that led you astray, or of the influence of any companions, or of the want of watchfulness of any friends, or of the unfaithfulness of others in instructing and warning you, or of the example and habits of others in the social circle in which you live, as the least extenuation of your own guilt. Oh, no! You have no one to blame but yourself. You have been tempted only because you were drawn away by your own lust. Yet, while the backslider himself mourns, others rejoice over him. It came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them; and they said, Is this Naomi? Her friends had not forgotten her. They gather around her again with delight. All Bethlehem rejoices; Naomis poverty and wanderings are forgotten. She has herself returned, and this is enough. The poor prodigal had hardly time to say, Father, I have sinned, before his father buries his voice in his own bosom, and lifts up a sound of joy which completely drowns the accents of the wanderers grief. Oh, what a song of praise does his restoration awaken! Heaven and earth unite to say, over the returning wanderer, Is this Naomi? Is this the wanderer? This the captive that we thought was lost? This the giddy child that was bent to backsliding, and fled from all restraint? Sing, O heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth, for the Lord hath blotted out as a thick cloud their transgressions, and as a cloud their sins! (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

All the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?–

The changes wrought by time

Ten years ago she left, but is not forgotten. The story of her battle with poverty and consequent emigration are well remembered. But what a change! This bent form and aspect of despair tell a pitiful tale. Time and sorrow have wrought their cruel work. Ten years, and such troubles as hers leave terrible marks behind at her time of life. Wrinkles, grey hairs, and feebleness of body soon reveal themselves. Care makes men and women grow old very fast. We look twice–thrice, at the acquaintance of former years, before we believe our eyes. Is this Naomi? That means, where are the husband and the sons? It is no vulgar curiosity that prompts the inquiry. Women who knew Naomi well, and attended her wedding, are there; men, too, who were intimate friends of Elimelech; young men also, who as boys often played with the dead lads Mahlon and Chillon, all eagerly repeat the question to each other as they cluster round the two poor, travel-stained, weeping women. It is a bitter hour. The wounds are opened afresh. For no questions cut so keenly as those which remind us of beloved ones who have passed into the shadow of death. (Wm. Braden.)

The changes of life

I. Here is a returning pilgrim. Home has been but a tent life, and the curtains have been rent by sorrow and death. She tells us the old, old story. Here have we no continuing city. Bethlehem–home! Oh! that strange longing to live through the closing years in the country places where we were born! It is a common instinct.

II. Here is a godly pilgrim. Travel-worn and weary, with sandled feet, she is coming to a city sanctified by the faith of her fathers. Is this Naomi? If there is not so much of what the world calls beauty in her face, there is character there, experience there. The young Christian starting on his pilgrimage is cheerful enough. He goes forth full of enterprise and hope. Do not be surprised if in after-years you ask, Is this Naomi? How careful, how anxious, how dependent on God alone!

III. Here is an ancestral pilgrim. Ancestor of whom? Turn to Mat 1:5, and you will find in the genealogy of our Lord the name of Ruth. Do you see in the blue distance One coming from the judgment hall? Do you hear the wild cry of the mob, Away with Him! away with Him! Crucify Him! crucify Him? Come near and gaze. Behold the Man! As the reapers asked, Is this Naomi? so we ask, Is this Jesus? Is this He whose sweet face lay in the manger? Is this He who passed the angels at heavens high gate, and came to earth, saying Lo! I come to do Thy will, O God? Yes I Bowed, bruised, broken for us. The same Saviour, who now endures the Cross, despising the shame. Well may we wonder and adore!

IV. Here is a provided-for pilgrim. Back to Bethlehem, but how to live? how to find the roof-tree that should shelter again? She knew the Eternals name, Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide. So it ever is. Trust in the Lord and you shall never want any good thing. Believe still in your Saviour, and provided for you will be all weapons of fence, all means of consolation, all prosperity that shall not harm your soul. As the snows hide flowers even in the Alps, so beneath all our separations and sorrows there are still plants of the Lord, peace and hope, and joy and rest, in Him. Blessed indeed shall we be if we can rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. (W. M. Statham.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 19. All the city was moved about them] It appears that Naomi was not only well known, but highly respected also at Bethlehem; a proof that Elimelech was of high consideration in that place.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Is this she that formerly lived in so much plenty and honour? Oh how marvellously is her condition changed, that she is returned in this forlorn and desolate condition!

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

19-22. all the city was moved aboutthemThe present condition of Naomi, a forlorn and desolatewidow, presented so painful a contrast to the flourishing state ofprosperity and domestic bliss in which she had been at her departure.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem,…. Went on their way directly till they came to it, without lingering or staying by the way, at least not unnecessarily, and not for any time; and they kept together, though Ruth was a younger woman, and could have gone faster, yet she kept company with her ancient mother, and was no doubt very much edified and instructed by her pious conversation; and it seems that they were alone, only they two; for as they had no camels nor asses to ride on, but were obliged to travel on foot, so they had no servants to wait upon them, and assist them in their journey, such were their mean circumstances:

and it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem; had entered the city, and were seen by some that formerly had known Naomi, or at least to whom she made herself known:

that all the city was moved about them; the news of their arrival was soon spread throughout the place, and the whole city rang of it; so the Septuagint version, “all the city sounded”; it was all the talk every where, it was in everybody’s mouth, that Naomi, who had been so long out of the land, and thought to be dead, and it was not expected she would never return again, was now come; and this drew a great concourse of people in a tumultuous manner, as the word signifies, to see her; and as it may denote a corporeal motion of them, so the inward moving and working of their passions about her; some having pity and compassion on her to see such a change in her person and circumstances; others treating her with scorn and contempt, and upbraiding her for leaving her native place, and not content to share the common affliction of her people, intimating that she was rightly treated for going out of the land at such a time into a strange country; and others were glad to see their old neighbour again, who had always behaved well among them; so the Syriac and Arabic versions, “all the city rejoiced”; many no doubt knew her not, and would be asking questions about her, and others answering them, which is commonly the case of a crowd of people on such an occasion:

and they said, is this Naomi? that is, the women of the place said so, for the word is feminine; and perhaps they were chiefly women that gathered about her, and put this question in a way of admiration; is this Naomi that was so beautiful, and used to look so pleasant and comely, and now so wrinkled and sorrowful, who used to dress so well, and now in so mean an habit! that used to be attended with maidens to wait on her, and now alone! for, as Aben Ezra observes, this shows that Elimelech and Naomi were great personages in Bethlehem formerly, people of rank and figure, or otherwise there would not have been such a concourse of people upon her coming, and such inquiries made and questions put, had she been formerly a poor woman.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived, the whole town was in commotion on their account ( , imperf. Niph. of , as in 1Sa 4:5; 1Ki 1:45). They said, “ Is this Naomi? ” The subject to is the inhabitants of the town, but chiefly the female portion of the inhabitants, who were the most excited at Naomi’s return. This is the simplest way of explaining the use of the feminine in the verbs and . In these words there was an expression of amazement, not so much at the fact that Naomi was still alive, and had come back again, as at her returning in so mournful a condition, as a solitary widow, without either husband or sons; for she replied (Rth 1:20), “ Call me not Naomi (i.e., gracious), but Marah ” (the bitter one), i.e., one who has experienced bitterness, “ for the Almighty has made it very bitter to me. I, I went away full, and Jehovah has made me come back again empty. Why do ye call me Naomi, since Jehovah testifies against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? “ Full,” i.e., rich, not in money and property, but in the possession of a husband and two sons; a rich mother, but now deprived of all that makes a mother’s heart rich, bereft of both husband and sons. “ Testified against me, ” by word and deed (as in Exo 20:16; 2Sa 1:16). The rendering “ He hath humbled me ” (lxx, Vulg., Bertheau, etc.) is incorrect, as with and the construct state simply means to trouble one’s self with anything (Ecc 1:13), which is altogether unsuitable here. – With Rth 1:22 the account of the return of Naomi and her daughter-in-law is brought to a close, and the statement that “ they came to Bethlehem in the time of the barley harvest ” opens at the same time the way for the further course of the history. is pointed as a third pers. perf. with the article in a relative sense, as in Rth 2:6 and Rth 4:3. Here and at Rth 2:6 it applies to Ruth; but in Rth 4:3 to Naomi. , the masculine, is used here, as it frequently is, for the feminine , as being the more common gender. The harvest, as a whole, commenced with the barley harvest (see at Lev 23:10-11).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Naomi’s Reception at Bethlehem.

B. C. 1312.

      19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?   20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.   21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?   22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

      Naomi and Ruth, after many a weary step (the fatigue of the journey, we may suppose, being somewhat relieved by the good instructions Naomi gave to her proselyte and the good discourse they had together), came at last to Bethlehem. And they came very seasonably, in the beginning of the barley-harvest, which was the first of their harvests, that of wheat following after. Now Naomi’s own eyes might convince her of the truth of what she had heard in the country of Moab, that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread, and Ruth might see this good land in its best state; and now they had opportunity to provide for winter. Our times are in God’s hand, both the events and the time of them. Notice is here taken,

      I. Of the discomposure of the neighbours upon this occasion (v. 19): All the city was moved about them. Her old acquaintance gathered about her, to enquire concerning her state, and to bid her welcome to Bethlehem again. Or perhaps they were moved about her, lest she should be a charge to the town, she looked so bare. By this it appears that she had formerly lived respectably, else there would not have been so much notice taken of her. If those that have been in a high and prosperous condition break, or fall into poverty or disgrace, their fall is the more remarkable. And they said, Is this Naomi? The women of the city said it, for the word is feminine. Those with whom she had formerly been intimate were surprised to see her in this condition; she was so much broken and altered with her afflictions that they could scarcely believe their own eyes, nor think that this was the same person whom they had formerly seen, so fresh, and fair, and gay: Is this Naomi? So unlike is the rose when it is withered to what it was when it was blooming. What a poor figure does Naomi make now, compared with what she made in her prosperity! If any asked this question in contempt, upbraiding her with her miseries (“is this she that could not be content to fare as her neighbours did, but must ramble to a strange country? see what she has got by it!”), their temper was very base and sordid. Nothing more barbarous than to triumph over those that are fallen. But we may suppose that the generality asked it in compassion and commiseration: “Is this she that lived so plentifully, and kept so good a house, and was so charitable to the poor? How has the gold become dim!” Those that had seen the magnificence of the first temple wept when they saw the meanness of the second; so these here. Note, Afflictions will make great and surprising changes in a little time. When we see how sickness and old age alter people, change their countenance and temper, we may think of what the Bethlehemites said: “Is this Naomi? One would not take it to be the same person.” God, by his grace, fit us for all such changes, especially the great change!

      II. Of the composure of Naomi’s spirit. If some upbraided her with her poverty, she was not moved against them, as she would have been if she had been poor and proud; but, with a great deal of pious patience, bore that and all the other melancholy effects of her affliction (Rth 1:20; Rth 1:21): Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, c. “Naomi signifies pleasant or amiable but all my pleasant things are laid waste; call me Mara, bitter or bitterness, for I am now a woman of a sorrowful spirit.” Thus does she bring her mind to her condition, which we all ought to do when our condition is not in every thing to our mind. Observe,

      1. The change of her state, and how it is described, with a pious regard to the divine providence, and without any passionate murmurings or complaints. (1.) It was a very sad and melancholy change. She went out full; so she thought herself when she had her husband with her and two sons. Much of the fulness of our comfort in this world arises from agreeable relations. But she now came home again empty, a widow and childless, and probably had sold her goods, and of all the effects she took with her brought home no more than the clothes on her back. So uncertain is all that which we call fulness in the creature, 1 Sam. ii. 5. Even in the fulness of that sufficiency we may be in straits. But there is a fulness, a spiritual and divine fulness, which we can never be emptied of, a good part which shall not be taken from those that have it. (2.) She acknowledges the hand of God, his mighty hand, in the affliction. “It is the Lord that has brought me home again empty; it is the Almighty that has afflicted me.” Note, Nothing conduces more to satisfy a gracious soul under an affliction than the consideration of the hand of God in it. It is the Lord,1Sa 3:18; Job 1:21. Especially to consider that he who afflicts us is Shaddai, the Almighty, with whom it is folly to contend and to whom it is our duty and interest to submit. It is that name of God by which he enters into covenant with his people: I am God Almighty, God All-sufficient, Gen. xvii. 1. He afflicts as a God in covenant, and his all-sufficiency may be our support and supply under all our afflictions. He that empties us of the creature knows how to fill us with himself. (3.) She speaks very feelingly of the impression which the affliction had made upon her: He has dealt very bitterly with me. The cup of affliction is a bitter cup, and even that which afterwards yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, yet, for the present, is not joyous, but grievous, Heb. xii. 11. Job complains, Thou writest bitter things against me, Job xiii. 26. (4.) She owns the affliction to come from God as a controversy: The Lord hath testified against me. Note, When God corrects us he testifies against us and contends with us (Job x. 17), intimating that he is displeased with us. Every rod has a voice, the voice of a witness.

      2. The compliance of her spirit with this change: “Call me not Naomi, for I am no more pleasant, either to myself or to my friends; but call me Mara, a name more agreeable to my present state.” Many that are debased and impoverished yet affect to be called by the empty names and titles of honour they have formerly enjoyed. Naomi did not so. Her humility regards not a glorious name in a dejected state. If God deal bitterly with her, she will accommodate herself to the dispensation, and is willing to be called Mara, bitter. Note, It well becomes us to have our hearts humbled under humbling providences. When our condition is brought down our spirits should be brought down with it. And then our troubles are sanctified to us when we thus comport with them; for it is not an affliction itself, but an affliction rightly borne, that does us good. Perdidisti tot mala, si nondum misera esse didicisti–So many calamities have been lost upon you if you have not yet learned how to suffer. Sen. ad Helv. Tribulation works patience.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.So they two. Types of the Jewish and Gentile Churches (Macgowan). Amicitia sit inter binos qui sunt veri, et bonos qui sunt pauci (Trapp). Went. They were obliged to travel on foot (Patrick, Gill). If the more southern route was chosen, they would descend from the high table-land of Moab, cross the plain at the southwestern extremity of the Dead Sea, part of the once larger vale of Siddim, where stood the cities of the plain, the soil of which is entirely covered with salt (Eadie), then turn northwards up the Wady Sudier to Engedi, and so to Bethlehem. If the more northern route, they would cross the two fords of Arnon and Jordan. In either case one of the most weird and desolate landscapes in the world, the scene of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, lay before them (cf. Deu. 29:23). Came to Bethlehem [cf. Intro., p. 13]. All the city was moved [cf. 1Sa. 4:5; 1Ki. 1:45]. All the city was in a commotion about them (Benisch). . The city rang with the news (LXX.). All the city rejoiced at them (Arab, Syriac). The E.V. rightly uses the more comprehensive term which may include curiosity, surprise, gladness, etc. Amazement not so much at the fact that Naomi was still alive and had come back again, as at her returning in so mournful a condition (Keil). And they said. They in the Hebrew is feminine. The women of Bethlehem said (Speakers Com.). Not exactly, dicebantque mulieres, as the Vulg. has it; the population of the city are the subject of the verb, but in a matter of this kind women would naturally be so prominent as to lead the narrator insensibly to use the feminine. Perhaps Naomi arrived in an hour of the day when the labours of the field left none but women in the city (Lange). The Midrash makes the scene still more dramatic by the explanation that the concourse of the inhabitants was occasioned by the fact that the first wife of Boaz had that very day been carried to her grave (Lange). May possibly have been some such public occasion.

Rth. 1:20. Call me not Naomi [pleasant. See on Rth. 1:2, p. 14]. Call me Mara [bitter; LXX. ; comp. Exo. 15:23]. I have no more anything that is pleasant about me: my life, like a salty, bitter spring, is without flavour or relish (Lange). A similar allusion to the meaning of names, Gen. 27:36; Jer. 20:3 (Speakers Com.). From this we gather that Naomi was not the name given her at first by her parents, but a popular name commonly given her by her neighbours, because of her comely presence and courteous behaviour (Patrick?) The Almighty [Shaddai]. The name Almighty is almost peculiar to the Pentateuch and to the Book of Job, in which last it is found thirty times. It occurs twice in the Psalms and four times in the prophets (Speakers Com.). Why is Shaddai used here? Must be connected with its pregnant, proper signification (Lange), the source of fruitfulness and life. Used continually as in Gen. 35:11; I am El Shaddai: be fruitful and multiply. The word must therefore unquestionably be referred to a root still used in Arabic in the sense to water, to fertilize. [See Lange in loco.] Naomi was rightly named, when with a flourishing family she went to Moab; but now Shaddai, who gave the blessing, has taken it away (Lange). Rashi and Adam Clarke explain Shaddai to mean self-sufficient. Hath dealt very bitterly with me; has worked against me (Bertheau); hath testified against [lit. hath answered] me (Wordsworth); hath inflicted bitter sorrow upon me (Lange); hath made me very sad (Wright). [Comp. Exo. 20:16; 2Sa. 1:16; Job. 10:17; Mal. 3:5.] A metaphor from adversaries at law (Trapp). So Job says, Thou writest bitter things against me (Job. 13:26).

Rth. 1:21. I went out full. That is, in the rich possession of a husband and two sons (Steele and Terry). Home again empty. The very reverse of Jacobs experience (Gen. 32:10): With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Cf. Hannahs song (1Sa. 2:5), They that were full have hired out themselves for bread. Though the Hebrew full, there meaning full of food, is quite different from that here used, which is the opposite of empty (Speakers Com.). The Lord [Jehovah] hath testified against me. (LXX.). The reading of the LXX., He humbled me, was justly departed from, for it is only a paraphrase of the sense (Lange). Quam Dominus humiliavit (Vulg.). The Lord has brought me back in vain (Syr.), has sent down upon me a terrible punishment (Arab.). On the whole, we incline to prefer the ordinary translation (Wright). So Lange, Tremel., Drusius, Gesen., Rosenm. That which considers to be the difficulty of the passage, that it makes God to testify against a person, while elsewhere only men bear testimony, is precisely the special thought of Naomi. I went, she says, and God has testified that this going was a sin (Lange). In the loss of my children and family, says Naomi, I perceive that He declares me guilty, as the Targum excellently renders it (ibid). Comp. for a similar turn of thought. 1Ki. 17:18, followed at Rth. 1:20 by the identical word here rendered hath afflicted, there thou hast brought evil (Speakers Com.).

Rth. 1:19

Theme.COMPANIONSHIP IN PROGRESS

Along the solitary plain we went,
As one who unto the lost road returns,
And till he finds it seems to go in vain.Dante.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way,
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us farther than to day.Longfellow.

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.

In life action is everything, and joy and sorrow come of themselves (Goethe). Onward with these two means that they are nearer every moment to Canaan, the land of promise, and Bethlehem, the house of bread. A rough way, but the right way (Philpot)a difficult journey, but a wise one; onward from weakness to strength, poverty to riches, disquietude to rest. Moab behind them, the promised and in front.

Linked hand in hand they went, tears in their eyes,
As faint and beautiful as eyes of flowers.Alexander Smith.

Note. Pilgrimage is the appointed lot of Gods saints; for true life is always moving onward, progressing.

We have here,

I. Companionship in Progress. They two went. Their principles were one, the life and love of God in the soul. Their object was one, to come and trust in the shadow of the Divine wings (Rth. 2:12). Their interest was common, the salvation of their souls and communion by the way (Macgowan). So Lot and his daughters went hand in hand out of Sodom, led of the angels to a place of safety. Note. The world is our wilderness, and we are happy only as the path leads us onward to a place of rest. They came to Bethlehem [the house of bread]. How many accompany each other to Bethaven! [house of iniquity.] Our travellers are an emblem of the righteous, who hold on their way, etc. (Macgowan). They went together lovingly, they ceased not to go on, they did not linger, they took no by-paths, neither forgot they whither they were going, till they came unto Bethlehem (Bernard). See also on Rth. 1:6-7; pp. 3236.

II. Mutual sympathy in affliction.The Holy Spirit mentioneth not what discourse they exchanged by the way; yet no doubt they were neither silent, nor busied in unprofitable talk (Fuller). Note. Two things prevented them sinking into despair, their piety and their mutual love. An instance here of Gods faithfulness in restoring comfort to His mourners. Elimelech and his sons taken. Ruth given as a fast friend. When Abraham lost Sarah, Rebekah is brought into her tent (Macgowan). Note. (a) True companionship embraces three things, love, unity, and constancy. Friends must be of one mind and one heart, if they would journey together. These united in an indissoluble bond of love (Cox). (b) Only in looking heavenward, not in looking earthward, do what we call union, mutual love, society, begin to be possible (Carlyle).

III. Fellowship and communion in desire and hope.Both are journeying to join the Israel of God. Probably they were beguiling the way by anticipations of the future; for now that Naomi has taken Ruth more closely to herself, their interests are inseparable, whatever may unfold. Note. They are to be admitted unto our fellowship, whom we find to be constant in a good course, and true lovers of goodness, whatsoever they were before (Bernard). Thus Gods angels deal with us; they will account us their fellow-servants when we turn to God (ibid).

IMPROVEMENT.

(1.) God leaves His saints generally neither companionless nor comfortless. Luke, Mark, Titus, Timothy given and sent at different times to Paul [cf. 2Co. 7:6]. And where mans company fails, He will send His angels. Jacob was comforted of heaven when earth failed him (Gen. 28:12). And when the disciples slept in Gethsemane, an angel appeared strengthening the Saviour.

(2.) Success always attends our efforts when they are in accordance with Divine purposes. They came to Bethlehem. Naomi is at home once more; and for the first time Ruth stands on the sacred spot where the Saviour is to be born. How much depended upon the journey, humanly speaking! Fit emblem of another journey to another land of promise.

Is it a long way off?
Oh! no, a few more years,
A few more bitter tears,

We shall be there.

Sometimes the way seems long,
Our comforters all go,
Woe follows after woe,

Care after care.

Tis no uncertain way
We tread, for Jesus still
Leads with unerring skill

Whereer we roam;

And from the desert wild
Soon shall our path emerge,
And land us on the verge

Of our dear home.E. W. Dic. of Poetic Illustrations.

Naomis heart throbs with mingled feelings is they pass along the way traversed by her and her venerated dead some ten years before. The sight of the beloved city and the familiar spots quickens a crowd of painful memories. Those who have returned to their native country and their childhoods home after a prolonged absence know too well how everything looks familiar yet strange, old yet sometimes new, and a thousand thoughts throng to the mind, and tearful emotions surge in the heart, at every turn of the way.Braden.

A man may turn whither he pleases, and undertake anything whatsoever, but he will always return to the path which nature has prescribed for him.Goethe.

Often again in his course of life man feels as a feathered seed driven by winds; as if, without weight or power, he slowly floats or is swiftly hurried, but rests nowhere. He feels that within him is life, but knows that he is as yet an embryo. He is confusedly conscious of what his tendencies are, but cannot tell what his outgrowth will be. Let him but find resting place, and he also will put forth buds and boughs, and array himself in beauty.Lynch.

Life is only bright when it proceedeth

Towards a truer, deeper life above;

Human love is sweetest when it leadeth

Towards a more divine and perfect love.

Learn the mystery of Progression duly;

Do not call each glorious change decay;

But know, we only hold our treasures truly

When it appears as if they fade away.

Nor dare to blame Gods gifts for incompleteness

In that want their beauty lies: they roll

Towards some infinite depths of love and sweetness,

Bearing onwards mans reluctant soul!

Adelaide A. Proctor.

Mens mid-day, cold, and slow pace to heaven will cause many a man to want his lodgings at night, and to lie in the fields.Fuller.

To walk with Love in Loves own country will be as easy as it is happy; but here, where love is put upon its trial, it is not so. It is to walk as with a thorn in your foot, which gives great pain at every stepnew pain in an old wound.Lynch.

Permanent rest is not to be expected on the road, but at the end of the journey.Dillwyn.

Though God may bring us into the wilderness, yet if He speak comfortably to us, the wilderness will be turned into a paradise. If the road is rough, let us not complain, for it leads to a glorious rest which nothing shall disturb.Charles.

Make all plain and clear, and what sphere is there left for that trust by which the soul learns to lean upon God Himself? To see all the pathway, and know whither it leads, and what are the difficulties in the way, and how they are to be avoided, that is sight, and not faith. But when light is given, and yet the way is hid, when the little we know points to a deeper mystery, and beyond there is the darkness and uncertainty from which the spirit shrinks and life holds back, when we stand like the Israelites at the Red Sea, the swollen waters in front, the mountains on either hand, the enemy behind, and none to help us but God; it is then that faith either falters and fails, or triumphs and shows itself inestimable, most precious when most needed, just as the miners candle is valued beyond all else when the gloom is densest and the way most intricate.B.

The more the cross, the more the longing:

Out of the vale man upward goes;

Whose pathway through the desert lies;

He craves the land where Jordan flows:
When here the dove finds no repose,

Straight to the ark with joy she flies.

Schmolk.

It is a mere and miserable solitude to want true friends, without which the world is but a wilderness. There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs, but he grieveth the less.Bacon.

Then I saw in my dream, they went very lovingly on together, and had sweet discourse of all things that had happened to them in their pilgrimage.Bunyan.

It is with Christians as with burning coals. If these are scattered far apart, one after the other is easily extinguished, but when collected together, the fire of one preserves that of the other, and the glowing coals often ignite others that lie near.Franke.

Daughter, ye softly saidPeace to thine heart;
We tooyes, daughter!have been as thou art,
Tossed on the troubled waves, lifes stormy sea;
Chance and change manifold proving like thee,
Hope-lifted, doubt-depressed, seeing in part,
Tried, troubled, tempted, sustained as thou art:

Our God is thy God; what He willeth is best:

Trust Him as we trusted, then rest as we rest.

Caroline Southey.

Rth. 1:19

Theme.A CITY IN ASTONISHMENT

The blast of death

Hath stript our roof trees; the guardian boughs
Hang like sad willows oer the stream of life,
Where drifting slowly by our native shores,
Familiar faces smile on us no more.Mackay.

And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

Naomis return was no common occurrence. Probably the inhabitants of Bethlehem never expected to see her more (Lawson). The city, and especially the women, were thrown into a peaceable uproar. Everybody ran, told the news, and wondered (Lange). The great change in Naomis circumstances apparent in her appearance, in her very way of entering Bethlehem. Ten years ago she had left under far different circumstances. She went out with a husband, children, wealth; as she herself says, full. The story well remembered, for the family was a prominent one in Bethlehem; natural that the news of her return, poor and sorrowful, should spread like wildfire, and create what to her was an unpleasant sensation (Lange). Is this Naomi? Note. No questions cut so keenly as those which remind us of beloved ones who have passed into the shadow of death (Braden).

See in these words,

I. The language of surprise and astonishment. Strange! Wonderful! Is this she who was once so wealthy? How quickly is a river of riches drained dry! (Fuller.) Is this, can it be, Naomi? Time and sorrow, too, had wrought their cruel work upon her. Ten years, and such troubles as hers, leave terrible marks at her time of life (Braden). The rose withered unlike what it was when blooming (Matt. Henry). She that formerly was so fair, now one can scarcely read the traces of beauty in her face (Fuller). Is this Naomi? Note. (a) The more renowned any are in prosperity, the more remarkable are they in adversity (Bernard). Men are more carried away by the consideration of the outward means how things come to pass, than of the power and pleasure of God to make such an alteration (ibid). And so (b) Gods providential doings are a continual cause of surpriseas full of mystery as they are of mercy; necessarily so if faith is to have its perfect work. He brings about great changes in persons, families, cities, countries. And that often in ways least expected. The poor are exalted, the rich cast down; empires seemingly established for ever, like Babylon and Rome, coming to nought; cities destroyed, etc. (Cf. Lam. 2:15, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty? etc.; Rev. 18:15-17.)

II. The language of condemnation. May be feared there was more blame than pity in the exclamation (Cox). See! see! this is she that could not be content to tarry at home to take part of the famine with the rest of her fellows (Fuller). Perhaps they were moved about her, lest she should be a charge to the town, she looked so bare (Matt. Henry). Men judge mainly by outward appearances.

Virtue without success

Is a fair picture shown by an ill light.Dryden.

Under the old economy, too, adversity was looked upon largely as meaning punishment. Only the nobler spirits seem to realize the meaning and ministry of suffering. A trace of this to be found among the heathens, as in the seven years probation of Eneas:

Long labours, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Sabian realm, and built the destined town.Virgil.

But even this was associated with fate and the wrath of the gods. Note. The multitude in all ages have traced afflictions to the anger of the Deity. (See Job. 8:6; Job. 11:20, etc.) Difficult for Christians to realize always that whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.

So that we may have here,

III. The language of contempt. The crowd come and look upon a spectacle like this, and then pass away to their usual avocations, some at least pointing the finger of scorn. David was cursed of Shimei in his affliction, and Gods prophet saluted with the cry, Go up, thou bald head. The man of God must expect to be misunderstood in all that concerns him, even in the Divine dealings with him. Christ said to His disciples, The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think he doeth God service. Note. Hatred to the good seems inherent to the evil heart; and poverty brings contempt upon the best. Proud hearts take contempt in adversity as worse than death (Bernard); but we must learn to bear it as Naomi, as David, as Christ did.

We may have here,

IV. The language of pity and commiseration. Alas! alas! is not this that gracious woman, that godly saint, which formerly by her charity relieved many in distress? How soon is a full clod turned into parched earth! one that supplied others into one that needeth to be supplied by others! (Fuller.) How has the gold become dim! Those that had seen the magnificence of the first temple wept when they saw the meanness of the second (Matt. Henry). There are always hearts that are touched in a right way at the sight of sorrow and trouble. The priest and the Levite may come and look on and pass by on the other side; but some good Samaritan draws nearer sooner or later to pour in oil and wine into the open wounds. Naomi evidently moved by the expression, Is this Naomi? She utters no word of reproach afterwards against the inhabitants of Bethlehem. Note. Good and godly people do not less esteem the virtuous because of their outward low estate and poverty (Bernard). The poor around us test the sincerity of our professions of religion. Christ will say at last, Inasmuch as ye did it not, etc.

IMPROVEMENT.

(1) The same language may have a very different meaning in different lips.
(2) Our very surprise at adversity should be mingled with compassion, and meted out with sympathy. Idle words, how they wound the broken heart! Is this Naomi? brings back the memory of all the past.
(3) In adversity we should be comforters, not as Jobs friends, who sat down and censured him, nor as Christs and St. Pauls, who forsook them (Bernard), not even as Naomis, whose casual words open the fountains of grief afresh; but as those who themselves have suffered, and have the meek and gentle spirit suffering only can bring.

(4) When we remark the sad changes which numbers suffer, we should be reminded to prepare for changes ourselves, especially the last great change (Scott).

Their exclamation, This Naomi! expresses the general astonishment at the change which had passed upon her. No doubt the little hamlet had been all aflame with gossip when, ten years before, the rich sheep-master Elimelech had left it, and many pious brows had been shaken over his sin in going to sojourn among the heathen. And no doubt, on Naomis return, many who would have shared that sin if they could, and many who had committed far worse sins than any of which she had been guilty, once more shook their heads in grave rebuke, and were forward to recognize the judgments of an offended God in the calamities which had befallen her.Cox.

Naomi was formerly a woman of good quality and fashion, of good rank and repute; otherwise her return in poverty had not so generally been taken notice of. Shrubs may be grubbed to the ground, and none miss them; but every one marks the falling of a cedar. Grovelling cottages may be levelled to the earth, and none observe; but every traveller takes notice of the fall of a steeple. Let this comfort those to whom God hath given small possessions. Should He visit them with poverty, and take from them what little they have, yet their grief and shame would be the less; they should not have so many fingers pointed at them, so many eyes staring on them, so many words spoken of them. They might lurk in obscurity. It must be a Naomi, a person of eminence and estate, whose poverty must move a whole city.Fuller.

If we would truly sympathise with others, we must beware of hastily estimating the manner and degree of their trouble. Comforters must come as inquirers, not judges; come to bestow consolation, not criticism.Lynch.

To seek the applause of man is wrong; but to merit it is most desirable. A man of worthless character creates no respect in the minds of others, so that if ill befall him, he finds but little sympathy in the bosom of those around him; whereas a good man under misfortune excites a lively interest in his affairs.Simeon.

The feelings of men are easily excited for those who have met severe and peculiar afflictions; but in the generality of mankind those feelings soon die away, and, even while exciting, rarely produce any practical effect. The whole city was moved about Naomi, but we are not told that one door was opened to receive her, and we soon find her rejoicing in being allowed to partake of the last and lowest resource of the destitute. Few remember how large a proportion of pure and undefiled religion consists in visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction.Macartney.

Outward contact never accords with the epoch of inner culture, and therefore, as it cannot further us, must necessarily injure us.Goethe.

We all suffer from the want of genuine human help and sympathy. But often, to meet our particular case, it is required that those around us possess a higher than the average goodness. We must not curse humanity because we cannot find the man we want.Lynch.

There is salvation in fulness, and there is salvation by fire. There is the abundant entrance into the kingdom of God, and there is the getting in with something like difficulty. One man may be conducted to his joy and crown through thronging multitudes, amid outstretched hands and reverberating hosannas, and along the great public thoroughfare of the city; while another shall advance with hesitating step; be glad to get an entrance without observation; be met by no congratulating crowds; creep stealthily by some unfrequented street to his undistinguished abode; tremulous with a thankful, though shaded joy, that he is saved at all.Binney.

Rth. 1:20

Theme.SPIRITUAL DESPONDENCY AND DEPRESSION

Grief hath changed me,

And careful hours, with Times deformed hand,
Hath written strange defeatures in my face.Shakespeare.

We overstate the ills of life, and take
Imagination, given us to bring down
The choir of singing angels.

to rake

The dismal snows instead; flake flowing flake,
To cover all the corn.
O brothers! let us leave the shame and sin
Of talking vainly, in a plaintive mood,
The holy name of Grief,holy herein,
That by the grief of one came all our good.Mrs. Browning.

Call me not Naoimi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, etc.

Ten years have turned Naomi into Mara (Bp. Hall). Ten years and departure into the far-off land (cf. Luk. 15:14). This is what sojourning in Moab meant then and always; affliction, barrenness, want, even to those who are least guilty. So Israel had to come out from Egypt, though they found a Goshen there for awhile, in haste, and as from a land of bondage. Note. Man goes, but God brings home (Lange). The departure is all our own, the return is His with whom we have to do.

Remark,

I. On the changes incident to human life. Its sweet and pleasant things become bitter, its fulness emptiness, its prosperous goings out disastrous. Note. (a) This is not by chance, but by the providence of God. A peculiarity of piety, that it ascribes the issues of all the affairs of life to God (Lange). He turns Naomi into Mara, mirth into mourning, sweet into sour, honour into dishonour (Bernard). As examples we have Job, Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Herod, beyond the memorable instance of the text. Outward glory is but as a lading flower, and as the warm sunshine of a cold wintry day, soon gone, and all the delight thereof (Bernard). Note. (b) Every mans estate is in the hands of the Lord to alter as He will.

Remark,

II. On the meaning and manner of these changes.

(1) Life means discipline, and therefore pain is a secondary question to that of our perfection. God denies and takes away, just as the sculptor does with the marble, that he may bring out the ideal form beneath. He finds it sometimes best to cross the likely projects of His dearest children (Bishop Hall). If God have loved thee, says Bengel, thou canst have no lack of trouble.

Again,

(2) Experience comes in this way: we grow strong, not only in conflict, but in times when we must bear as well as do. Thou therefore, my son, endure hardship, etc. (2Ti. 2:3). The soldier must pass through his baptism of fire, and the Christian his baptism of suffering.

Once more,

(3) We never understand life aright until we see in it two wills in conflict, the human and the Divine. Our thoughts and purposes at best are not His with whom we have to do. Mark, the choice in life is with us, the issues with Him. There is the exercise of free will on our part, and there are His foreordained purposes. And note, Hits purposes will be accomplished, even though He deal bitterly with us. In all our projects we must expect that God may testify against us as against Naomi. He does so as seeing the end from the beginning, the true meaning of life amid its outward and plausible appearances. Man in his abundance, too, is apt to forget God. Adversity, denial, is the Divine way of calling our thoughts back again to Himself. No doubt God does deal bitterly with men at times. The profoundest love may show itself in this way, as with the parent when he corrects his child; the most far-reaching wisdom, as with the physician when he cures with distasteful remedies. [See also on Rth. 1:13, pp. 5052.]

Remark,

III. On spiritual depression as accompanying these changes. Usually, the natural man, even as a beggar, still desires to shine (Lange). Not so Naomi. Her humility regards not a glorious name in a dejected state (Malt. Henry). She hates this hypocrisy, and since God hath humbled her, desires not to be respected of men (Bishop Hall). A poor widow now, though once a noble woman. Call me not Naomi, she says, call me Mara. Note. We have in this the bitterness of grief, not of impatience; something of that shadow which has fallen at times upon the noblest spirits. We call it spiritual depression, religious despondency, melancholy, etc., and in it the heart does not so much murmur against the burden of life as feel it. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Enquire

(1) As to some of the causes of this spiritual depression. Sin in ourselves, wrong-doing of others, peculiar mental and physical conditions, unsolved problems of this our existence. Or, as here, adverse circumstances, and the lowliness of human life (Psa. 88:8). Naomis losses have followed one another like Jobs, hence her bitter cry. So Elijah in the hour of depression said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life. Note. With all men there is a cloudy and dark day; and the world within us generally reflects the world without.

Many of Gods most precious gifts are sad;

and so far in the worlds history the best songs, like the nightingales, have been sung in the dark.

Again with Naomi, God Himself seems to be against her, afflicting her. Her loving heart takes all Gods judgments on itself (Lange). She is humble, repentant, but also keenly sensitive and alive to the hand above her. A great alleviation of pain to see God in our afflictions [cf. on Rth. 1:13, p. 50, div. I.], but there is a dark side even to this. The Lord hath testified against me. It is not only God hiding Himself, but God against her, as an advocate pleading, as a witness testifying on the other side. This the bitterest drop in her cup of affliction, which makes her ready to disclaim her very name, and all the past of her history. So, too, in a more mysterious sorrow the cry went up, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Note. God testifies against His own children. His saints are by no means perfect in love, in faith, in obedience; and He will continue to testify until His own purposes are accomplished in them.

Enquire

(2) As to the Divine meaning in connexion with spiritual depression. Afflictions (a) sent as chastisement, (b) allowed as discipline, (c) part of a wider problem in the history of the human race.

So with that chastened, humbled, and even sorrowful frame of mind, which accompanies them. Undue sorrow is better than undue security. Where the showers fall most, there the grass is greenest (Spurgeon). Just as some islands owe their fertility to the humidity of the atmosphere, the very clouds that darken and the rains that deluge the land, so many Christians owe their richest and divinest experiences to the sorrow which has darkened all their life. No chastening, says the Apostle, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; but afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11). And Christ Himself likens the disciples, in the hour of His trial, to a woman in travail (Joh. 16:20-22).

The night is darkest before the morn:
When the pain is sorest, the child is born;

And the day of the Lord is at hand.Kingsley.

Again, just as the capacity for sorrow proves man above the brute, so this very sensitiveness to Gods dealings shows the saint superior to the worldling. Sanctified afflictions, says Dodd, with deep insight into Gods dealings with His children, are spiritual promotions. He treats us as sons (Heb. 12:7). And so the godly sorrow, our burden to-day, will be our glory to-morrow. Paul felt this when he said, Our light affliction, etc. (cf. 1Co. 4:11-13; 2Co. 4:16-18; 2Co. 6:8-10).

LESSONS.

(1) The condition of creatures is soon changed (Macgowan).

(2) Afflictions may make that which was once our glory seem and sound like irony to us. With Naomi, the very remembrance of her name increases her grief.
(3) Those who are truly humbled are not ashamed that the world should think them so. In all forms of good there are more that care to seem than to be (Bishop Hall). Many that are debased and impoverished, yet affect to be called by the empty names and titles of honour they formerly enjoyed (Matt. Henry). Not so Naomi.

(4) When our condition is brought down, we may and must expect our spirits to be humbled with it.
(5) Neither dignity of place, highness of birth, nor fruitfulness of children, may minister comfort to those whom the Lord has humbled (Topsell). The hand that smites is the only hand that can heal; and worldly misery is only abated entirely by everlasting felicity.

(6) It is not an affliction itself, but an affliction rightly borne, that does us good (Matt. Henry). So, friend, I see that thou hast not yet forgiven God Almighty! the rebuke of Ebenezer Adams to a lady of rank, a widow, he was visiting. The reproof produced such an effect, that she immediately had all her trappings of grief destroyed, and went about her necessary business and avocations. So many calamities have been lost upon you if you have not yet learned how to suffer (Sen. ad Helv.). Behold us willing to suffer in this life the worst it may please Thee to bring upon us; here lay Thy rod upon us; consume us here, cut us to pieces here, only spare us in eternity (St. Augustine).

(7) It is no part of religion to harden ourselves against the rod. Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved (Jer. 5:3), is the charge the prophet brings against Jerusalem; but we nowhere find them condemned for feeling too keenly (Macartney).

She put her mouth in the dust, and spake in a low language, suitable to her present condition; God had afflicted her, and she would carry her sails accordingly. Many are humbled, but not humble; low, but not lowly. These have lost the fruit of their affliction, saith Augustine, and are therefore most miserable. God, saith another, calls no man Benjamin, but those whom their own hearts call Ben-oni in their humility. He salutes them not Naomi, beautiful, who do not humbly feel themselves Mara, bitter.Trapp.

If all our afflictions come from the Almighty, it is in vain, as well as impious, to contend with Him that smites. Shall the potsherds of the earth strive with their Maker, who has all power to do with them as He pleases? He cannot effectually be opposed, and He can do nothing that is wrong. Weak mortals may injure their fellow-creatures for their own advantage, but what profit can it be to the Almighty that He should oppress the work of His own hands?Lawson.

We ought not so to lament the comfort we have lost, as to think that all our future days must be spent in bitterness.Ibid.

Wonder not at David, if he crieth in the anguish of his heart; at Job, if he complaineth in the bitterness of his soul; at Jeremiah, if he lamenteth in the extremity of his grief; for even then they are swallowing of a potion which is bitter unto flesh and blood.Fuller.

It will always remain a wonder to the majority of men what the agonies of some spirits mean. Questions which scorch the spirit like burning lava, pitiful wailings after light, gaspings of the oppressed soul for fresh air and liberty, they know nothing of. I have met men and women who had been familiar with sorrow in many forms. Fortune had not favoured themfortune is strangely capricious: in whatever direction the golden veins run in this world, they had never somehow struck into one; the gifts of health had been niggardly doled out to them, and the common enemy death had passed through their homes, and his footsteps had dried up the springs which, amid all the worlds weariness, had been so refreshing. These trials they had borne patiently and humbly. But the pain which was almost impossible to bear, the blow which made the soul stagger and reel was this, the light went. They were left in mental darkness; there was nothing to guide the soul by; perplexity, uncertainty, bewilderment throughout the whole realm of religion.Morlais Jones.

Now I saw in my dream, that just as they had ended this talk, they drew nigh to a very miry slough that was in the midst of the plain, and they being heedless did both fall suddenly into the bog. The name of the slough was DESPOND.Bunyan.

Men spoil their own lives, and then complain that life is evil; they mar and rend the picture, and murmur because its beauty has disappeared; they run the ship upon the rocks, and weep to find her a wreek; they crush the flower with a rude hand, and are disappointed because it withers.Thomas Jones.

As torrents that are dried up in the heat of summer, when there is most need of them, so all comforts fail in the extremity, that are not derived from the fountain of life.Dr. Bates.

Sorrow is the substance of mans natural life, and it might almost be defined to be his natural capability of the supernatural; nothing has a lasting interest for man which is not in some way connected with sorrow; sorrow is the poetry of a creation which is fallen, of a race which is in exile in a vale of tears.F. W. Faber.

The cross is always ready, and waits for thee in every place. Why hopest, then to avoid that from which no human being has been exempt? Thou art deceived, wretchedly deceived, if thou expect anything but tribulation; for this whole mortal life is full of care, and signed on every side with the cross.Thomas Kempis.

What is sixty years pain to eternity? We never think of sorrow in our dreams; wherefore should we in the dream of life?Jean Paul Richter.

A few in every age have known the divine art of carrying sorrow and trouble as wonderful food, as an invisible garment that clothed them with strength; as a mysterious joy, so that they suffered gladly, rejoicing in infirmity, and holding up their heads with sacred presages; whenever times were dark and troublous, let the light depart from their eyes, that they might by faith see nobler things than sight could reach.Beecher.

Darkness shows us worlds of light

We never saw before.Moore.

The cares and infelicities of life, which are spoken of as hindrances to grace, may be hindrances, but they are the only helps it has in this world. The voice of provocation is the voice of God calling us to the practice of patience.
A man in his old age is like a sword in a shop window: men that look upon the perfect blade do not imagine the process by which it was completed. Man is a sword. Daily life is the workshop, and God is the artificer; and those cares which beat him upon the anvil, and file his edge, and eat in, acid-like, the inscription upon his hilt,these are the very things that fashion the man.Beecher.

No men have need to be so vigilant, so attentive, so listening, so appreciative, as those who are in deep trouble. Sorrow is Mount Sinai. If one will go up and talk with God face to face, he must not fear the voice of thunder, nor the trumpet sounding long and loud.Beecher.

I have read of a fountain that at noonday is cold, and at midnight it grows warm; so many a precious soul is cold Godward, and heaven-ward, and holiness-ward, in the day of prosperity, that grows warm God-ward, and heaven-ward, and holiness-ward in the midnight of adversity.Brooks.

Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of Gods favourLord Bacon.

The good man suffers but to gain,
And every virtue springs from pain;
As aromatic plants bestow
No spicy fragrance while they grow;
But crushed or trodden to the ground,
Diffuse their balmy sweets around.

Goldsmith.

I see not a step before me as I tread the days of the year,
But the past is still in Gods keeping, the future His mercy shall clear;
And what looks dark in the distance may brighten as I draw near.
For perhaps the dreaded future has less bitterness than I think;
The Lord may sweeten the water before I stoop to drink,
Or if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside its brink.
So I go on not knowing. I would not if I might;
I would rather walk on in the dark with God, than go alone in the light;
I would rather walk with Him by faith than walk alone by sight.
My heart shrinks back from trials which the future may disclose,
Yet I never had a sorrow, but what the dear Lord chose;
So I send the coming tears back, with the whispered word, He knows.

Rth. 1:21

Theme.PAINFUL REMEMBRANCES

This is truth the poet sings,

That a sorrows crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.Tennyson.

Brothers, hush! the Lord Christs hands

Evn now are stretched in blessing oer the sea and oer the lands.
Sit not like a mourner, brother! by the grave of that dear past;
Throw the present! tis thy servant only when tis overcast.
Give battle to the leagud world; if thourt worthy, truly brave,
Thou shalt make the hardest circumstance a helper and a slave.

Alexander Smith.

I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home empty again: why, then,? etc.

Sooner or later the time comes in the history of good men when things begin to show themselves as they are. Appearances deceive us no longer. The scales fall from our eyes. Life stands out in its true relationships, and we read, plain as the handwriting on Babylons walls, the lessons God would have us learn from the past. We come more completely to ourselves, and that moment, even to the best of men, is one of contrition and regret, and often of painful self-accusation.
Naomi is evidently passing through such a time in this the hour of her return. A penitent feeling pervades her lamentation (Lange). She left her people in the day of famine, and now she comes back to them, the famine in her own heart. Life has narrowed itself to a question between herself and God. Her emptiness is of Him, but her going away is all her own. She went out of her own free will, though others led her; and in contrast with this comes the doings of the God of the Israel she left behind. I went because it was my will to go, not Gods; now Gods judgment has sent me back (Lange).

Note. (a) To go out of Gods way is to go out of His protection (Macgowan); but (b) to go against His will is to come under the sweep of His chastisements.

We have here,

I. The true conception of human life.

(1) God dealing in it personally, individually, with men. A Scriptural doctrine found from Genesis to Revelation. Pre-eminently a Christian doctrine: Even the very hairs of your head, etc. More than this, it is a reasonable doctrine. If there be no special providence, there is no providence at all; only blind fate, or resistless law. On any other theory which recognises a Deity, we are at the mercy of what is worse than chancea God who thinks it beneath Him to regard His creatures; or worse still, a God who is chained and overmastered by His own laws.

(2) Its departures and wanderings our own. I went out. If any might have blamed others, Naomi might. But not so, she blames herself alone. Note. Self-condemnation a constant attendant upon Christian life. I went out full. So did the prodigal. People usually get full before they go out from Gods way and habitation (Macgowan). She went out not for want, but for fear of want (Bernard, Trapp). (See on Rth. 1:1, pp. 1013.) She went out full of family happiness, of joy in her sons, and of hope of a cheerful old age, surrounded by children and childrens children; but empty now of all these, without possessions and without hope (Lange). What a vivid picture of those who leave the way of Gods ordinances and sanctuary privileges! They go out for gain, but they meet with gall and wormwood instead of honey (Macgowan). Note. Our blindness oftentimes carries us into the perils we seek to eschew (Bishop Hall).

(3) Its better leadings and holier impulses, its repentance and return to God. The Lord hath, etc. Just as the planets are brought into their appointed orbits by the central and attractive force of gravitation, so it is between man and God. (See on Rth. 1:7, div. I., p. 35). Mark, (a) that she was brought home again. Afflictions are not a consuming but a refining fire to the godly (Secker). And mark (b) how she was brought back. By weeping cross, Trapp says quaintly. Home again empty, says the text. Jehoshaphats ships were broken; Lot lost all; Josiah came home short (Trapp). Note as true always of such returns, that the backslider retraces his steps

(1) with many tears and self-reproaches,
(2) with conscious emptiness,
(3) with total self-renunciation. Naomi renounces even her right to her former name. Why call me Naomi? Why speak a single word to remind me of my former glory? In my losses and in my loneliness, in all that belongs to my life, the Lord hath testified against me. Men call her Naomi (pleasant, gracious, lovely); but she reads her life in a different fashion, and says, Call me Mara (bitterness). Note. We fall short in the eyes of God, however we may seem in the eyes of our fellow-men. Repentance and a change of heart always brings us to see this. The old nature and the old life is no longer Naomi, rather it is Mara to us.

We have here,

II. The true explanation of afflictions.

(1) Always from God, if not always for punishment. This one of the great lessons taught in the book of Job. So here. Naomi, not worse, not even so bad, as many around her who had so far escaped calamity. But God has a right to deal severely with the best of His children for their ultimate good. Mark the distinction; He corrects His children, He punishes the wicked. The one act looks forward to a future perfectness, the other looks back only upon the past. The one is remedial and continual until the end is accomplished; the other waits and lingers in hope of repentance, but comes at last, swift as lightning, and sudden as the whirlwind. (Cf. Heb. 12:5-11, with Psa. 37:9-13; Psa. 37:20; Psa. 37:38.)

(2) Always having a meaning and a message, though not always in anger. (See last outline, div. II.) Afflictions are represented here as Gods testimony against those who have wandered from His ways. The Lord hath testified, etc. He puts the straight way of His judgments side by side with our crooked ways. As that One who brings all things to pass, He brings our folly to fruition to confound us. He ripens our plans, and lo they are our undoing! It is not that He thwarts us; oftentimes He gives us the desire of our heart, and it is the strongest testimony to our sin. Note. God not only testifies by word, but by act; not only in revelation, but in providence. Our life a testimony in its circumstance, etc. Gods will is being accomplished in it, as well as our own.

LESSONS.

(1) The vanity of earthly possessions. So uncertain is that which we call fulness in the creature, an hour may strip us of all. Like a bladder, so is worldly prosperity; a puff doth make it swell, but a prick doth make it fall again (Topsell).

(2) It is a sign of true grace when we ascribe the ills which come in life to the hand of God, while we take all the blame to ourselves. What is it but the child recognizing even in chastisement the hand of the Father?

Bernard on this:

I.

That it is a fault, voluntarily for safety of goods, through distrust, to leave Gods people, and go to live among idolaters.

II.

That there is no certainty in worldly wealth.

III.

That oftentimes the ways and means which men take to prevent want, by the same they bring it on them.

IV.

That such of Gods children as go astray, He will bring home again, but yet with correction.

V.

Why then call ye me Naomi? etc. That the humbled and afflicted take no pleasure to be remembered of their former prosperity by names and titles.

VI.

That mans comfort is nothing able to allay the bitterness of Gods discomforts on us.

VII.

That afflictions are commonly the Lords witnesses against us for something amiss in us.

The Lord giveth, and the Lord hath taken away. When He gives, He is under no necessity of securing to us the possession of what He gives. We may soon provoke Him, by our sins, to bereave us of all that He hath given us; but however careful we may be to please Him, we cannot merit the continuance of His favours, and without any special provocation on our part He may have good reasons for impoverishing us, and placing us in conditions quite the reverse of those to which we have been accustomed. And one great reason why God so frequently changes mens prosperous condition into misery is to teach us the folly of trusting to our present enjoyment. But this I say, brethren, the time is short. It remaineth, etc.Lawson.

It is hard to come down in the world through upright dealing, but harder still to stoop to dishonest dealing in order to keep up in the world. If the loss of temporal gain be the gain of eternal good, then the reverse of fortune is the reverse of misfortune.
It is difficult to mourn without murmuring. We are permitted to weep and moan under the hand of God, but it is not easy to weep, to sorrow without excess; at once to feel the rod and to kiss it, to adore and to bless a correcting and bereaving God. How noble the spirit, and how pious the language of Job, when he exclaimed, The Lord gave, etc.Toller.

There are times when we reason thus: the darkness is around us, therefore it will always be dark; the winter has been long and cold, hence summer will never arrive; troubles are come upon us, consequently we are to expect nothing but trouble. Thus does the mind take a melancholy pleasure in tormenting itself. We turn our back to the light, look at our own dark shadow cast upon the ground, and then cry out in sorrow that all things are and will be against us.Thomas Jones.

Afflictions are a testimony against men that they are sinners, but they are not always a testimony that the sufferer is guilty of some particular sins for which God chastiseth him (Job. 2:3).Lawson.

God made men to be blessed. If the cry of broken hearts goes up to heaven, it is not His institution.Baldwin Brown.

Men think God is destroying them because He is tuning them. The violinist screws up the key till the tense cord sounds the concert pitch; but it is not to break it, but to use it tunefully, that he stretches the string upon the musical rack.Beecher.

She utters not a breath of accusation against Elimelech, or of excuse of herself. Properly speaking, the fault did lie with her husband and sons. They were the originators of the undertaking that ended so disastrously; but of this she has no memory.Lange.

She takes the whole blame on herself. She confesses that, in leaving the land of promise, she was walking after her own will, not the will of God. But though she confesses her own sin, she utters no reproach against the beloved dead. I went because it was my will to go; and now God has taught me, by all I have suffered and lost, that it was wrong to go. He has justly emptied me of all my possessions, all my hopes.Cox.

It is nearly the same utterances as fell from her lips in parting with Orpah. Grief makes her almost fierce. The name she bears sounds like irony and a reproach.Braden.

It is good at times to be in distress, for it reminds us that we are in exile.Thomas Kempis.

Those trials which come from God are never without benefit to us, when we receive them worthily, since there is always a rich harvest of spiritual blessings for the afflicted religious heart. If human nature at first shrinks from sorrow, faith and Christian hope soon come to its support; the trial then appears easy to be borne. Receive it as from (God, and its bitterness is past. Indeed, the peace which is always found in this submission is itself a great blessing. even without any exterior alleviation of sorrow. It is a peace so much the more pure as it is unconnected with the world.Fenelon.

But the problem of our life is solved in and by Jesus Christ. He has explained its nature, purpose, and ending. Without Him the world is a haunted house, disturbed by strange noiseshalf-formed apparitions glide through the gloom, and the inhabitants are sore afraid; but possessing His revelation, we know it to be the outer court of the heavenly temple, and we hear already the harmonious voices of the worshippers in the inner sanctuary praising God for their existence. Christ is our refuge from fear.Thomas Jones.

The martyrdom of an hour is sudden glory, but the martyrdom of a lifethere needs something more than human to endure this.Spurgeon.

Oh ye who suffer, whatsoeer it is
Hath brought this fellowship with Christ to try the heart,
Know that the angel ministering is Gods;
And suffering een as doing is the better part.
And ye who, cumbered with much care or pain,
Sleep not, but count the weary hours, and wish for morn;
Lo! from the pentecost of sorrow yours to-day,
The pentecost of joy to-morrow shall be born.
And ye who sorrow for a light thats quenched
For love that gladdened all the morning of lifes day;
By all the sacred tears that Jesus wept,
The dead ye mourn are sleeping, and not lost for aye.
Our friend he sleepeth, said the Master once,
So named He mans last hour, when fails the feeble breath.
A sickness to Gods glory; through the ages thence
New meaning lurks to us in sorrow, suffering, death.B.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Ruths Arrival in Bethlehem Rth. 1:19-22

19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

15.

How did Naomi contrast her return with her departure? Rth. 1:20

The whole town of Bethlehem seemed to be excited at Naomis return, but we suppose it was the women of the city in particular. They were not as surprised to see Naomi was still alive and had come back again as to see her returning in so mournful a condition. She was a solitary widow, without either husband or sons. Naomi replied, Call me not Naomi (i.e. gracious), but Mara (the bitter one; i.e., who has experienced bitterness). She said she went away full and Jehovah had made her come back again empty, She did not mean she had been full of riches, money and property but in the possession of a husband and two sons. She had been a rich mother. Now she was deprived of all that makes a mothers heart rich. She was bereft of both husband and sons. She felt Jehovah had testified against her by word and deed (see Exo. 20:16; 1Sa. 1:6).

16.

In what season was the return to Bethlehem? Rth. 1:22

It was the harvest time. Barley was the first crop harvested by the people of the land. When the harvest began, the people of Israel were commanded to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits to the priest. He was to wave the sheaf before the Lord on the day after the sabbath, and the people were to offer a he-lamb without blemish for a burnt offering unto the Lord (Lev. 23:10-12). Since so many of the events recorded in Ruth occurred during the time of the barley harvest, it was customary to read the little book as the people celebrated the feast of Pentecost, the feast which came fifty days after the passover. This statement in the closing verse of chapter one opens the way for telling of events which happened in the barley fields where Ruth worked after she came to Bethlehem-judah.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(19) They went.The journey for two women apparently alone was long and toilsome, and not free from danger. Two rivers, Arnon and Jordan, had to be forded or otherwise crossed; and the distance of actual journeying cannot have been less than fifty miles. Thus, weary and travel-stained, they reach Bethlehem, and neighbours, doubtless never looking to see Naomi again, are all astir with excitement. It would seem that though the news of the end of the famine had reached Naomi in Moab, news of her had not reached Bethlehem.

They said . . .The Bethlehemite women, that is, for the verb is feminine. Grief and toil had doubtless made her look aged and worn.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

19. They came to Beth-lehem The journey must have occupied several days. They knew not what awaited them. The future seemed full of darkness and sorrow, and they then little dreamed of the honours that were to crown their memory in the history of the chosen people.

All the city was moved about them The Beth-lehemites beheld with emotion their grief and loneliness, and heard with sorrow the story of their sad bereavement. Their sad history, we may suppose, was for a time on every lip, and even a matter of interesting conversation among the elders and most honourable of the city. Rth 2:11-12.

Is this Naomi As though they had said, Has the once cheerful and pleasant wife of the honoured Elimelech come to this state of sorrow?

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came about, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

The impression given is that they now proceeded alone (they two went) as they made their way towards Bethlehem. It would not be a pleasant journey for two women on their own. And when they arrived in the small town of Bethlehem word got around that Naomi was coming. Workers in the fields would have seen these two helpless women and had seemingly thought that they recognised Naomi. The result was that when the women entered the town the majority of its inhabitants were showing a deep interest in them, and were indeed asking whether this could possibly be Naomi, who had been away for so long.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Predestined for Rest: God’s Justification (Naomi and Ruth Find Favour) Rth 1:19 b to Rth 2:23 records the story of Naomi and Ruth’s return to Bethlehem, where they found favour in God’s eyes, and in the sight of Boaz. The reason Ruth found favour in the eyes of her redeemer, Boaz, is because she chose to forsake her people of an idolatrous culture and cling to Naomi and her faith in the God of Israel.

The setting moves from the land of Moab to the land of Israel, to the city of Bethlehem, the city from which Israel’s redemption will be born, both in their king David, the son of Jesse, and ultimately in the birth of the King of Kings the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rth 1:19 bAnd it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

Rth 1:19 b Comments – Rth 1:19 b begins a new section to the book of Ruth, as the scene moves the reader from Moab to Bethlehem. This location to divide the book of Ruth into sections was chosen because it begin with the common Hebrew idiom “and it came to pass” ( ), made from the conjunction ( ) “and” and the imperfect verb ( ) “to be.”

Rth 1:20  And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

Rth 1:20 Word Study on “Mara” PTW says the word means, “bitter.”

Rth 1:22  So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Rth 1:22 Comments – God uses this season of barley harvest to divinely orchestrate Ruth’s union with her redeemer, Boaz. In the midst of Ruth’s labours in gathering the barley harvest, she finds her redeemer.

Rth 2:1  And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

Rth 2:1 Word Study on “Boaz” Gesenius says the name “Boaz” ( ) (H1162) means, “fleetness.” PTW says it means, “fleetness, strength.” His name means, “swiftness.” Boaz was related to Naomi thru her late husband, Elimelech, which made him a kinsman.

Rth 2:1 Comments – Jesus has redeemed us, being our near kinsman.

Rth 2:2  And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

Rth 2:2 “Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn” Comments – The Mosaic Law allowed the poor to glean behind the reapers of the fields in Israel (Lev 19:9-10; Lev 23:22, Deu 24:19).

Lev 19:9-10, “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger : I am the LORD your God.”

Lev 23:22, “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

Deu 24:19, “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.”

Rth 2:2 “after him in whose sight I shall find grace” Comments – Because of her kinship with this wealthy family from Bethlehem, Ruth believed such family ties would naturally give opportunities for favour and assistance in comparison to working the fields of those unrelated to her.

Rth 2:2 Comments – Ruth’s statement in Rth 2:2 reflects her dependence upon divine providence. Her faith in the God of Israel will continually be reveals throughout this book by similar statements.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Rth 1:19-22.

Sorrow and Repentance.

19So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved32 about them, and they said,33 Is this Naomi? 20And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me [hath inflicted bitter sorrow upon me]. 21I went out full, and the Lord [Jehovah] hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord [Jehovah] hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, which returned out of the country [territories] of Moab:34 and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley-harvest.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[1 Rth 1:19. Niphal imperf. of , cf. Ges. 67, Rem. 5; 22, 1. So Ges., Berth., Ewald, etc. Keil, Frst, etc., consider it Niph. imperf. of .Tr.]

[2 Rth 1:19.: fem. plural (cf. , etc. in Rth 1:20). Not exactly, dicebantque mulieres, as the Vulg. has it; the population of the city are the subject of the verb, but in a matter of this kind women would naturally be so prominent as to lead the narrator insensibly to use the feminine. Perhaps Naomi arrived at an hour of the day when the labors of the field left none but women in the city.Tr.]

[3 Rth 1:22.: Dr. Cassel translates the whole clause thus: And so Naomi was returned home, and Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, [who accompanied her] after [or on, cf. the Com. below] her departure from the fields of Moab. This rendering, is, of course, intentionally free, and is designed to indicate that what seems an unnecessary remark, really adds to the sense, namely, that Ruth was the (only) one that clave to Naomi, that came with her from Moab. But this seems rather forced. As the same expression occurs, at Rth 4:3, in connection with Naomi, it may be supposed that it became customary to speak of Naomi and Ruth as the returned from Moab, or as we should say, popularly, the returned Moabites. In that case, it would be best (with Berth.) to take (accented in the text as 3d fem. perf., with the art. as relative, cf. Ges. 109, 2d paragr.), as the fem. participle. The epithet would be applied to Ruth by virtue of her connection with Naomi, cf. Rth 1:7.Tr.]

EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL

Rth 1:19. So they two went. Naomi said nothing more. She ceased to dissuade. She allowed Ruth to go with her, and the latter was as good as her words. She actually accompanied her mother-in-law; and so it came to pass, that Naomi did not return home alone, that is to say, entirely forsaken and helpless.

The whole city was moved about them. Naomis return was an uncommon occurrence. The city, and especially the women, were thrown into a peaceable uproar. Everybody ran, told the news, and wondered. For more than ten years had passed since she had left Bethlehem. Then there had doubtless been talk enough, as Naomi went away with her husband, in far different and better circumstances. It may be taken for granted that even then her character had awakened sympathy and affection in Bethlehem. Her husband, we know, belonged to a prominent family of the city. All this renders it natural that the news that Naomi had returned to Bethlehem, poor and sorrowful, spread like wildfire, and created what to her was an unpleasant sensation.35 Is that Naomi! is the universal exclamation.

Rth 1:20. Call me not Naomi, call me Mara. Undoubtedly, the general astonishment over such a return, gave rise to many reflections which a woman especially would feel deeply. Not merely the external comparison of then and now, but also the motives of the former departure are brought to mind. Then, Naomis life and circum stances corresponded with the amiable and joyous name she bore. Now, she were better named Mara, the bitter, sorrowful one. It is evident that names were still preserved with conscious reference to their meaning. Naomi manifestly intends, by these and the following words, to inform the inhabitants of Bethlehem of her fortunes. I am no longer the old Naomi; for what of happiness I possessed, I have lost. I have no more anything that is pleasant about me: my life, like a salty, bitter spring, is without flavor or relish.

For the Almighty (Shaddai) hath inflicted bitter sorrow upon me. Why Shaddai? The use of this divine surname must here also be connected with its pregnant, proper signification. The explanation which must necessarily be given to it, is not consistent with its derivation from , which always appears in a bad sense. What this explanation is, will become apparent when the passages are considered in which the name is first, and with emphasis, employed. We select, therefore, those of Genesis, in which book the name Shaddai occurs more frequently than in any other except Job, and always as designative of the gracious, fertile God, by whom the propagation of mankind is guaranteed. Thus, it is assumed by God in Gen 17:1 ff. where he says to Abram, I make thee exceedingly fruitful,to a father of a multitude of nations, etc. So likewise, it occurs Gen 28:3 : El Shaddai will bless thee and make thee fruitful. Gen 35:11 : I am El Shaddai, be fruitful, and multiply. Gen 48:3 : El Shaddai appeared unto meand said, Behold, I make thee fruitful and multiply thee. Gen 49:25 : Shaddai shall bless theewith blessings of the breasts () and of the womb. For the same reason it is used at Gen 43:14, where the fate of the children of Jacob is in question. This gracious God, the source of fruitfulness and life, gives his blessing to his chosen saints, but from sinners, and from those whom He tries, He takes away what to others He gives. Hence the frequent use of the name in Job, who is chastened in his children, cf. Job 8:3 : Will Shaddai pervert justice? If thy children sinned against Him, He gave them over into the hand of their transgressions. And in this sense Naomi also uses the name Shaddai, in speaking of her misery. For the death of her husband and her sons has rendered her family desolate and unfruitful. The word must therefore unquestionably be referred to a root , still in use in Arabic, in the sense to water, to fertilize. For that all fertility comes from water, by which aridity is removed and thirst assuaged, is a deeply rooted conception, especially in oriental antiquity. Numerous mythical pictures of heathenism represent their heroes as conquering drought and unfruitfulness by liberating the rain and the streams. The name of the Indian god Indra is derived from Ind = und, to flow, and is therefore equivalent to the rain-giver, who frees the clouds so that they can dispense their showers (cf. E. Meier, Ind. Liederb., p. 147 f.). The true Rain-giver, the dispenser and increaser of fertility, of the earth and among beasts and men, is the living, personal God, as Shaddai. The root must also explain , mamma, properly the fountain of rain and blessings for man and beast, as Gellius (12:1) calls it, fontem sanctissimum corporis, and the bringer up of the human race. Hence we are enabled to recognize the wide-spread philological root to which shadah, to water, shad (Aram tad), mamma, belong; for it is connected with the Sanskrit dhe, Greek , Gothic daddjan (Old German, tutta, etc., cf. Benfey, Gr. Gram. ii. 270), in all which forms the idea of giving drink, suckling, is present. From the Greek word, the name of the goddess Thetis is derived, as Nurse of the Human Race (cf. Welcker, Gr. Mythol., 1:618). That Artemis of Ephesus was represented as a multimammia, is known not only from antique sculptures, but also from the writings of the church fathers; cf. the words of Jerome (in Prom Ep. Pauli ad Ephes.): omnium bestiarum et viventium esse nutricem mentiuntur. Naomi was rightly named when, with a flourishing family, she went to Moabbut now Shaddai, who gave the blessing, has taken it away.

Rth 1:21. I went out full, and Jehovah hath brought me home again empty. Full of family happiness, of joy in her sons, and of hope of a cheerful old age surrounded by children and childrens children; but empty now of all these, without possessions and without hope. A penitent feeling pervades her lamentation. I went away notwithstanding my fullness, and because I went full, do I return empty. For this reason she says: I went away, and Jehovah has brought me home again. I went because it was my will to go, not Gods; now, Gods judgment has sent me back. With that one word she gives vent to her sorrow that in those times of famine she forsook her people, although she herself was happy. What an evil thing it is to follow ones own will, when that will is not directed by the commandments of God! Man goes, but God brings home. But beside this penitential feeling, there is another feature indicative of Naomis beautiful character, which must not be overlooked. She says, I went, me hath God afflicted; not, We wentmy husband took me with him,after all, I only followed as in duty bound. She utters not a breath of accusation against Elimelech or of excuse for herself. Properly speaking, the fault did lay with her husband and sons. They were the originators of the undertaking that ended so disastrously; but of this she has no memory. She neither accuses, nor yet does she commiserate and bewail them. Of the evils which they experienced, she does not speak. I went, and me has God brought home again, empty and bereft of husband and child. Therefore, she repeats, call me not Naomi! That name, when she hears it, suggests the entire contrast between what she was and what she now is.

For Jehovah hath testified against me, . The internal connection with the preceding thoughts confirms the correctness of the Masoretic pointing. The reading of the LXX., he humbled me, was justly departed from, for it is only a paraphrase of the sense.36 That which Bertheau considers to be the difficulty of the passage, that it makes God to testify against a person, while elsewhere only men bear testimony, is precisely the special thought of Naomi: I went, she says, and God has testified that this going was a sin. Through the issue of my emigration God has testified that its inception was not rooted in Him, but in ourselves. It is a peculiarity of piety that it ascribes the issue of all the affairs of life to God. Was it right or not, that I (namely, Elimelech and she) went away to Moab? Men might be in doubt about it. But the end, she says, bears witness against us, who followed our own inclinations. God testified against her, for Shaddai hath afflicted me. In other words, in that God, as Shaddai, made sorrow my portion, He testified against me. The two clauses, , and , are not so much parallel as mutually explanatory. In the loss of my children and family, says Naomi, I perceive that He declares me guilty, as the Targum also excellently renders . At the same time, the meaning of Shaddai comes here again clearly to view. For it is He who inflicts sorrow upon her, only in that her children are taken from her. That which God, as Shaddai, the giver of fruitful ness, did to her when he caused her sons to wither away, proves that God testifies against her. is here used just as it is in Jos 24:20 : If ye forsake Jehovahhe will do you hurt ( ) and utterly destroy you.

Rth 1:22. So Naomi returned and Ruth with her. The curiosity of the inhabitants of Bethlehem is satisfied; they have also heard the history of Ruth; but with this their sympathy has likewise come to an end. Naomi was poor and God-forsaken,at least according to the pious and penitential feeling of the good woman herself. How natural, that in her native place, too, she should stand alone. But Ruth was with her. She had continued firm on the road, and she remained faithful in Bethlehem. Since there also no one assisted her mother-in-law, she continued to be her only stay and the sole sharer of her lot. Her presence is once more expressly indicated: and Ruth, the Moabitess, with her, on her departure from the fields of Moab. No one was with her but Ruth,who made the journey from Moab with her, in order to take care of her mother-in-law. What had become of Naomi, if Ruth, like Orpah, had forsaken her! She had sunk into poverty and humiliation more bitter than death. It is true, she too, with her husband, had left Israel in times of distress. But for this she could not be held responsible, although her generous spirit accused herself and no one else. On the other hand, she had been sufficiently punished, and had confessed her guilt. But in Bethlehem poor Naomi was made to feel that she now bore the name of Mara. Only Ruth had respect to neither before nor after. She reflected on neither happy nor sorrowful days. As she had loved in prosperity, so she remained true in adversity. Naomi, in her native place and among kindred, in Israel, had been alone and in want, had not the stranger, the widow of her son, accompanied her from her distant land. While such love was hers, Naomi was not yet wholly miserable; for God has respect to such fidelity.

And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley-harvest. Consequently, in the beginning of the harvest season in general. This statement is made in order to intimate that the help of God did not tarry long. The harvest itself afforded the opportunity to prepare consolation and reward for both women in their highest need.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Call me not Naomi, but Mara. Naomi does not conceal her condition when she reaches her native place. Usually, the natural man, even as a beggar, still desires to shine. She has lost everything; and what she had gained, the companionship of Ruth, is not yet able to console her. Her very love fills her with anxiety for this daughter. Recollections are very bitter, and the future is full of care. It is, however, only because she is empty of all joys, that she wishes to be called Mara. But it was made evident even in her misery that whatever she had lost, she had found the grace of God; for then too she was not only named, but truly was, Naomi. Nor will one who in sorrow does not cease to be lovely, retain the name of Mara. Pope Gregory the Great, when praised (by Leander) replied: Call me not Naomi, i. e. beautiful, but call me Mara, since I am full of bitter grief. For I am no more the same person you knew: outwardly I have advanced, inwardly I have fallen. And I fear to be among those of whom it is said: Thou castedst them down when they were lifted up. For when one is lifted up, he is cast down; he advances in honors and falls in morals.

Thomas a Kempis: It is good at times to be in distress; for it reminds us that we are in exile.

Bengel: If God have loved thee, thou canst have had no lack of trouble.

For Shaddai hath afflicted me. Naomi did not go to Moab of her own accord, for she followed her husband. Her stay also in the strange land was prolonged only because her sons had married there. After their death, although poor and empty, she returned home again, albeit she had but little to hope for. And yet in the judgment she perceives only her own guilt. Her loving heart takes all Gods judgments on itself. The more she loved, the more ready she was to repent. Being a Naomi, she did not accuse those she loved. The sign of true love is unselfishness, which ascribes ills to self, blessings to others. As long as she was in misery, she took the anger of God upon herself; but as soon as she perceived the favor of God, she praised Him as the God who showed kindness to the living and the dead.

[Fuller: And all the city was moved, etc. See here, Naomi was formerly a woman of good quality and fashion, of good rank and repute: otherwise her return in poverty had not been so generally taken notice of. Shrubs may be grubbed to the ground, and none miss them; but every one marks the felling of a cedar. Grovelling cottages may be evened to the earth, and none observe them; but every traveller takes notice of the fall of a steeple. Let this comfort those to whom God hath given small possessions. Should He visit them with poverty, and take from them that little they have, yet their grief and shame would be the less: they should not have so many fingers pointed at them, so many eyes staring on them, so many words spoken of them; they might lurk in obscurity: it must be a Naomi, a person of eminency and estate, whose poverty must move a whole city.The same: Seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. Who then is able to hold out suit with God in the court of heaven? For God himself is both judge and witness, and also the executor and inflicter of punishments.

Bp. Hall: Ten years have turned Naomi into Mara. What assurance is there of these earthly things whereof one hour may strip us? What man can say of the years to come, thus will I be?Tr.]

Footnotes:

[32][Rth 1:19. Niphal imperf. of , cf. Ges. 67, Rem. 5; 22, 1. So Ges., Berth., Ewald, etc. Keil, Frst, etc., consider it Niph. imperf. of .Tr.]

[33][Rth 1:19.: fem. plural (cf. , etc. in Rth 1:20). Not exactly, dicebantque mulieres, as the Vulg. has it; the population of the city are the subject of the verb, but in a matter of this kind women would naturally be so prominent as to lead the narrator insensibly to use the feminine. Perhaps Naomi arrived at an hour of the day when the labors of the field left none but women in the city.Tr.]

[34][Rth 1:22.: Dr. Cassel translates the whole clause thus: And so Naomi was returned home, and Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, [who accompanied her] after [or on, cf. the Com. below] her departure from the fields of Moab. This rendering, is, of course, intentionally free, and is designed to indicate that what seems an unnecessary remark, really adds to the sense, namely, that Ruth was the (only) one that clave to Naomi, that came with her from Moab. But this seems rather forced. As the same expression occurs, at Rth 4:3, in connection with Naomi, it may be supposed that it became customary to speak of Naomi and Ruth as the returned from Moab, or as we should say, popularly, the returned Moabites. In that case, it would be best (with Berth.) to take (accented in the text as 3d fem. perf., with the art. as relative, cf. Ges. 109, 2d paragr.), as the fem. participle. The epithet would be applied to Ruth by virtue of her connection with Naomi, cf. Rth 1:7.Tr.]

[35]The Midrash makes the scene still more dramatic by the explanation, that the concourse of the inhabitants was occasioned by the fact that the first wife of Boaz had that very day been carried to her grave (cf. Ruth Rabba, 31, d).

[36][And, therefore, hardly to be called a reading. That the LXX. read , as some have thought, is hardly possible, as that word could not be suitably construed with . For the same reason Bertheau takes in the sense to bestow labor on anything, cf. Ecc 1:13. This general idea, he thinks, is then determined by what follows, so as to mean: Jehovah has worked against me. On , in the sense, to testify against, cf. Exo 20:16; 2Sa 1:16; Isa 3:9; etc. Bertheaus objection seems to be sufficiently met above.Tr.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 279
THE CHANGES MADE BY TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES

Rth 1:19. It came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

TO seek the applause of man is wrong: but to merit it, is most desirable. A man of worthless character creates no respect in the minds of others; so that, if ill befall him, he finds but little sympathy in the bosoms of those around him: whereas a good man under misfortune, excites a general commiseration; and every one takes a lively interest in his affairs. This is beautifully exemplified in the history before us. Naomi was certainly a woman of piety, and much esteemed. In a season of dearth she had left her country with her husband and sons; and, after ten years absence, she returned in a bereaved and destitute condition, having lost her husband and her two sons, and having no attendant but a daughter-in-law, as poor and destitute as herself. Yet, behold, she no sooner reaches the place of her former abode, than the whole city is moved with her misfortunes, every one feeling for her as for a sister, and with tender concern exclaiming, Is this Naomi?

The circumstance here recorded will lead me to shew you,

I.

What changes take place in life

This is altogether a changing scene; every day bringing with it something new, to elevate or depress our minds. Some changes are of a favourable nature, such as the growth of our children in wisdom and stature; the advancement of our friends in wealth and honour; and, above all, the conversion of the gay and dissipated to the knowledge of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. These things sometimes occur so suddenly and beyond our expectation, that we scarcely know how to credit them; and we are ready to ask, with pleasing surprise, Is this Naomi, whom I remember not long since under such different circumstances?
But it is rather of afflictive changes that our text leads us to speak: and we shall notice them,

1.

In relation to temporal matters

[What effects are wrought by disease or accident in the space of only a few days, we all are well aware. The person who but as yesterday was flourishing in health, vigour, beauty, is become enfeebled, emaciated, yea, a mass of deformity, so that you exclaim, with almost incredulous surprise, Is this Naomi? Nor are changes less quickly made in the outward circumstances of men, one day living in affluence and all the splendour of wealth; the next, reduced to penury and shame. The age in which we live has been fruitful in such examples, princes and nobles having taken refuge, and found subsistence from the hands of charity, in our happy isle [Note: During the French Revolution.]; and, since that period, multitudes of our most opulent merchants having fallen from the highest pinnacle of grandeur to insignificance and want. Nor is it uncommon to behold a man, who by his talents has commanded universal admiration, brought, through disorder or through age, to a state of more than infantine fatuity; so that he can be no longer recognised but as a wreck and ruin of the former man.

The circumstances of Naomi lead me to mention yet another change, namely, that of family bereavements. We have seen persons in the full enjoyment of domestic happiness, with children, numerous, healthy, playful, the joy and delight of their parents, by successive strokes brought to a state of widowhood and desolation. Behold the disconsolate widow, weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are not; and because the husband, who was her stay and her support, is either languishing on a bed of sickness, or wrested from her by resistless death! In a word, see Job encircled with his family, and in the fullest possession of all that the world could give him: Ah! how fallen! how destitute! What a complete picture of human misery, and of the vanity of all sublunary good!]

2.

In relation to spiritual concerns

[The most distressing sight is that of one who once was hopeful as to the concerns of his soul, but has left off to behave himself wisely, and launched forth into all manner of dissipation: or, if a more pitiable object can present itself to our view, it is that of one, who, after attaining an eminence in the Christian life, has fallen into a state of wilful and habitual sin, and brought public disgrace upon his holy profession. David will here naturally occur to our minds. Look at him: Is this David? the man so abhorrent of evil, that he would not suffer a person who should utter a falsehood to dwell in his sight? Ah! how fallen! how unlike this murderer is to the sweet singer of Israel, the man after Gods own heart! And Solomon, too; Is this Solomon? that perfection of wisdom, whom all proclaimed as the wisest of the human race, now so infatuated, as to seek his happiness in a number of wives and concubines; and so impious, as both to gratify them, and to unite with them, in the most abominable idolatries [Note: 1Ki 11:1-10]? Is this Solomon? I say: Who can believe it?

But must we go back to those distant ages for instances of human frailty and depravity? Would to God that they were of such rare occurrence, that none had ever arisen in our own remembrance. But wherever the Gospel is preached, instances will be found of persons who ran well for a season only, and who, though they began in the Spirit, have ended in the flesh. Look at any such persons now, and see how unlike they are to their former selves! How is the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed!]
But, that we may duly improve these occurrences, let us consider,

II.

What feelings the contemplation of them should inspire

We should not be uninterested spectators of such events: they should excite in us,

1.

Sympathy

[In no case should we exult over fallen greatness. We read, indeed, of the triumphant utterance of joy at the fall of the Babylonish monarch, agreeably to the predictions respecting him [Note: Isa 14:4-11. Almost this whole passage should be cited.] And similar exultation was felt at the destruction of Jerusalem; as it is said: All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth [Note: Lam 2:15.]? But though these gloryings were permitted by God for the punishment of his enemies, they are not recorded for our imitation. We, like our blessed Lord, should weep over the desolations even of our bitterest enemies [Note: Luk 19:41-42.]. We should bear one anothers burthens, and so fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Gal 6:2.]. The sight of misery, wheresoever it is found, should call forth our tenderest sympathy, and cause us to weep with them that weep [Note: Rom 12:15.]. This is particularly suggested by the conduct of the people at Bethlehem: The whole city was moved at the sight of this poor widow, whom they had not seen for the space of ten years; and one sentiment of compassion filled all ranks of people, saying, Is this Naomi? So let it be with us, whether we be able to relieve the sufferer, or not. The very feeling of compassion will be pleasing to our God; and will assimilate us to that blessed Saviour, who pitied us in our low estate, and who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich [Note: 2Co 8:9.].]

2.

Contentment

[In such a changeable world as this, what is there for us to covet? Shall we desire riches? How soon do they make themselves wings, and fly away [Note: Pro 23:5.]! Shall we affect honour? How soon may our Hosannahs be turned into, Crucify him, crucify him! As for pleasure, of whatever land, so vain is it all, that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness [Note: Pro 14:13.]. Indeed, the whole world, even if we could possess it all, is but vanity and vexation of spirit. If we have wives, our true wisdom is to be as though we had none; if we weep, to be as though we wept not; or, if we rejoice, as though we rejoiced not: if we buy, to be as though we possessed not; and, if we use this world, as not abusing it: because the fashion of this world passeth away [Note: 1Co 7:29-31.]. If changes of the most calamitous nature occur, we should remember, that nothing has happened to us but what is common to man, and nothing but what may issue either in our temporal or eternal good. There are not wanting instances of the deepest reverses being themselves reversed: for Jobs prosperity, after his distresses, far exceeded any thing that he had enjoyed in his earlier life [Note: Job 42:10-16.]. Naomi, too, found, in the issue, that she had no reason to adopt the name of Mara [Note: ver. 20.]: for her subsequent connexion with Boaz soon dissipated all her sorrows, so that she could put off her sackcloth and gird her with gladness. But, if this should not be the case, we may well be satisfied that tribulation worketh patience, and experience and hope, and that our light and momentary afflictions work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory [Note: 2Co 4:17-18.]. In the view, then, of all these things, we should learn, in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content: we should be equally ready to be abased or to abound, and to be instructed everywhere, and in all things, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need [Note: Php 4:11-12.].]

3.

Piety

[This will never fail us. If we have much, it will sanctify our prosperity, and keep it from injuring our souls. If we have little, it will supply the lack of every thing. View the rich man in all his abundance, and Lazarus in all his destitution. The eye of sense will look with envy on the one that is revelling in plenty: the eye of faith will form a far different estimate, and congratulate the sufferer in the midst of all his distresses. The wealth of this world brings with it many cares and troubles: but the blessing of God maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it [Note: Pro 10:22.]. Even whilst the two were here in this world, no doubt the poorer was the happier man. But at the moment of their departure hence, what different feelings would have been expressed, if they had still been subjected to the sight of man! Is this the rich mannow destitute of a drop of water to cool his tongue? Is this Lazarusnow in the bosom of Abraham, at the banquet of the Lord? So, then, shall it ere long be said of you, ye sons and daughters of affliction, if only ye improve your trials for the furtherance of your spiritual welfare. How soon shall all your tears be wiped away from your eyes! How soon shall joy and gladness come forth to meet you; and sorrow and sighing flee away for ever! Be patient, then, unto the coming of your Lord: and you shall soon find, that the sufferings of this present life were not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us [Note: Rom 8:18.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

Such is the surprise whenever a sinner is brought home to Jesus! It excites the wonder and astonishment of man, in beholding the mighty change wrought by sovereign grace. And as we are told that angels rejoice in heaven over the recovery of every poor sinner from the power of sin And Satan to the living God, think, Reader, What a moving of the heavenly city is there above, when Jesus brings home a soul that he hath rescued from Moab, of the wanderers from Bethlehem? Is there anything yet more surprising? Yes! how astonished shall you and I look in upon ourselves, and all around, if God in his infinite mercy, and from the riches of his inexhaustible grace, should bring us home from those regions of sin we now inhabit, to surround the throne of God and the Lamb!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Rth 1:19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, [Is] this Naomi?

Ver. 19. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. ] Thus God never forsaketh his, Will not forsake even if forsaked Non deserit etiam si deserat. but when one comfort faileth, findeth them out another; as when Sarah died, Rebekah came in her room. Yea, God himself stood by Paul when all men forsook him. 2Ti 4:16

So they two. ] Amicitia sit inter binos, qui sunt veri; et bonos, qui sunt pauci.

And it came to pass. ] See on Rth 1:1

That all the city was moved about them. ] Which showeth that Naomi had been of quality and good account among them.

And they said. ] The women said; for the word is of the feminine gender. These women afterwards spake very comfortably to her, as now they do compassionately, saying,

Is this Naomi? ] Alas! what a change is in her! O quantum haec (Niobe) Naomi, Naomi mutatur ab illa! Fuimus Troes.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Beth-lehem = House of bread.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 8

Change And Decay All Around ME I see

“So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.”

Rth 1:19-22

Swift to its close ebbs out lifes little day, Earths joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around (me) I see – Thou who changest not, abide with me!

I once heard Bro. Scott Richardson say, Life in this world aint much. It begins with a slap on the bottom and ends with a shovel full of dirt in your face, and there aint much in between except bumps and bruises. Certainly, Naomi would agree with Bro. Scott. (Read Rth 1:19-22).

Naomi was a true believer, once highly esteemed in Bethlehem, a woman of wealth and influence. But during a time of famine, she left her country with her husband and her two sons. When Elimilech and Naomi might have used their riches to relieve great need, they chose to hang on to their money and leave their people. But things changed in a hurry. After ten years absence, Naomi returned from Moab bereaved and destitute. She had lost her husband and her two sons, her money and her property. She came back to Bethlehem with nothing but the ragged clothes on her back and a daughter-in-law who was as poor and destitute as she was. How quickly things change! When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, as she walked down the streets, broken, weary, ragged, and worn with age and trouble, the whole town was astonished by what they saw. They said to one another, Is this Naomi? The withered rose is so much unlike the blooming flower that the one bears only a faint resemblance to the other; and Naomi was so unlike the woman who left Bethlehem ten years earlier that her friends could hardly believe it was her – Is this Naomi?

The afflictive hand of divine providence makes great changes, sometimes shocking changes, in a short time. When God chastens, he means to correct; and his chastening rod always has its intended effect (Heb 12:5-12). Naomi correctly attributed all her troubles to the hand of her God. She learned that everything she had experienced was brought to pass by the hand of her heavenly Father and that it had all been for her souls good.

A PICTURE OF THE FALL

Certainly, Naomi stands before us in this text as a picture of the fall of the human race in our father Adam (Rth 1:20-21). If we could get some idea of Adams condition and circumstances in the garden of Eden, as God made him, we would look in the mirror every morning and say, Is this Adam? God made us full, but now we are empty! (Ecc 7:29).

God made man in his own image and after his own likeness (Gen 1:27). In the beginning, Adam was full. He was perfectly righteous. He was incredibly brilliant. He was spiritual, strong, and in complete peace and harmony with both God and his creation. Then, Adam sinned, and we sinned in him. Oh, how great was the fall of man! (Rom 5:12).

Because of that terrible fall, we all bear greater resemblance, by nature, to the devil than to God (Mat 15:19). We are spiritually empty, void of righteousness and full of sin. Man is no longer spiritual but carnal, no longer wise but foolish, no longer strong but weak. Fallen man is without peace, without God, and without hope in his natural condition.

The only remedy for this lost, ruined condition is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Joh 3:14-16). When Naomi had lost everything, she returned to Bethlehem, she returned to her God and his people. Even so, sinners who have lost everything in Adam must return to the Lord God by faith in Christ Jesus. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, she came home to God.

Bethlehem means House of Bread. In the house of God there is always bread enough and to spare. And there is always a warm welcome in the Fathers heart for returning prodigals. The word Judah means praise – Bethlehem-Judah was the Place of Praise. Naomi and Ruth came out of the place of sorrow and suffering, out of the place of death and despair into the place of praise. The mercy-seat is the place of praise. There God meets with sinners and declares that they are forgiven. That Mercy-Seat is Christ (Hebrews 9; 1Jn 2:2). Bethlehem-Judah was the place of God, the place of his presence, his power, his protection, his promise, his provision. That is what Christ is to all who trust him. He is our divine refuge (Pro 18:10).

GREAT CHANGES

In this text, Naomi also represents the changing circumstances of life in this world. What changes occur in this world! Every day something new happens that either elevates or depresses our spirits.

We rejoice in favorable changes. Naomi had been through some hard times. But things were about to get much better. Even in this vale of tears there are some joys that must not be overlooked or taken for granted. What great joy we have when our children become mature, responsible adults, when God is pleased to save them, when they bring grandchildren into the family. When friends prosper, our hearts rejoice with them. When someone we love recovers from sickness or their familys troubles seem to be over, we find joy in change. But our text is not talking about favorable changes.

The changes Naomi had experienced were afflictive, trying changes, changes which are hard to endure. Though her friends appear to have been terribly disturbed by Naomis great losses, she was composed. She resigned herself to the will of God. She spoke honestly, but not scornfully of the Lords dealings with her (Rth 1:20-21).

Naomi had endured a very sorrowful trial. She went out full. At least, she thought she was full. After all, she had everything the world could offer. Her husband was wealthy and highly respected. Her sons were in good health. Her family enjoyed social rank and prestige. But, when she came home, things were different. She came home empty.

Let us learn and ever remember that the fulness of this world is soon gone (Ecc 1:2-3; 1Sa 2:3-5). There is a fulness that can never be taken away in Christ (Luk 10:42). To be in Christ, to have Christ is to be rich in our souls, rich toward God, rich forever.

Painful as her troubles were, and though they must be blamed upon disobedience and unbelief as their cause, Naomi properly acknowledged the hand of God in them all. She said, The Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. The Lord hath brought me home again empty! (See 1Sa 2:6-8).

The fact is, nothing will give our souls peace and satisfaction in the times of trouble and great sorrow like the acknowledgment of Gods hand in our troubles. This is were Job found solace for his soul (Job 1:21). When God took Elis sons and told him it was because of his sin, Eli comforted his heart in the acknowledgement of Gods providence (1Sa 3:18). When Davids son was killed because of Davids sin, he took comfort in the fact that God loved him, in the fact that he is always wise, gracious and just, and he always does what is right and good (2Sa 12:20-24). When Shimei publicly cussed David out before his servants, the man after Gods own heart took refuge in the purpose, providence, and promise of God (2Sa 16:9-12). The One by whose hand Naomi had been afflicted and by whose hand she had been brought home was, The Lord, the Almighty! El-Shaddai! God all-sufficient, God almighty, the God of covenant faithfulness is the God she had learned to trust and worship (Gen 17:1)

Naomi acknowledged the pain she had felt and still felt by reason of her long trial. She said, The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. The cup of affliction is a bitter cup. Though it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness in the end, it is not joyous, but grievous in the experience (Heb 12:11; Job 13:24-26; Lam 3:15-17). Naomi also acknowledged that the Lord God had dealt with her sharply, because she had given him reason to do so. She said, The Lord hath testified against me. He doth not afflict willingly (Lam 3:33). God had a controversy with her, so he laid the rod to her back that he might retrieve her heart (Job 5:17-18). This afflicted believer, this corrected child, humbly submitted to and acquiesced in the will of God. She said to her friends, Call me not Naomi (Sweetness), call me Mara (Bitter): for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me!

God will do what ever must be done to correct his erring children and turn their hearts to him again. How many illustrations we have in the Scriptures. Naomi is but one. Naomi lived in Moab for ten years. Lot lived in Sodom a long, long time. Samson did not lose his hair the first time he laid his head in Delilahs lap. David spent a full year without communion with his God. All of them suffered much because of their sinful behavior. But the Lord God will never lose one of his own. He says, Give me thine heart; and if we are his, he will see to it that we give him our hearts.

THE BELIEVERS ATTITUDE

What should our attitude be when we see great changes like this in the lives of our friends or experience them ourselves in Gods good providence? May God the Holy Spirit seal to our hearts this portion of his Word by making it beneficial to our souls and by making us useful to one another.

When we see one of Gods people suffering great adversity, let us be kind, gracious, and sympathetic, even when we know they have brought the trouble upon themselves (Eph 4:32; Gal 6:2). Let us relieve them if we are able, and love them if we cannot relieve them. When they return, when the Lord has recovered them, we should always receive them into our hearts with open arms. How often? Our Lord says, until seventy times seven. In other words, let there be no limit to our forgiveness of one another, just as there is no limit to our heavenly Fathers forgiveness of us.

When the Lord God fills our cup with bitterness, let us seek by his grace to be content, even when we are made to suffer adversity (Php 4:12). As Naomi was bettered by her bitterness in life and Job was advanced by his adversity (Job 42:10-16), so shall we be at Gods appointed time (Rom 8:28-30). Let us, therefore, set our hearts upon the world to come (2Co 4:17 to 2Co 5:1). Though we are unworthy of the least of Gods mercies, the Lord God has done great things for us. All things are ours now. Eternal glory and eternal happiness await us. The Lord knows exactly what he is doing.

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break With blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain;

God is His own Interpreter And He will make it plain.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

all the city: From this it would appear that Naomi was not only well known, but also highly respected at Beth-lehem: aproof that Elimelech was of high consideration at that place. Mat 21:10

Is this Naomi: Isa 23:7, Lam 2:15

Reciprocal: Jos 19:15 – Bethlehem Rth 2:6 – It is the 1Ch 2:51 – Bethlehem Job 2:12 – knew him Son 1:6 – Look Lam 4:8 – they Mat 2:5 – General Luk 2:4 – unto Joh 9:8 – Is not

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Rth 1:19-21. Is this Naomi? Is this she that formerly lived in so much plenty and honour? How marvellously is her condition changed! Call me not Naomi Which signifies pleasant, and cheerful. Call me Mara Which signifies bitter, or sorrowful. I went out full With my husband and sons, and a plentiful estate for our support. Testified That is, hath borne witness, as it were, in judgment, and given sentence against me. Thus she acknowledges that the affliction came from God, and that God was contending with and correcting her; and she is willing to accommodate herself to the afflictive and bitter dispensation; and as a token thereof to have her name changed from Naomi to Mara. It well becomes us, says Henry, to have our hearts humbled under humbling providences. When our condition is brought down, our spirits should be brought down with it. And then our troubles are sanctified to us, when we thus comport with them: for it is not an affliction in itself, but an affliction rightly borne, that doth us good.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1:19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was {h} moved about them, and they said, [Is] this Naomi?

(h) By which it appears that she was of a great family of good reputation.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

D. Naomi’s weak faith 1:19-21

Naomi had experienced both blessing and loss since she had left Bethlehem. When she returned home she chose to emphasize her hardships. She had forgotten God’s faithfulness and His promises to bless all Israel (Gen 12:1-3; Gen 12:7), her tribe in particular (Gen 49:8-12), and all the godly in Israel (Deu 5:7-10). But her emptiness (Rth 1:21) was only temporary. Her pessimism at this point contrasts with Ruth’s optimism (Rth 1:16-18).

"In Israel, names were not just labels of individuality but descriptions of inner character which in turn were presumed to influence the person’s conduct. . . . Recall Jacob (’schemer’; Gen 27:36); Nabal (’fool’; 1Sa 25:25); Jesus (’savior’; Mat 1:21). Similarly, to receive a new name signified a change in character and destiny (i.e., Abram to Abraham, Gen 17:5-8; Jacob to Israel, Gen 32:29 [Eng. 28]; Simon to Peter, Mat 16:17-18; Saul to Paul, Acts 19 [sic 13]:9)." [Note: Hubbard, p. 124, and n. 19.]

"Naomi" means "my pleasantness." Her parents must have given her this character trait name hoping that she would become a pleasant person in God’s sight. "Mara" means "bitterness." Naomi regarded herself no longer as pleasant but bitter as a result of what had happened to her. One of the unique features of the Book of Ruth is that every person’s name that appears in it, and even the lack of a proper name (Rth 4:1), is significant.

Frederic Bush viewed Naomi’s faith differently.

"Naomi here does not evidence little faith; rather, with the freedom of a faith that ascribes full sovereignty to God, she takes God so seriously that, with Job and Jeremiah (and even Abraham, Gen 15:2), she resolutely and openly voices her complaint. With this robust example of the honesty and forthrightness of the OT’s ’theology of complaint,’ our author depicts in somber and expressive hues the desolation, despair, and emptiness of the life of a woman ’left alone without her two boys and without her husband’ (Rth 1:5) in a world where life depends upon men." [Note: Bush, pp. 95-96.]

The biblical writer highlighted Naomi and Ruth’s vulnerability by featuring women prominently in chapter 1. There are no men to provide for and protect them in view. Women are the main characters throughout this chapter, including the women of Bethlehem who speak for the town (Rth 1:19). Naomi failed to see that Yahweh had not brought her back home empty (Rth 1:21). Ruth, who had pledged herself to care for Naomi as long as she lived, had returned with her (Rth 1:22). This was a tremendous blessing from the Lord. At this time Naomi considered Ruth insignificant, but the women of Bethlehem later corrected her faulty view of Ruth’s worth (Rth 4:15).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ

Rth 1:19-22; Rth 2:1-23

WEARY and footsore the two travellers reached Bethlehem at length, and “all the city was moved about them.” Though ten years had elapsed, many yet remembered as if it had been yesterday the season of terrible famine and the departure of the emigrants. Now the women lingering at the well, when they see the strangers approaching, say as they look in the face of the elder one, “Is this Naomi?” What a change is here! With husband and sons, hoping for anew life across in Moab, she went away. Her return has about it no sign of success; she comes on foot, in the company of one who is evidently of an alien race, and the two have all the marks of poverty. The women who recognise the widow of Elimelech are somewhat pitiful, perhaps also a little scornful. They had not left their native land nor doubted the promise of Jehovah. Through the famine they had waited, and now their position contrasts very favourably with hers. Surely Naomi is far down in the world since she has made a companion of a woman of Moab. Her poverty is against the wayfarer, and to those who know not the story of her life that which shows her goodness and faithfulness appears a cause of reproach and reason of suspicion.

Is it too harsh to interpret thus the question with which Naomi is met? We are only using a key which common experience of life supplies. Do people give sincere and hearty sympathy to those who went away full and return empty, who were once in good standing and repute and come back years after to their old haunts impoverished and with strange associates? Are we not more ready to judge unfavourably in such a case than to exercise charity? The trick of hasty interpretation is common because every one desires to be on good terms with himself, and nothing is so soothing to vanity as the discovery of mistakes into which others have fallen. “All the brethren of the poor do hate him,” says one who knew the Hebrews and human nature well; “how much more do his friends go far from him. He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.” Naomi finds it so when she throws herself on the compassion of her old neighbours. They are not uninterested, they are not altogether unkind, but they feel their superiority.

And Naomi appears to accept the judgment they have formed. Very touching is the lament in which she takes her position as one whom God has rebuked, whom it is no wonder, therefore, that old friends despise. She almost makes excuse for those who look down upon her from the high ground of their imaginary virtue and wisdom. Indeed she has the same belief as they that poverty, the loss of land, bereavement, and every kind of affliction are marks of Gods displeasure. For, what does she say? “Call me not Naomi, Pleasant, call me Mara, Bitter, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me The Lord hath testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me.” Such was the Hebrew thought, the purpose of God in His dealings with men not being apprehended. Under the shadow of toss and sorrow it seemed that no heat of the Divine Presence could be felt. To have a husband and, children appeared to Naomi evidence of Gods favour; to lose them was a proof that He had turned against her. Heavy as her losses had been, the terrible thing was that they implied the displeasure of God.

It is perhaps difficult for us to realise even by an imaginative effort this condition of soul-the sense of banishment, darkness, outlawry which came to the. Hebrew whenever he fell into distress or penury. And yet we ourselves retain the same standard of judgment in our common estimate of life; we still interpret things by an ignorant unbelief which causes many worthy souls to bow in a humiliation Christians should never feel. Do not the loneliness, the poverty, the testimony of Christ teach us something altogether different? Can we still cherish the notion that prosperity is an evidence of worth and that the man who can found a family must be a favourite of the heavenly powers? Judge thus and the providence of God is a tangle, a perplexing darkening problem which, believe as you may, must still overwhelm. Wealth has its conditions; money comes through some ones cleverness in work and trading, some ones inventiveness or thrift, and these qualities are reputable. But nothing is proved regarding the spiritual tone and nature of a life either by wealth or by the want of it. And surely we have learned that toss of friends and loneliness are not to be reckoned the punishment of sin. Often enough we hear the warning that wealth and worldly position are not to be sought for themselves, and yet, side by side with this warning, the implication that a high place and a prosperous life are proofs of divine blessing.

On the whole subject Christian thought is far from clear, and we have need to go anew to the Master and inquire of Him Who had no place where to lay His head. The Hebrew belief in the prosperity of Gods servants must fulfil itself in a larger better faith or the man of tomorrow will have no faith at all. One who bewails the loss of wealth or friends is doing nothing that has spiritual meaning or value. When he takes himself to task for that despondency he begins to touch the spiritual.

In Bethlehem Naomi found the half-ruined cottage still belonging to her, and there she and Ruth took up their abode. But for a living what was to be done? The answer came in the proposal of Ruth to go into the fields where the barley harvest was proceeding and glean after the reapers. By great diligence she might gather enough day by day for the bare sustenance that contents a Syrian peasant, and afterwards some other means of providing for herself and Naomi might be found. The work was not dignified. She would have to appear among the waifs and wanderers of the country, with women whose behaviour exposed them to the rude gibes of the labourers. But whatever plan Naomi vaguely entertained was hanging in abeyance, and the circumstances of the women were urgent. No kinsman came forward to help them. Loath as she was to expose Ruth to the trials of the harvest field, Naomi had to let her go. So it was Ruth who made the first move, Ruth the stranger who brought succour to the Hebrew widow when her own people held aloof and she herself knew not how to act.

Now among the farmers whose barley was falling before the sickle was the land owner Boaz, a kinsman of Elimelech, a man of substance and social importance, one of those who in the midst of their fruitful fields shine with bountiful good humour and by their presence make their servants work heartily. To Ruth in after days it must have seemed a wonderful thing that her first timid expedition led her to a portion of ground belonging to this man. From the moment he appears in the narrative we note in him a certain largeness of character. It may be only the easy kindness of the prosperous man, but it commends him to our good opinion. Those who have a smooth way through the world are bound to be especially kind and considerate in their bearing toward neighbours and dependants, this at least they owe as an acknowledgment to the rest of the world, and we are always pleased to find a rich man paying his debt so far. There is a certain piety also in the greeting of Boaz to his labourers, a customary thing no doubt and good even in that sense, but better when it carries, as it seems to do here, a personal and friendly message. Here is a man who will observe with strict eye everything that goes on in the field and will be quick to challenge any lazy reaper. But he is not remote from those who serve him, he and they meet on common ground of humanity and faith.

The great operations which some in these days think fit to carry on, more for their own glory certainly than the good of their country or countrymen, entirely preclude anything like friendship between the chief and the multitude of his subordinates. It is impossible that a man who has a thousand under him should know and consider each, and there would be too much pretence in saying, “God be with you,” on entering a yard or factory when otherwise no feeling is shown with which the name of God can be connected. Apart altogether from questions as to wealth and its use, every employer has a responsibility for maintaining the healthy human activity of his people, and nowhere is the immorality of the present system of huge concerns so evident as in the extinction of personal good will. The workman of course may adjust himself to the state of matters, but it will too often be by discrediting what he knows he cannot have and keeping up a critical resentful habit of mind against those who seem to treat him as a machine. He may often be wrong in his judgment of an employer. There may be less hardness of temper on the other side than there is on his own. But, the conditions being what they are, one may say he is certain to be a severe critic. We have unquestionably lost much and are in danger of losing more, not in a financial sense, which matters little, but in the infinitely more important affairs of social sweetness and Christian civilisation.

Boaz the farmer had not more in hand than he could attend to honestly, and everything under his care was well ordered. He had a foreman over the reapers, and from him he required an account of the stranger whom he saw gleaning in the field. There were to be no hangers on of loose character where he exercised authority; and in this we justify him. We like to see a man keeping a firm hand when we are sure that he has a good heart and knows what he is doing. Such a one is bound within the range of his power to have all done rightly and honourably, and Boaz pleases us all the better that he makes close inquiry regarding the woman who seeks the poor gains of a common gleaner.

Of course in a place like Bethlehem people knew each other, and Boaz was probably acquainted with most whom he saw about; at once, therefore, the new figure of the Moabite woman attracted his attention. Who is she? A kindly heart prompts the inquiry for the farmer knows that if he interests himself in this young woman he may be burdened with a new dependant. “It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.” She is the daughter-in-law of his old friend Elimelech. Before the eyes of Boaz one of the romances of life, common and tragic too, is unfolding itself. Often had Boaz and Elimelech held counsel with each other, met at each others houses, talked together of their fields or of the state of the country. But Elimelech went away and lost all and died; and two widows, the wreck of the family, had returned to Bethlehem. It was plain that these would be new claimants on his favour, but unlike many well to do persons Boaz does not wait for some urgent appeal; he acts rather as one who is glad to do a kindness for old friendships sake.

Great was the surprise of the lonely gleaner when the rich man came to her side and gave her a word of comfortable greeting. “Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, but abide here fast by my maidens.” Nothing had been done to make Ruth feel at home in Bethlehem until Boaz addressed her. She had perhaps seen proud and scornful looks in the street and at the well, and had to bear them meekly, silently. In the fields she may have looked for something of the kind and even feared that Boaz would dismiss her. A gentle person in such circumstances is exceedingly grateful for a very small kindness, and it was not a slight favour that Boaz did her. But in making her acknowledgments Ruth did not know what had prepared her way. The truth was that she had met with a man of character who valued character, and her faithfulness commended her. “It hath been fully showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband.” The best point in Boaz is that he so quickly and fully recognises the goodness of another and will help her because they stand upon a common ground of conscience and duty.

Is it on such a ground you draw to others? Is your interest won by kindly dispositions and fidelity of temper? Do you love those who are sincere and patient in their duties, content to serve where service is appointed by God? Are you attracted by one who cherishes a parent, say a poor mother, in the time of feebleness and old age, doing all that is possible to smooth her path and provide for her comfort? Or have you little esteem for such a one, for the duties so faithfully discharged, because you see no brilliance or beauty, and there are other persons more clever and successful on their own account, more amusing because they are unburdened? If so, be sure of your own ignorance, your own undutifulness, your own want of principle and heart. Character is known by character, and worth by worth. Those who are acquainted with you could probably say that you care more for display than for honour, that you think more of making a fine figure in society than of showing generosity, forbearance, and integrity at home. The good appreciate goodness, the true honour truth. One important lesson of the Book of Ruth lies here, that the great thing for young women, and for young men also, is to be quietly faithful in the service, however humble, to which God has called them and the family circle in which He has set them. Not indeed because that is the line of promotion, though Ruth found it so; every Ruth does not obtain favour in the eyes of a wealthy Boaz. So honourable and good a man is not to be met on every harvest field; on the contrary she may encounter a Nabal, one who is churlish and evil in his doings.

We must take the course of this narrative as symbolic. The book has in it the strain of a religious idyl. The Moabite who wins the regard of this man of Judah represents those who, though naturally strangers to the covenant of promise, receive the grace of God and enter the circle of divine blessing – even coming to high dignity in the generations of the chosen people. It is idyllic, we say, not an exhibition of everyday fact; yet the course of divine justice is surely more beautiful, more certain. To every Ruth comes the Heavenly Friend Whose are all the pastures and fields, all the good things of life. The Christian hope is in One Who cannot fail to mark the most private faithfulness, piety and love hidden like violets among the grass. If there is not such a One, the Helper and Vindicator of meek fidelity, virtue has no sanction and well doing no recompense.

The true Israelite Boaz accepts the daughter of an alien and unfriendly people on account of her own character and piety. “The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings thou art come to take refuge.” Such is the benediction which Boaz invokes on Ruth, receiving her cordially into the family circle of Jehovah. Already she has ceased to be a stranger and a foreigner to him. The boundary walls of race are overstepped, partly, no doubt, by that sense of kinship which the Bethlehemite is quick to acknowledge. For Naomis sake and for Elimelechs as well as her own he craves divine protection and reward for the daughter of Moab. Yet the beautiful phrase he employs, full of Hebrew confidence in God, is an acknowledgment of Ruths act of faith and her personal right to share with the children of Abraham the fostering love of the Almighty. The story, then, is a plea against that exclusiveness which the Hebrews too often indulged. On this page of the annals the truth is written out that though Jehovah cared for Israel much He cares still more for love and faithfulness, purity and goodness. We reach at last an instance of that fulfilment of Israels mission to the nations around which in our study of the Book of Judges we looked for in vain.

Not for Israel only in the time of its narrowness was the lesson given. We need it still. The justification and redemption of God are not restricted to those who have certain traditions and beliefs. Even as a Moabite woman brought up in the worship of Chemosh, with many heathen ideas still in her mind, has her place under the wings of Jehovah as a soul seeking righteousness, so from countries and regions of life which Christian people may consider a kind of rude heathen Moab many in humility and sincerity may be coming nigh to the kingdom of God. It was so in our Lords time, and it is so still. All along the true religion of God has been for reconciliation and brotherhood among men, and it was possible for many Israelites to do what Naomi did in the way of making effectual the promise of God to Abraham that in his seed all families of the earth should be blessed. There never was a middle wall of partition between men except in the thought of the Hebrew. He was separated that he might be able to convert and bless, not that he might stand aloof in pride. The wall which he built Christ has broken down that the servants of His gospel may go freely forth to find everywhere brethren in common humanity and need, who are to be made brethren in Christ. The outward representation of brotherhood in faith must follow the work of the reconciling Spirit-cannot precede it. And when the reconciliation is felt in the depth of human souls we shall have the all-comprehensive church, a fair and gracious dwelling place, wide as the race, rich with every noble thought and hope of man and every gift of Heaven.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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