Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 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.

Ch. 2. The generosity of Boaz: his first meeting with Ruth

1 . a kinsman ] Strictly the word does not mean more than familiar friend 2Ki 10:11, Pro 7:4.

a mighty man of wealth ] a wealthy man, 1Sa 9:1, 2Ki 15:20; sometimes the phrase means a valiant man (marg.) Jdg 6:12; Jdg 11:1; in Rth 3:11 the word for wealth has a moral sense.

Boaz ] Cf. 1Ki 7:21. The derivation of the name is uncertain: possibly, ‘in him is strength’ (for Ruth). More probably the name is traditional, and a contraction of Ba‘al-‘az i.e. ‘B. is strong’; cf. in Phoenician Bomilcar for Ba‘al-melarth, Salambo for alm-ba‘al etc.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

A kinsman – More literally an acquaintance; here (and in the feminine, Rth 3:2) denoting the person with whom one is intimately acquainted, ones near relation. The next kinsman of Rth 2:20, etc. ga’al, is a wholly different word.

Boaz – Commonly taken to mean, strength is in him (compare 1Ki 7:21).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Rth 2:1

Naomi had a kinsman.

A kind kinsman

I. God never wants His instruments of succour unto those that trust in His mercy. Some relation (either natural or spiritual) God will raise up to relieve His in their deepest extremity.

II. Some rich men may yet be religious men. Though indeed they are rare birds, yet riches and religion are not inconsistent things.

III. It Is a brave attainment to be rich in this world, and to re rich in good works too. So Boaz was. Boaz did not make gold his confidence, but was rich in faith (Jam 2:5), and rich to God (Luk 12:21). (C. Ness.)

Boaz a yeoman

In these early days, especially under the rule of the judges, when hostile inroads on the chosen people were so frequently made by unfriendly neighbours, the man who had great possessions was in a manner compelled to be also a military leader, and so we may very justly combine the two meanings, and speak of him as a valiant man and a wealthy; or, as Dr. Morison has paraphrased the expression, a strong and substantial yeoman.(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

The rich kinsman

All that the appointed kinsman could do for the estate and body of his impoverished relative the Lord Jesus as our goel does for our souls and our everlasting state. In His humanity He is our nearest kinsman. In His Deity, he is perfectly able to supply all our wants, and to defend us from every danger and oppression. As the promised goel, the Lord Jesus has a special relation to Israel as a nation, and a particular personal relation to every believing soul. He is the goel, the Kinsman Redeemer of the nation of Israel. He is the seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations are to be blessed. God gave the land of Canaan unto Abraham, and unto his seed for ever. It was to be their permanent possession. But the children of Abraham have been long since cast out of their inheritance. Their land has been taken from them, and they have been wanderers and exiles on the heart. Yet God ordained that this land should not be sold for ever, because it was His land. It was Immanuels land. And Immanuel is their kinsman according to the flesh, who is to restore again that land to the seed of Abraham. His feet are in that day to stand upon the Mount of Olives. But the Lord Jesus Christ is also our goel, our Kinsman Redeemer–to fulfil the great duties of a Restorer to us. He restores that which He took not away. He has redeemed our lost estate. He has brought life and immortality to light, and given us a kingdom which cannot be moved. He has redeemed our persons from bondage and condemnation. We may go to Him just as freely and hopefully as the impoverished Jew went to his kinsman, perfectly sure that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This gracious character of our blessed Saviour is brought out in many points of view in the history of Boaz. When Naomi returned to Judah with Ruth, she found a goel already prepared for her. He was a mighty man of wealth, perfectly able to meet all their wants, and to restore them to their happy condition again. And such a kinsman has been provided for us. We need not say, Who shall ascend up to heaven to bring Christ down from above? He is already prepared to be a Saviour for us, before we are born. We have nothing to do but to receive Him, trust in Him, and obey Him, as our gracious Lord. Like Boaz, He is a mighty man of wealth. All things in heaven and earth are His. And if we are His, all things are ours. He can enrich His people with every conceivable blessing. No good thing can they want while they have Him for their friend and portion. The name of this rich kinsman of Naomis was Boaz, which means strength. In this name we may find a memorial of our Divine Redeemer. Jesus is our strength and our salvation. He is the power of God unto salvation for us. What mighty works He has done for us! What works of mercy is He still willing to accomplish! He is our Kinsman Redeemer. We see Him in His lowly human, suffering form, wearing our nature, and bearing the burden of our sins. We see Him in the unsearchable riches of His grace as God over all, and in the triumphs of His obedience as the Lord our Righteousness, possessing unlimited wealth to be applied to our needs. We see Him of infinite might, exalted above the heavens, angels, authorities, and powers being made subject unto Him. We see Him fully provided for us, waiting to be gracious to us, and ready to receive the poorest and the most wretched of His kinsmen who come to Him. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER II

Ruth goes to glean in the field of Boaz, 1-3.

Boaz finds her, and inquires who she is, 4-7.

He speaks kindly to her, gives her permission to follow his

reapers, and orders them to use her well, 8-16.

She returns in the evening to Naomi, and tells her of her fare;

from whom she receives encouragement and advice, 17-23.

NOTES ON CHAP. II

Verse 1. A mighty man of wealth] We have already seen that some suppose Boaz to have been one of the judges of Israel; he was no doubt a man of considerable property.

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

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s,…. That was her kinsman by her husband’s side, who now lived at Bethlehem; and yet it does not appear that Naomi made any application to him for assistance in her circumstances, though well known to her, as the word used signifies; which might arise from her modesty, and being loath to be troublesome to him, especially as he was a relation, not of her own family, but of her husband’s; but, what is more strange, that this kinsman had taken no notice of her, nor sent to her, who yet was a very generous and liberal man, and had knowledge of her coming, for he had heard of the character of Ruth, Ru 2:11 but perhaps he was not acquainted with their indigent circumstances:

a mighty man of wealth; a man of great wealth and riches, and of great power and authority, which riches give and raise a man to, and also of great virtue and honour, all which the word “wealth” signifies; to which may be added the paraphrase the Targumist gives, that he was mighty in the law; in the Scriptures, in the word of God, a truly religious man, which completes his character:

of the family of Elimelech; the husband of Naomi; some say that his father was Elimelech’s brother, [See comments on Ru 2:2],

and his name was Boaz; which signifies, “in him is strength”, strength of riches, power, virtue, and grace; it is the name of one of the pillars in Solomon’s temple, so called from its strength. This man is commonly said by the Jews to be the same with Ibzan, a judge of Israel, Jud 12:8: he was the grandson of Nahshon, prince of the tribe of Judah, who first offered at the dedication of the altar, Nu 7:12, his father’s name was Salmon, and his mother was Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, Mt 1:5. A particular account is given of this man, because he, with Ruth, makes the principal part of the following history.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The account of this occurrence commences with a statement which was necessary in order to make it perfectly intelligible, namely that Boaz, to whose field Ruth went to glean, was a relative of Naomi through her deceased husband Elimelech. The Kethibh is to be read , an acquaintance (cf. Psa 31:12; Psa 55:14). The Keri is the construct state of , lit. acquaintanceship, then an acquaintance or friend (Pro 7:4), for which occurs afterwards in Rth 3:2 with the same meaning. That the acquaintance or friend of Naomi through her husband was also a relation, is evident from the fact that he was “of the family of Elimelech. ” According to the rabbinical tradition, which is not well established however, Boaz was a nephew of Elimelech. The before is used instead of the simple construct state, because the reference is not to the relation, but to a relation of her husband; at the same time, the word has taken the form of the construct state notwithstanding this (compare Ewald, 292 , a., with 289, b.). generally means the brave man of war (Jdg 6:12; Jdg 11:1, etc.); but here it signifies a man of property. The name Boaz is not formed from , in whom is strength, but from a root, , which does not occur in Hebrew, and signifies alacrity.

Rth 2:2-3

Ruth wished to go to the field and glean at (among) the ears, i.e., whatever ears were left lying upon the harvest field (cf. Rth 2:7), , behind him in whose eyes she should find favour. The Mosaic law (Lev 19:9; Lev 23:22, compared with Deu 24:19) did indeed expressly secure to the poor the right to glean in the harvest fields, and prohibited the owners from gleaning themselves; but hard-hearted farmers and reapers threw obstacles in the way of the poor, and even forbade their gleaning altogether. Hence Ruth proposed to glean after him who should generously allow it. She carried out this intention with the consent of Naomi, and chance led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, a relation of Elimelech, without her knowing the owner of the field, or being at all aware of his connection with Elimelech. , lit., “ her chance chanced to hit upon the field.”

Rth 2:4-7

When Boaz came from the town to the field, and had greeted his reapers with the blessing of a genuine Israelites, “ Jehovah be with you,” and had received from them a corresponding greeting in return, he said to the overseer of the reapers, “ Whose damsel is this? ” to which he replied, “ It is the Moabitish damsel who came back with Naomi from the fields of Moab, and she has said (asked), Pray, I will glean (i.e., pray allow me to glean) and gather among the sheaves after the reapers, and has come and stays (here) from morning till now; her sitting in the house that is little.” , lit. a conjunction, here used as a preposition, is stronger than , “ from then,” from the time of the morning onwards (see Ewald, 222, c.). It is evident from this answer of the servant who was placed over the reapers, (1) that Boaz did not prohibit any poor person from gleaning in his field; (2) that Ruth asked permission of the overseer of the reapers, and availed herself of this permission with untiring zeal from the first thing in the morning, that she might get the necessary support for her mother-in-law and herself; and (3) that her history was well known to the overseer, and also to Boaz, although Boaz saw her now for the first time.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Ruth in the Field of Boaz.

B. C. 1312.

      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.   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.   3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

      Naomi had now gained a settlement in Bethlehem among her old friends; and here we have an account,

      I. Of her rich kinsman, Boaz, a mighty man of wealth, v. 1. The Chaldee reads it, mighty in the law. If he was both, it was a most rare and excellent conjunction, to be mighty in wealth and mighty in the scriptures too; those that are so are mighty indeed. He was grandson of Nahshon, who was prince of the tribe of Judah in the wilderness, and son of Salmon, probably a younger son, by Rahab, the harlot of Jericho. He carries might in his name, Boaz–in him is strength; and he was of the family of Elimelech, that family which was now reduced and brought so low. Observe, 1. Boaz, though a rich and great man, had poor relations. Every branch of the tree is not a top-branch. Let not those that are great in the world be ashamed to own their kindred that are mean and despised, lest they be found therein proud, scornful, and unnatural. 2. Naomi, though a poor contemptible widow, had rich relations, whom yet she boasted not of, nor was burdensome to, nor expected any thing from when she returned to Bethlehem in distress. Those that have rich relations, while they themselves are poor, ought to know that it is the wise providence of God that makes the difference (in which we ought to acquiesce), and that to be proud of our relation to such is a great sin, and to trust to it is great folly.

      II. Of her poor daughter-in-law, Ruth. 1. Her condition was very low and poor, which was a great trial to the faith and constancy of a young proselyte. The Bethlehemites would have done well if they had invited Naomi and her daughter-in-law first to one good house and then to another (it would have been a great support to an aged widow and a great encouragement to a new convert); but, instead of tasting the dainties of Canaan, they have no way of getting necessary food but by gleaning corn, and otherwise, for aught that appears, they might have starved. Note, God has chosen the poor of this world; and poor they are likely to be, for, though God has chosen them, commonly men overlook them. 2. Her character, in this condition, was very good (v. 2): She said to Naomi, not, “Let me now go to the land of Moab again, for there is no living here, here there is want, but in my father’s house there is bread enough.” No, she is not mindful of the country from which she came out, otherwise she had now a fair occasion to return. The God of Israel shall be her God, and, though he slay her, yet will she trust in him and never forsake him. But her request is, Let me go to the field, and glean ears of corn. Those that are well born, and have been well brought up, know not what straits they may be reduced to, nor what mean employments they may be obliged to get their bread by, Lam. iv. 5. When the case is thus melancholy, let Ruth be remembered, who is a great example, (1.) Of humility. When Providence had made her poor she did not say, “To glean, which is in effect to beg, I am ashamed,” but cheerfully stoops to the meanness of her circumstances and accommodates herself to her lot. High spirits can more easily starve than stoop; Ruth was none of those. She does not tell her mother she was never brought up to live upon crumbs. Though she was not brought up to it, she is brought down to it, and is not uneasy at it. Nay, it is her own motion, not her mother’s injunction. Humility is one of the brightest ornaments of youth, and one of the best omens. Before Ruth’s honour was this humility. Observe how humbly she speaks of herself, in her expectation of leave to glean: Let me glean after him in whose sight I shall find grace. She does not say, “I will go and glean, and surely nobody will deny me the liberty,” but, “I will go and glean, in the hope that somebody will allow me the liberty.” Note, Poor people must not demand kindness as a debt, but humbly ask it, and take it as a favour, though in ever so small a matter. It becomes the poor to use entreaties. (2.) Of industry. She does not say to her mother-in-law, “Let me now go a visiting to the ladies of the town, or go a walking in the fields to take the air and be merry; I cannot sit all day moping with you.” No, it is not sport, but business, that her heart is upon: “Let me go and glean ears of corn, which will turn to some good account.” She was one of those virtuous women that love not to eat the bread of idleness, but love to take pains. This is an example to young people. Let them learn betimes to labour, and, what their hand finds to do, do it with their might. A disposition to diligence bodes well both for this world and the other. Love not sleep, love not sport, love not sauntering; but love business. It is also an example to poor people to work for their living, and not beg that which they are able to earn. We must not be shy of any honest employment, though it be mean, ergon ouden oneidos—No labour is a reproach. Sin is a thing below us, but we must not think any thing else so That Providence calls us to. (3.) Of regard to her mother. Though she was but her mother-in-law, and though, being loosed by death from the law of her husband, she might easily suppose herself thereby loosed from the law of her husband’s mother, yet she is dutifully observant of her. She will not go out without letting her know and asking her leave. This respect young people ought to show to their parents and governors; it is part of the honour due to them. She did not say, “Mother, if you will go with me, I will go glean:” but, “Do you sit at home and take your ease, and I will go abroad, and take pains.” Juniores ad labores–Youth should work. Let young people take advice from the aged, but not put them upon toil. (4.) Of dependence upon Providence, intimated in that, I will glean after him in whose sight I shall find grace. She knows not which way to go, nor whom to enquire for, but will trust Providence to raise her up some friend or other that will be kind to her. Let us always keep us good thoughts of the divine providence, and believe that while we do well it will do well for us. And it did well for Ruth; for when she went out alone, without guide or companion, to glean, her hap was to light on the field of Boaz, v. 3. To her it seemed casual. She knew not whose field it was, nor had she any reason for going to that more than any other, and therefore it is said to be her hap; but Providence directed her steps to this field. Note, God wisely orders small events; and those that seem altogether contingent serve his own glory and the good of his people. Many a great affair is brought about by a little turn, which seemed fortuitous to us, but was directed by Providence with design.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Ruth – Chapter 2

Ruth Gleaning, vs. 1-7

This passage begins with an introduction to a wealthy man of the town of Bethlehem named Boaz. It appears that much of his wealth may have consisted of lands. Being called a mighty man indicates that he was a man of prestige and influence in Bethlehem. He was a relative of Elimelech; in what way is not revealed, but Jewish tradition makes him the nephew of Elimelech. That he was some years older than Ruth will appear in the sequel.

Remember that Naomi had left lands when she went to Moab. How it had been used in her absence is not revealed, but certainly it could not support them presently. Crops had already been sown, and the barley had ripened and was being gathered when they returned. But the law provided for the poor and destitute by allowing them to glean in the fields of those who had food and harvests (see Lev 19:9-10). Ruth had learned about this provision and asked permission of Naomi to go into the fields and glean after the reapers. Note the use of the old English word “corn” which simply means “grain”. The “corn” here was barley. The gleaner would be allowed to pick stalks and heads of grain which fell out of the sheaves or was overlooked or left by the reapers. Naomi gave Ruth permission to go and glean.

She soon found a likely place and received permission of the reapers to glean. “Her hap” was to be gleaning in a field which belonged to the wealthy Boaz. It did, of course, seem to be just a happening, but it is certain that the Lord was working these things according to His purpose and foreknowledge. (Cf. Pro 16:33)

The godly character of Boaz is apparent as soon as he enters the picture. He comes into the field courteously greeting his workers in the name of the lord, and they answer accordingly. Immediately Boaz noticed the presence of a strange young woman, and upon inquiring was informed that she is the Moabite girl who came home with Naomi. Her reason for being there was explained. The foreman of the reapers seems to speak commendably of Ruth, indicating that she had worked diligently all the morning with only a short rest.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

In the opening of the study we are impressed with

NAOMIS SOJOURN AND SADNESS

It is a moving story. There was a famine in the land. This sentence holds a special similitude. It is in perfect keeping with what we know to be repeated experiences in that section of the world; scorching sun and long continued draught, often produced the direst hardships. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

A grievous famine necessitated this sojourn. Every student of the Bible is impressed with the fact that famine, in that region, commonly sent its people southward to Egypt. It was a famine in the land that sent Abraham and Sarah, his wife, into Egypt (Gen 12:10-11). It was a famine in the land that sent the sons of Jacob, and finally brought Jacob himself, into Egypt (Genesis 42-46). And yet, who will claim that either was accidentally driven there, in view of the history that grew out of the sojourn of each? In the course of time Jesus will be carried into Egypt, and though it may appear that His parents are fleeing from the face of the murderous foe, it will eventually be proven that this also was in the Divine plan and unto the fulfilment of prophecy. Necessity is the mother of invention, and it is often much more; it is the highway of prophecy. Opposition and hardships often seem wholly from the adversary, but in the end, serve to illustrate the truth that God makes all things work together for good. This is a fact that weaklings seldom feel. They cannot see any profit in pain or hardship of any sort; they imagine that Divine blessing must take the form of health, happiness, prosperity. They reason that pampering is the only proof of parental love. History, however, is replete with illustrations to the contrary. Earthly fathers and mothers who pet and spoil children, may congratulate themselves that they are affectionate parents, but time will simply prove that they were affectionate fools; and while attempting to pamper, they have succeeded in spoiling.

There is at this present moment a desperate effort to have legislation against having children, under certain ages, work. It is a piece of legislation with which we have been in little sympathy. We believe that for an average youngster, brought up in a city where idleness is a daily occupation, particularly in the non-school session, that a few years in the workhouse would be more conducive to character than the idling custom. Our hearts go out in natural sympathy to those families, often big in proportion to their poverty, who must subsist upon the plainest and coarsest of food in order to continue existence at all; and yet we are firmly convinced that semi-famine is still working good to more people than men imagine; and that sojourns in Egypt represent a dual truth, human search for physical food and a Divine plan for producing character.

Continued sickness saddened this sojourn.

The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

And Elimelech, Naomis husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. (Rth 1:2-3).

This verse holds more of sadness than at first seems. On the surface it would appear that the death of Elimelech was the big bereavement of this Egyptian sojourn; but not so. The name Mahlon means weakness, and Chilion means wasting, and there is here a plain suggestion that the father went to his death in an unequal battle against hardship and poverty, since the four members of the family must look to him for sustenance, the sons being sickly and thereby incapacitated. The change of country and of climate, while but slight, and the greater ease of securing a living in a land enriched by the annual overflow of the Nile, doubtless improved the health of the boys so much so that they married women of Moab. Mahlon married Orpah and Chilion married Ruth, and they dwelt there about ten years. But when once tuberculosis has laid its insidious, spoiling hand upon the human frame, recovery is both difficult and improbable. And the house that held one widow shortly came to contain three, and the single bereavement was tripled.

These would seem to be almost unbearable experiences. A stout ship can brave the single wave, it matters little how high it runs; but the sailors say that when the waves come in threes, disaster is a common result. However, there are ships so constructed that they can ride almost any storm and come safely into port; and there are peopleGod be thanked for their couragewho can meet the winds and waves of adversity, even when the first is cyclonic and the second deluging. Hardship and suffering commonly have one of two effects, they either destroy or inspire; either kill or make alive. Upon some they work utter defeat; and upon others, they result in refinement and effectiveness. George Lorimer, in his volume, Isms Old and New, says, I do not recall any great production or any sublime endeavor that was not preceded by suffering of some kind. Pascal sorrowed deeply before he thought sweetly; and he thought painfully before he wrote sympathetically. Milton had tasted of misfortunes cup and had braved the storms of four and fifty years before he could sing of Paradise and of mans woeful fall. Poor Jean Paul but expresses his own experience when he says that the bird sings sweeter whose cage has been darkened, for his song broke not on human ear until he had struggled long with the thick, chill shadows of poverty. Carlyle was a dreary dyspeptic before he accomplished anything great in literature; and but for Robert Halls spinal malady the world might never have been thrilled by his matchless eloquence.

These successive deaths terminated this sojourn.

Then she rose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread.

Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on their way to return unto the land of Judah (Rth 1:6-7).

It is not difficult to imagine that when Elimelech died the two sons and their wives comforted and encouraged the mother, and said, Dont grieve, we will yet get on. When Mahlon went, the case became more discouraging; and when Chilion followed, the words of comfort were few indeed, for the stricken souls were dumb. And yet, who can doubt that this common sorrow knit these three women together as nothing else known to life could do; and for Naomi the thought of giving them up, Moabites though they were, to return to her people whom God had visited with bread, was heartbreaking.

How often that conflict of emotions has surged in the widows heart. Shall I stay with the people I have come to know and love, or return to those who are mine through blood relationship? It has ever been, and will forever abide, a debatable, baffling question. Doubtless one thing settled it, namely, that back in Judea God was worshipped, and in Moab He was not acknowledged.

One who truly believes can give up anything and anybody rather than lose God. We confess ourselves amazed, astounded, yea, even stunned, when we see men sojourning in the Egypt of the modernist University, surrender their God and accept an imaginary protoplasm instead, or cast away their Christ in favor of the uncaused cause. Our interest, therefore, and our admiration for Naomi grows as we see her turning herself from the women she had learned to love, who had become to her daughters indeed, and daughters doubly dear, to go back to the fellowship of the people who believed in God. Many a mother on the Western plains of America, far remote from any church, privileged not even a Sunday School to which she could send her children, has grown sick of the godless estate and the reckless society around her, and has said to her husband, Property or no property, I am weary of this; I want to go back to the eastern home where the church bell rings and the children assemble for instruction, and children and parents gather to worship God.

We may argue as we like, but Israels advantage over the other nations will never find other explanation than this, that she knew God; and Israels present scattered and suffering estate needs no other interpretation than that she had rejected her Messiah and so largely ceased from the worship of her God.

RUTHS DECISION ENDS SORROW

Her decision to go to Bethlehem-Judah gladdened Naomis heart. The entreaty of the mother-in-law,

Go, return each to her mothers house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband (Rth 1:8-9),

and her kisses and tears, as she bade them good-bye, is sufficient proof of Naomis sincerity; while their replies, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people, was a proof of their appreciation and must have strongly moved the mother heart.

It is not at all the unknown thing for in-laws to become dearer than ones own; and that these were to her daughters indeed, there seems no doubt. It was on that very account that her motherly spirit further expressed itself,

Turn again, my daughters; why will ye go with me? are there any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons,

Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes, that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.

And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her (Rth 1:11-14).

Joseph Parker, commenting upon this incident, says, It is hard to fix upon a point where one mans quality exceeds another. For a long time they seem to be equal, but a critical juncture occurs, and at that point the quality of the man is determined. Still, let us not forget that the distinction is between loving and loving more, not between hatred and love, not between aversion and attachment, but between love and love. Orpah loved Naomi, and indeed wanted to go with her, with a constancy, however, that was open to reasoning; Ruth loved her and shut out all reasoning, because of the passion of her affection.

I am constant as the northern star,

Of whose true, fixed, and resting quality

There is no fellow in the firmament.

It is this fixed quality in loves affection that both gave proof of her character and Divine appointment to her place in history; and it is this same subtle something in the lives of men and women that makes one more loyal than another, and that gives him greater favor with men and makes possible even the bestowment of more of the Divine blessing. In the parable of the talents we are told that while they were ten and five and one, the Master bestowed upon each according to his several ability. There is, then, a unit of mercy in character itself.

Her decision to go to Bethlehem terminated her own sorrows. Weeping ended when the resolution became unalterable; and from that moment neither sorrow nor crying are recorded; the former things had passed away, the old pains are forgotten in the new plans and the mind that had dwelt upon its disasters now becomes occupied and animated with anticipations. True, it was only a journey of a few miles, fifty to a hundred, but made as it was, it involved more than a journey to Europe does in our day, and brought to her a new civilization, for the people of Judah were more removed from Egypt than the people of China are removed from America.

Then again, decision itself is exhilarating. It is always attended with a rising strength. The reason more people never know inspiration is that they never reach great decisions. The air-man who looks from the azure sky upon all the landscape of beauty below, is only privileged that vision when once he has made his decision to undertake the risk of a rise.

Decisive characters are seldom the subjects of despair. Before we finish this chapter we shall find Naomi naming herself Mara; or changing her name, that had been associated with youth and joy and bounding pulse, to one that expressed bitterness, as one who had gone out full, but had returned empty. In this lament Ruth joins not. Youth was hers. The new land and the new people were of interest; and the natural hope of human nature was asserting itself. And even without her knowledge, but doubtless in accord with her expectations and hopes, she was approaching an experience that would bring her joy, make her name immortal, and attach the same to thousands upon thousands of girls yet to be born.

Here she was to be married to Boaz. The second chapter opens with the introduction of this man.

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husbands, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz (Rth 2:1).

It was evidently a case of love at first sight, for no sooner was Ruth introduced than she said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. Who will say that a woman is to be sought only, and is never to show concern or interest in the man who is goodly in her sight; and who will claim that such was ever the custom, all philosophizing to that end, notwithstanding?

This step of Ruths was characteristic of her sex. She could not speak her love, but she could act it; and while the text says, her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who doubts that she maneuvered in that direction? And who blames her? According to the text over which we have passed already, the first husband was a weakling in strength; according to this text, Boaz was a mighty man of strength. According to the text, her first husband was the subject of poverty; this, a man of wealth. All the world is interested when wealth and beauty meet, and still more gratified when kinship of high character is involved; and the whole text makes clear this combination. The language of Boaz to his reapers, The Lord be with thee, shows that he was a man of God; and their answer, The Lord bless thee, reveals his favor among his fellows. His question to his servant who was set over the reapers concerning this damsel was a revelation of his interest (Rth 2:2-5), while his counsel to the girl as to the place and ground of her work, and his treatment of her, when at the close of the day she slept at his feet, is a proof that boasted modernism is without occasion. It is very easy, and with certain of the intelligentsia, very popular, to refer to this period as one of primitive life and undeveloped ideals, and speak of the ancient man as a bit of improvement upon the beast supposed to have been his ancestor; but the fact remains that this four thousand year old story is nothing short of a reproof of modern morals. After all our boasted progress, this man Boaz still stands as a needed ensample of moral righteousness. The present-day critic takes pleasure in pointing out any place in the Bible where any man has immorality recorded against him; but he passes over the Book of Ruth because its high ideals and record of holy conduct gives him no ground of criticism.

RUTHS MARRIAGE AND THE MASTERS ANCESTRY

In this marriage we find essential links in Christs ancestral chain. The fourth chapter records this marriage, and prophetically effects this relationship. We will not enter into the habits of marriage that made it incumbent upon the nearest kinsman to redeem both the estate and raise up children to his brother, for to students of the Scripture that law of Israelitish life is well-known (Deu 25:5-10).

There is introduced, here, another fact which has played so conspicuous a part in all human history as to demand attention. This woman was not of Israel. She was a Moabitess instead. In the judgment of Israel, therefore, she was a social nobody, but by her marriage to Chilion had been elevated to recognized equality. Surely the paper walls that partition society are thin. By mere ceremony the Gentile could then have been made as a Jew, and mans method have not changed.

America has been much interested in a recent marriage that brought together the daughter of the Canadian woodsan uncultured beautyand the son of immense wealtha graduate of Princeton; and society has been about debate over a subject in which God has never been deeply concerned, since He is no respecter of persons, and was, even then, moving to make this Moabitess, this Gentile, an ancestress of His Only Begotten Son.

Ruth contributed a new strain to the Saviours blood. If one would take the pains to trace the Christ, he will find that Rahab, the harlot, is in His line, and now this girl that would have been denominated by bigoted Jews as a dog of a Gentile, becomes the great-grandmother of David. Shall we say it is strange that such elements should enter his ancestral chain? Nay, verily! God elected that it should even be so, for Christ was not the Saviour of the Jews only, but of all men; nor was He the descendant of the Jew only; He was the Son of Man! Into His veins the blood of all men from Adams day came, and through His arteries it coursed, for He was to be the High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmitiesa Saviour of sinners, a God to the despised, a Redeemer to the distressed, the poor, the brokenhearted, the helpless, the social outcast! There is no man nor woman who need fear to approach Him, or be alarmed lest He should not prove a brother.

Christ knew all things! He, therefore, knew who His forebears were, and when they brought the harlot to Him to be condemned, He might have thought of His unfortunate ancestress Rahab, and with all the compassion of a close relative, said, Neither do I condemn thee. There would have been little or no meaning in the human birth of Christ, had He come only of the holy and of the high, and there would have been no hope for a world full of sinners, had He not been touched with the feeling of our infirmitiesToday, we can invite the vilest sinner to Him whose ancestor was such, and ask the Jew and Gentile alike to become one in Him, since through His veins flowed the blood of both.

Finally, let us remember that we have here a type of our eternal redemption.

Now these are the generations of Pharez: Phares begat Hesron,

And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,

And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boas begat Obed,

And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David (Rth 4:18-22).

As Boaz became Ruths redeemer, and the redeemer of her whole estate, so Christ, Davids Greater Son, her descendant, redeems us. As her bereavement gave place to joy, and her labors were changed into rest, and her loneliness was met by love, so Christ comes to the Christian and to His Bridethe Church.

Jesus is coming to earth again, What if it were today?

Coming in power and love to reign, What if it were today?

Coming to claim His chosen Bride, All the redeemed and purified,

Over this whole earth scattered wide, What if it were today?

Satans dominion will then be oer, O that it were today!

Sorrow and sighing shall be no more, O that it were today!

Then shall the dead in Christ arise, Caught up to meet Him in the skies,

When shall these glories meet our eyes? What if it were today?

Faithful and true would He find us here, If He should come today?

Watching in gladness and not in fear, If He should come today?

Signs of His coming multiply, Morning light breaks in eastern sky,

Watch, for the time is drawing nigh, What if it were today?

Chorus:

Glory, glory! Joy to my heart twill bring;

Glory glory! When we shall crown Him king;

Glory, glory! Haste to prepare the way;

Glory, glory! Jesus will come some day.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.And Naomi had a kinsman. According to Rabinical tradition, which is not well established however, Boaz was a nephew of Elimelech (Keil). Lyra saith Elimelech and Salmonother Hebrews say Elimelech and Naasonwere brethren. Some more probably hold that Elimelech was the son of Salmons brother, and so his son the kinsman of Boaz once removed, for there was one nearer (Trapp). Not the kinsman who is meant, but a kinsman, as there were several (Wright). Boaz was only a (Lange); , a friend, a person known (LXX., Wordsworth). This not only explains a certain remoteness of Naomi from him, but it makes the piety, which, notwithstanding the distance (manifest also from Rth. 3:12) of the relationship, perform what the narrative goes on to relate, more conspicuously great than it would appear if, according to an unfounded conjecture of Jewish expositors, he were held to be a son of Elimelechs brother (Lange). The Hebrew word is not the same as that rendered kinsman in Rth. 2:20; Rth. 3:9-13. Literally, it means only an acquaintance, but it expresses more than we mean by that term. The man was not a very near relative, but one known to the family as belonging to it (Lange). A mighty man of wealth [a valiant hero] (Lange). Here it signifies a man of property (Kiel). These words are applied to Boaz in no other sense than to Gideon (Jdg. 6:12), Jephthah (Jdg. 11:1), and others, and have no reference to his wealth and property (Lange). The phrase undoubtedly points to his valour and capacity in the field of battle (Cox). It is to be understood in the sense of a leading man; a great man. Hence the Jewish tradition that Boaz is another name for Ibzan, the only judge connected with Bethlehem. He was a strong and able man in Israel in war and in peace (Lange). And his name was Boaz. Signifies strength (Fuerst, Wordsworth, Wright). Son of strength (Lange, Cox). Alacrity (Gesen., Keil). To be explained by reference to the name of one of the pillars erected by Solomon (Lange, Wordsworth). Cf. 1Ki. 7:21, 2Ch. 3:17, in connexion with Solomons temple. The signification alacritas would hardly be applicable to the pillar (Lange). The name Boaz found a contrast to that of Ruths former husband, Mahlon, which signifies weakness (Wordsworth). The Chaldee reads mighty in the law. Boaz, son of Salmon and Rachab the harlot (Mat. 1:5).

Rth. 2:2. And glean ears. Literally, glean among the ears. Let me gather (Sc., some ears) among those that are left lying in the field by the harvesters (Lange). The right to glean was a legal privilege of the poor in Israel (cf. Lev. 13:22; Lev. 19:9, and Deu. 24:19). But hardhearted farmers and reapers threw obstacles in the way, and even forbade the gleaning altogether (Keil). Hence Ruth proposed to glean after him who should generously allow it (ibid). Gleaning conceded, not as a matter of right, but as a favour (Kitto). Of corn. Corn is in Syriac the generic word for grain of any kind (Steele and Terry). After him in whose sight I shall find grace. Whoever he might be. Did not mean Boaz (A. Clarke). The owner had a right to nominate the persons who might glean after his reapers (Steele and Terry). In other words, the poor applied as Ruth did (Rth. 2:7) for permission to glean. Some think, however, that she did this only as a foreigner.

Rth. 2:3. And she went and came. That is, she went out of the house where she was, and out of the city, and came into the field (Gill). According to the Midrash, however (vide Jarci and Alshech, in loco.), she marked the ways as she went, before she entered into the field, and then came back to the city, that she might not mistake the way (ibid). And gleaned in the field after the reapers. Still regarded by the rural poor as one of their rights, though the decision has been against them in courts of law. The popular notion probably derived from Jewish customs (see Kitto). The law of Moses directed very liberal treatment of the poor at the seasons of harvest and ingathering. The corners of the field were not to be reaped; the owner was not to glean his own field; and a sheaf accidentally left behind was not to be fetched away, but left for the poor (Kitto). As landowners were not subject to money taxes for the support of the poor, this claim was liberally construed by them (Kitto), at least by the better-disposed among them. And her hap was to light. More literally, And her lot met her on the field of Boaz (Lange). Literally, her hap happened (Schaff, in Lange), her chance chanced to hit upon the field (Keil. Wordsworth). A part of the field belonging unto Boaz. The field-portion, i.e., that part of the grain-fields about Bethlehem which belonged to Boaz (Lange). The grain-fields, unlike the vineyards, are not separated by any enclosure. The boundary between them is indicated by heaps of small stones, or sometimes by single upright stones, placed at intervals (Lange).

HOMILIES AND OUTLINES

CHAPTER IIRth. 2:1

Theme.THE CLAIMS OF THE WEAK UPON THE STRONG

Who gain their titles not by birth,
But win them by the lordlier worth
Of noble deeds,true chivalry,
These men are Gods nobility.B.

Howeer it be, it seems to me
Tis only noble to be good:
Kind hearts are more than coronets.
And simple faith than Norman blood.Tennyson.

And Naomi had a kinsman [lit. acquaintance] of her husbands, a mighty man of wealth [a valiant hero (Lange)], etc.

The second chapter opens up a new act, as it were, in this beautiful and touching drama; poetry of the highest order, and not the less poetry because it is fact; for far more romantic things are recorded in history, than ever yet were created in novel or romance (Cumming). Mark, too, that thus early in the narrative, what is the key to the whole story is plainly pointed to, viz., redemption, salvation, help, from one near of kin, one of the same family and blood. No wonder the old Puritans saw a spiritual suggestiveness in the character of Boaz. My Redeemer liveth is my Goel liveth, and the very word is applied to Boaz (Ruth 4), My strength and my Redeemer (Psa. 9:14), in the Hebrew is my Boaz and my (Goel (Cumming).

The text suggests as worthy consideration

I. The relationship between the rich and the poor. Every branch of the tree is not a top branch (Matt. Henry). Must be and will be subordination, mutual dependence, and mutual responsibility, as long as the world lasts, or as long as the world is what it is. God wills that it should be so. He puts the rich and the poor side by side, and has linked them together a thousand times in this way. Beautiful when life repeats what is seen here, for the narrative goes on to show how Boaz came to respect Ruth and Naomi, first for kindred and then for virtues sake. Note. (a) A wealthy man may be a good and godly man, ready to meet the responsibilities which come to him. Riches neither further nor hinder salvation, but as loved and trusted in. Not money, which is the root of all evil, but the love of money. It is rare that religion and riches meet, yet Boaz was both rich and religious (Macgowan). Not many rich, etc. (b) Poverty a thing not to be despised in and for itself. The poor may be virtuous and attractive, as Ruth and Naomi evidently were. Boaz had a poor relation, a most uncomfortable fact, as many respectable people know (Braden). And yet they neither begged of him nor thrust themselves unduly on his notice. They were an example to all the world of that quiet self-respect which feels the claim, and yet waits the opportunity when that claim is to be presented by circumstances and providential leadings rather than by themselves.

Note. (c) It is not in the outward estate to alter blood and kindred, or the claims which come from thence. Poor Naomi and rich Boaz were of the same stock after all. Joseph, though governor of Egypt, had poor Jacob for his father, and plain shepherds for his brethren (Fuller). Mark the frailty and vanity of worldly dignity. However parents provide for their posterity, these contrasts are common enough in family life. The posterity of the righteous are brought into poverty, that they set not their minds on temporal glory (Topsell).

II. The relationship between the strong and the weak. A link here between the two extremes. Boaz, whose very name signifies strength, a hero and a great man, perhaps a judge in Israel; and this poor bankrupt widow, forced to live upon anothers gleanings. Naomi could say as does the Psalmist, Thou hast put my kinsman far from me (Lange). But Boaz had other qualities besides his strength. He shows himself morally brave in every relationship (Lange). All the claims which came to him in life are recognized and responded to,

(1) as master;
(2) as servant of God;
(3) as a man of action;
(4) as one not insensible to worth, hiding itself under the garb of poverty, he is an example of what is meant by the godly and righteous man. He stooped from his high estate, as Christ Himself humbled Himself to rescue the poor from their lot of ignominy and poverty; and he clothes them with his own dignity. His strength like the Saviours strengthto compare human things with Divineis shown in his works. Note. Jesus is our near kinsman and Goel (Macgowan), a mighty man of wealth in a natural and in a spiritual way (Col. 1:19; Col. 2:3).

IMPROVEMENT.Learn from the whole narrative, as shadowed forth here,

(1) The nobleness of strength nourishing weakness, true greatness recognizing the claims of those beneath it, where many would pass by and despise. We that are strong, etc. (Rom. 15:1).

(2) Recognize the claims, which make the whole family of God as one. We are all of the same blood. Go back far enough, and you will find relationship. Remember the words of that noble Roman, received even then with tumultuous applause, I am a man; nothing that concerns man can be a matter of indifference to me.

The improvement of the ground is the most natural obtaining of riches; for it is our great mothers blessing, the earths; but it is slow. And yet, when men of great wealth do stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches exceedingly.Lord Bacon.

It is not the having of wealth, but the having confidence in wealth; not the possessing it, but the relying on it, which makes rich men incapable of the kingdom of heaven: otherwise, wealth well used is a great blessing, enabling the owner to do God more glory, the Church and commonwealth more good.Fuller.

Naomi, though a poor, contemptible widow, had rich relations whom yet she boasted not of, nor was burdensome to, nor expected anything from, when she returned to Bethlehem in distress. Those that have rich relations, while they themselves are poor, ought to know that it is the wise providence of God that makes the difference (in which we ought to acquiesce), and that to be proud of our relation to such is a great sin, and to trust to is a great folly.Matt. Henry.

How came it to pass, then, that a man so bold and generous and pious left Naomi un-helped and uncomforted in the time of her penury and grief? We cannot altogether tell. He may have been absent on military service when she returned from the field of Moab, and have only got leave of absence, as soldiers then commonly did, during harvest. He may only just have heard the tale of Naomis sorrow when he met Ruth in the harvest-field.Cox.

One would suppose that to the proud heart of man anything would be preferable to beggary; but so inconsistent are its workings, that more are led to beggary by pride than poverty, as people imagine that a certain distinction attaches to dependence on relatives, or even on friends, while they regard the lower kinds of industry as disgraceful. It would be well for all classes to remember that meanness is not humility; it is the miserable resource by which disappointed pride seeks to steal that distinction which has been denied it, and to avoid the humiliating and correcting lessons which Providence sends; it is the crouching to man of those who will not bow to God. In proportion as pure religion enters the soul, this hateful spirit leaves it, and a love of independence takes possession of it,a love of independence arising not from pride, but from the genuine desire not to encroach on human kindness, not to forget the Divine declaration, That if any would not work, neither should he eat.Macartney.

Behold therefore as in a glass the perfect image of temporal felicity, the father a king, the children beggars, the father honourable, the son not worshipful, the predecessors the chiefest in authority, but the successors the meanest in calling: this made the fathers think that the world was like a sea, here a mighty wave, there a great downfall. Some thought it to be like ice, where a man can never stand sure, but the one will be breaking or he be sliding; some like to trees whereof the tallest are soonest overturned; but all agree in this, that worldly felicity is miserable vanity; for our present wealth is like a pleasant summer which must needs come to an end, though all the world should strive to the contrary.Topsell.

Therefore make you friends of the unrighteous mammon, that when you shall have need they may receive you into their everlasting habitations. Distribute liberally. give plentifully, live peaceably, walk humbly; for the wealth of the world doth not always last, neither the crown from generation to generation.Topsell.

Let this confute such as having gotten a little more thick clay than the rest of their family, the getting of new wealth and honour makes them to lose their old eyes, so that they cannot see and discern their poor kindred afterwards. When Joseph was governor of Egypt, it is said that he knew his brethren, but his brethren knew not him; but now-a-days it happeneth clean contrary. If one of a family be advanced to great honour, it is likely that his kindred will know him, but he oftentimes comes to forget them. Few there be of the noble nature of the Lord Cromwell, who, sitting at dinner with the lords of the council, and chancing to see a poor man afar off which used to sweep the cells and the cloisters, called for the man, and told the lords, This mans father hath given me many a good meal, and he shall not lack as long as I live.Fuller.

Who knoweth whether God hath raised thee up, who art the best of thy kindred, to this very intent that thou mightest be the treasure and the storehouse to supply the want of others which are allied unto thee?Fuller.

There are multitudes of men like the summer vines, which never grow even liqucous, but stretch out a thousand little hands to grasp the stronger shrubs; and if they cannot reach them they lie dishevelled in the grass, hoof-trodden, and beaten of every storm. As yet the world will not understand that he governs whom love makes serviceable. The strong are few, the weak are many, and God appoints the strong to serve the weak, saying, We, then, that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written. The reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me.Beecher.

A Christianity which will not help those who are struggling from the bottom to the top of society needs another Christ to die for it.Ibid.

How seldom, friend, a good great man inherits

Honour and wealth, with all his worth and pains!

It seems a story from the world of spirits
When any man obtains that which he merits,

Or any merits that which he obtains.

For shame, my friend! renounce this idle strain!
What wouldst thou have a good great man obtain?
Goodness and greatness are not means, but ends.
Hath he not always treasures, always friends,
The great good man? Three treasureslove and light,
And calm thoughts, equable as infants breath;
And three fast friends, more sure than day and night
Himself, his Maker, and the angel Death?

Coleridge.

How blessed he

That feels not what affliction greatness yields!
Other than what he is he would not be,
Nor change his state with him that sceptre wields.
Thine, thine is that true life; that is to live,
To rest secure, and not rise up to grieve.

Daniel.

Rth. 2:2

Theme.HUMBLE TOIL, THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS AN AFTER RECOMPENCE

O woman! in our hours of case
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
And variable as is the shade
By the light quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!Scott.

Oh, what makes woman lovely? virtue, faith,
And gentleness in suffering,an endurance
Through scorn or trial,these call beauty forth,
Give it the stamp celestial, and admit it
To sisterhood with angels!Brent.

And Ruth said Let me now go into the fields, and glean. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

This is the first movement of the machine which brought such grand things about. From gleaning she arose to be ancestress to Jesus (Macgowan). This request led to the recompence; proved a step towards her highest preferment.

Note. (a) Great things often arise from very small beginnings. A restless night by Ahasuerus produced that great revolution in favour of the Jews (Esther 6) (Macgowan). (b) High buildings are raised upon the lowest foundations (ibid.). Christs Church was to be built upon the truth contained in Peters confession (Mat. 16:16-18). So upon Ruths fidelity the human nature of our Lord is, as it were, to be engrafted.

It reveals,

I. A truly filial spirit. Gentle obedience, willing submission to Naomi. Her nativity of Moab; her behaviour that of an Israelite indeeda true daughter of Abraham, though she springs from Lot (Lawson). Mark how her meek and beautiful spirit begins to show itself. She did not go of herself, obstinately and selfishly. She consulted her mother-in-law, and this was even more commendable than if it had been done to her natural parents. Possibly, too, she wished Naomi to enjoy the rest suitable to her time of life. Note. (a) A wise, thoughtful, considerate spirit one of the true signs of grace. This not always exhibited, especially where the pangs of want are felt. A parents poverty at times the source of discontent (Braden). Many become hard, cold, cynical in reverses. Not so Ruth. (b) These charities of the heart sweeten life (Lawson). We have here a beautiful example of courtesy between children and parents, as in Rth. 2:4, between masters and servants.

II. A truly humble spirit. Mark the lowliness of her employment. She will work in the hot sun as a poor gleaner, and never murmur (Braden). Some way of earning a livelihood was a necessity. Ruth desirous of an honest though never so simple a calling (Topsell). Takes that which is nearest to hand. Will not depend upon Naomi, but would rather that Naomi in her old age should lean upon her. Will not even wait until, perhaps, Naomis relatives, out of very shame, step in with succour and assistance. No! Like that one in the Gospel, she cannot dig, and to beg she is ashamed. But unlike that one, she is not above using every honest means to maintain herself and assist her mother. Note. Female feelings are keener than those of men (Macgowan). Contact with the rude, unfeeling world means more to them. Ruth must have shrunk with a womans sensitiveness from the step. And yet she adapts herself to the new circumstances. She goes out to glean with the poor around her. So Paul: I have learned in whatsoever state, etc. I know both how to be abased, etc. (Php. 4:11-12).

III. A truly noble spirit. The best natures show best when most tried, and they are lovelier in poverty than in wealth. Note. (a) Brave toilers have always made the worst drudgery sublime (Braden). Work is not degradation, and only mean spirits think it to be so. Paul laboured with his own hands as a tent maker. Not what I have, but what I do, is my kingdom (Carlyle). There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work (ibid). However humble, it exalts the man. Labour is mans necessity is mans glory (Caleb Morris), and brings its own reward. Especially so when an affection like Ruths prompts us to it.

Offices of love

Wrought for a parent lighten dutys labours.Sophocles.

LESSONS.

(1) Before honour is humility.
(2) Great things come to pass by poor and unlikely beginnings (Bernard).

(3) The way of our abasement may become, in Gods providence, the way of our advancement.

Bernard on this:

I.

Honest hearts truly entertaining religion, do not forsake it or the godly for worldly wants.

II.

Godly children hold themselves bound to be at the disposing of their parents.

III.

Honest minds will stoop to base means, so they be honest, to relieve their wants in their poor estate. The truly religious will not live idle.

IV.

Gleaning then, as now, was a lawful means for the poor to get food.

In whose sight I shall find favour.

V.

The godly, in using lawful means to live, hope to find favour with one or other for their relief. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

VI.

Requests are to be granted of parents, unto children, when they be lawful and fit.

VIII.

A meek and loving spirit giveth a meek and loving answer.

What cold entertainment do they find at Bethlehem, even in the Church of God, for whose sake one forsook her country, the other her wealth, and both of them their welfare. Is this the profit of your profession, which promises mountains of security, and pays a multitude of miseries? A man that hath a thousand pounds laid beside him, and layeth it out upon a bargain, whereof he shall receive no profit in many years, but the date expireth and the day of receipt come, receiveth his own and many thousand pounds for his gain. Even so with religion, it is a pearl for which we must sell both living and lands, and yet it is worth both, and many a thousand times more; if thou feel not the profit at first tarry awhile, thou hast the promise and bond of the Lord of hosts.Topsell.

For this, then, she had left paternal house and land But the love she cherishes makes everything easy to her. It not only gives utterance to good words, but it carries them into practice. She forgets everything in order now to remember her filial duty to Naomi, and Naomi accepts her offer. Until now she has only silently endured every expression of Ruths self-sacrifice. She had indeed ceased to dissuade her from going with her, but she had also refrained from encouraging her. The meekness with which she asks permission to encounter toil and misery overcomes in Naomi every other ulterior consideration. Such a request could no longer be silently accepted, nor could it be refused. Naomi has no other reward for Ruths self-sacrificing disposition, than that she is ready to accept its effort for herself.Lange (condensed).

What prosperity had concealed, adversity brings to light. Nobleness that we never suspected, with powers that would have remained uncultured and unfruitful, have been manifested. They are like some grand mansion surrounded and hidden in summer time by large full-foliaged trees; the passer-by cannot discern the fine proportions and ornamental sculpture that make it a thing of beauty; but when winter tears away with ruthless hand every leaf, until the trees stand clear and bare, then behold the magnificent handiwork appears in all its glory and perfection.Braden.

I do not hear Ruth stand upon the terms of her better education or wealthy parentage; but now that God had called her to want, she scorns not to lay her hand upon all homely services, and thinks it no disparagement to find her bread in other mens fields. There is no harder lesson to a generous mind, nor that more beseems it, than either to bear want or to prevent it. Base spirits give themselves over to idleness and misery, and because they are crossed will sullenly perish.Bishop Hall.

High spirits can more easily starve than stoop; Ruth was none of those. She does not tell her mother. She was never brought up to live upon crumbs. Though she was not brought up to it, she is brought down to it, and is not uneasy at it. Nay, it is her own motion, not her mothers injunction. Humility is one of the brightest ornaments of youth, and one of the best omens. Before Ruths honour was this humility.Matt. Henry.

Let this teach even those whose veins are washed with generous blood, and arteries quickened with noble spirits, in their prosperity, to furnish, qualify, and accommodate themselves with such gentile (gentle) arts and liberal mysteries as will be neither blemish nor burthen to their birth; that so, if hereafter God shall cast them into poverty, these arts may stand them in some stead towards their maintenance and relief.Fuller.

There are compensations even in this world, of which we little dream, and God sets one thing, and often a better thing, over against another in human life. Riches fly, but character is developed; we are compelled to work, and out of work spring our truest joys. Our life is paradoxical, but without contradictions; we are made the least, that we may become the greatest, and the way down is, with God as guide, always the road to exaltation.Braden.

Young persons should be cheerfully willing to bear fatigues and troubles for the sake of their aged parents, that they may enjoy such case as the infirmities of age require. Let those who are in the vigour of age, if their parents are feeble, remember what their mothers endured for them in infancy or sickness, how they willingly suffered anxiety of mind, the want of sleep, and many fatigues of body, that their beloved offspring might enjoy pleasure, or be relieved from distress. How selfish are the spirits of those young persons who grudge toil or expense for their parents in that time of life when they can enjoy little pleasure but what arises from beholding the affectionate attachment of their children.Lawson.

I am told that the Court of Common Pleas, which is not infallible, has decided that nobody has a right to glean. It was hitherto supposed to be a universal right; that prescript had made it law; but one of our courts has decided that it is not law, and that nobody has a right to glean. And therefore we have got what I suppose is thought politically a better substitutethe Poor Law, instead of the ancient usage of gleaning in the fields after the reapers.Dr. Cumming.

Labour is, and must be, the foundation of our earthly livelihood, must be the price of our natural, our bodily, our animal happiness. Labour in some shape or other is, in fact, the very foundation of everything that is good for man.Caleb Morris.

Do the duty which lies nearest thee, which thou knowest to be a duty. Thy second duty will already have become clearer. Hence also our whole duty, which is to move, to work, in the right direction.Carlyle.

As frosts unlock the hard shells of seeds, and help the germ to get free, so trouble developes in men the germs of force, patience, and ingenuity, and in noble natures works the peaceable fruits of righteousness. A gentle schoolmaster it is to those who are exercised thereby. Tears, like rain-drops, have a thousand times fallen to the ground and come up in flowers.Beecher.

Rth. 2:3

Theme.SEEMING CHANCES, REAL PROVIDENCES

Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us
Theres a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will,Shakespeare.

All Nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good,
And spite of pride, in erring reasons spite,
One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.Pope.

And she went and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and her hap was to light, etc.

Inspiration speaks here after our human ways and methods of speech. Christ Himself did so in His wonderful parable of the Good Samaritan. By chance, He says, there came (Luk. 10:31). Note. A revelation from God to man necessarily implies this condescension. Just as the Word was made flesh, so the Divine thought, when it was revealed to holy men of old, must clothe itself with the limitation and imperfection which belong to speech. How else could we receive itunderstand it? Elsewhere, however, the Scriptures teach us there is no such thing as chance. Not a sparrow falleth, etc. And where men think they appeal to fortune, the hand of God is to be seen. The lot is cast into the lap, but the disposing of it is of the Lord (Pro. 16:33).

Observe,

I. That by what appear mere accidents, we may alight upon our best blessings (Braden). Wandering at her will, going whithersoever she would, she was still treading in the path of destiny. Possibly she had neither choice nor desire, which could bias either to the right hand or to the left. At best, it was only a question as to where she would be allowed to glean that absorbed the mind (Rth. 2:2; Rth. 2:7). Yet it was one of the critical moments of her life. So with ourselves. How many things have happened, about which we were strangely indifferent; yet their issues have proved unspeakably momentous (Braden). Note. Human life itself is made up of little things, of small, and seemingly unimportant events, upon which greater things depend.

Guard well the boon, Tis trivial
In seeming only, and shall win
A dower of heaven for faithfulness,
The curse of hell, if there be sin.B.

Observe, II., as following this

That these seeming chances are real providences. If we could see the end as God does, we should see that every event is for the believer (McCheyne). With regard to Ruth, this was hap or chance; she knew not the fields of Boaz from those of another. With God it was providence. Outwardly, and as men speak, it was an accident, but mark to what the accident led! It brought her to that part of the field belonging to the man to whom, of all others, it was of the greatest importance she should be introduced. Note. (a) That which we call chance, casualty, accident, good luck, is included in the all things that work together for good (Rom. 8:28). What though it be a catastrophe or a crime!there may be second causes and the action of human evil, but the great first cause is in all (Spurgeon).

Note. (b) Those things which with us are accidental, are all the determinations of a holy Providence (Macgowan). Ruths purpose was to glean, Gods purpose was to direct her into the way of meeting with Boaz. So always. In the eye of man, mere chance brought Jacob and Rachel together (Genesis 29). So with Pharaohs daughter going to bathe (Exo. 2:5-10). None the less there was the Divine purpose being accomplished, which had respect to the future of Israel. So with the Syrian arrow drawn at a venture (1Ki. 22:34). God directed it. Note. (c) The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps (Jer. 10:23). We go blindly, not knowing what a day or even an hour may bring forth. All is chance in one sense. We stumble upon the best things that come to us in life. It is all a surprise, and God has intended that it should be so. But then this is only the human side. Look deeper, and there is a plan, a purpose. Life unfolds itself to the wise man more and more as if it were a premeditated thing. There is a fitness, an appropriateness about all that happens, which speaks the Divine direction and control. Note. (d) Providences to the righteous, are but the fulfilment of promises.

Learn,

III. That God does direct and give success to the efforts of the right-minded. David says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord (Psa. 37:23). If so, the way and its issue alike must be well. Who can guide himself aright in this perplexing world? (Braden). Ignorance, confusion, the tangled thread of human affairs, everywhere apparent!

Mystery enshroudeth ever,
Unknown shores on either side,
And for ever through the darkness
Flows the deep and troubled tide.B.

So men have said as they travel onward down the stream of time. But faith has its answer amid these perplexities of human life,This God is our God for ever and ever, and He will be our guide even unto death.

Note. (a) That this Divine guidance, however apparent, does not set aside individual responsibility. The angel hands were laid upon Lot when he left Sodom, but he himself must yield to themthe human will working with the Divine willif his salvation is to be secured. He might have cast off the angel hands, and perished with his sons-in-law, who mocked alike at the threatened danger and the offered guidance (Gen. 19:14-16). Note. (b) I being in the way, the Lord led me (Gen. 24:27), the principle upon which God deals with men.

So it was with Ruth. Mark

(1) Gods blessing met her in the way of humble toil. Lange gives as a more literal translation, And her lot met her in the field of Boaz. Her destiny was decided therehumble gleaner as she was, she found favour with the man upon whom everything depended. So always. Gods blessing can come to us in the cornfield, or in the workshop, or in the counting house. And He Himself can be with us there. Not mans manifold labours, says Dr. Pusey, but his manifold cares, hinder the presence of God. Labour ordained by God, and wrought for and in God, invites Gods fuller presence. Note. A principle in this choice of the humble who are to be exalted [cf. Luk. 1:48-53]. He who chose a gleaner to be the ancestress of David, of Christ, chose the fisherman, and the tax-gatherer, and the tent maker, to confound the wisdom and the greatness of the world (1Co. 1:18-28).

Mark

(2) Gods blessing met her in the way of a self-denying as well as a self-appointed duty. Her reward found her where her love led her. This one of the main lessons of the history, a lesson pointed out by the pen of inspiration itself [cf. Rth. 2:12].

Tyng on this (Rth. 2:2-6) condensed:

Theme.THE GLEANER

God brings His children by ways they know not. The manifestation of His plans gradual. No accident in our lives. How ample was the portion He had provided for Ruth, a kinsman prepared to protect, to sustain, and to exalt hera mighty man of wealth. But as yet she had no personal knowledge of himno means of knowing the gracious purposes of God regarding her. So God has prepared an all-sufficient and waiting Saviour for the poor and perishing sinner, a Saviour able to meet his wants, his dangers, his future need. But the perishing one knows nothing of Him. The way in which God is pleased to lead us to Jesus illustrated in the method of Ruths introduction to her rich kinsman.

I. The first step is to reduce her to the deepest necessity. In great poverty, and with no apparent means of relief, Ruth proposes to glean. The very necessity brought out a proof of her excellency. So God brings the soul to an experience of utter want. Looks round in vain for relief. His conscious necessity urges him to come as a beggar. And it is when he can say, I am willing to be the lowest of the low, if the Saviour will receive me, that the day of his salvation draws nigh.

II. The next step is to take away all feeling of rebellious pride in this state of want. Sinful pride, a most common attendant on earthly distressa very different feeling from self-respect. Ruth had great self-respect, and yet she was not ashamed to be poor. Willing to gleanto do anything. So the sinner must be made to feel his deep unworthiness, his complete nothingness, etc.

III. The next step is one of gracious providence to bring her, as it were by accident, to an unexpected introduction to her rich kinsman. God had disposed and prepared her way before her; and leads her to the very place where He designs to bless her. Her coming seemingly accidental, but far enough from accident in reality. So the gracious providence of God is often manifested in bringing poor, perishing souls under the ministry of the Word! This the point to which everything else is tending, and to which everything else is subordinate.

IV. The next step in Ruths history is the peculiar crisis at which she came into the field. The time of a gracious visit from the master, etc.

Bernard on this (condensed):

And she went and came and gleaned. She craved leave to go, and when it was granted, she accordingly went.

(1) Honest motions and intentions to well doing are to be put into practice, else they are worth nothing. Paul had a mind to visit the brethren, and he did so; the prodigal son had a purpose to return home, etc. If motions be good, it is good to put them into execution, and that speedily and not to lose the fruit of good thoughts.

(2) Whom necessity moveth, and confidence in God encourageth, they fear no danger. Trusting in God, and being urged of necessity to use honest means to live, she feared no peril, though in those days, every one did what they listed (Judges 18, Jdg. 21:25). When men have faith in God, when the duty of their calling warranteth them, they grow courageous and bold, and put on a resolution without fear.

And her hap was. When things fall out beside a mans purpose, or otherwise than was intended, and whereof a man is ignorant before the thing come to pass, then it is counted hap, or luck, or as the heathen used to speak, fortune.

(1) It is not unlawful to speak according to men thus: It happened, it chanced, it was my luck; so that we understand thereby that which happened beyond our purpose and expectation, but yet guided by Gods hand and providence always excepting in clear cases, where the apparent hand of God is seen; for thus offended the Philistines (1Sa. 6:6-9).

(2) God doth so govern mens actions, as things fall out beyond expectation, and as they were to be wished. See it in the success of Abrahams servant sent to fetch a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24); in Elijah coming to the poor widow of Sarepta in a most fit hour, etc. This should make us to rely upon Gods providence as Abraham did (Gen. 24:7).

(3) God will prosperously direct the well-minded which use honest means to relieve themselves.

She went out, not knowing whither she went; taking either the right hand, or the left, scarcely being able to assign a reason why she preferred the one to the other.Toller.

The misery or happiness of our life is often derived from accidents that appear quite trivial. Time and chance happeneth to all men, and no man can tell what consequences the slightest accident may leave. Connections, happy or pernicious, riches or poverty, life or death, may be the consequences of a walk or a visit intended for the amusement of a single hour.Lawson.

As the star (Matthew 2) guided the wise men to Judea, to Bethlehem, to the inn, to the stable, to the manger; so the rays and beams of Gods providence conducted Ruth, that, of all grounds within the compass and confines, within the bounds and borders of Bethlehem, she lighted on the field of Boaz.Fuller.

We take our steps without thought of consequences, and imagine that we are following out our own arranged designs, when all the while we are unconsciously fulfilling the purposes of a sovereign Providence.Braden.

How comes the Holy Spirit to use this worda profane term which deserves to be banished out of the mouths of all Christians? Are not all things ordered by Gods immediate providence, without which a sparrow lighteth not on the ground? Is not that sentence most true, God stretcheth from end to end strongly, and disposeth all things sweetly: strongly, Lord, for Thee; sweetly, Lord, for me? So St. Bernard. Or was the providence of God solely confined to His people of Israel, that so Ruth. being a stranger of Moab, must be left to the adventure of hazard? How comes the Holy Spirit to use this word hap?Fuller.

Things are said to happen, not in respect of God, but in respect of us; because oftentimes they come to pass, not only without our purpose and forecast, but even against our intentions and determinations. It is lawful therefore in a sober sense to use these expressions. It chanced, or It fortuned (Luk. 10:31). Nor can any just exception be taken against those words in the collect. Through all changes and chances of this mortal life, provided always that in our forms of speech we dream not of any heathen chance. It is observed that is not used in all the works of Homer; but sure St. Austin, in the first of his Retractations, complaineth that he had too often used the word fortuna, and therefore, in the pagans sense thereof, we ought to abstain from it.Ibid.

Scripture speaks of all things as being what they appear to be: were it otherwise, its language would be incomprehensible to us. We would not talk to a savage of chemical affinities, in endeavouring to explain to him the uses of salt or soap; we would speak of their apparent properties, and thus be enabled to carry his mind with us. Were God to speak to us of things as they are, that is, as He sees them, how utterly unintelligible would such address to us be! Let us mark attentively the course of events connected with, and depending on, this chance eventthe birth of Obed, and through him of Davidthe promises made to the man after Gods own heart fulfilled by the appearance in that family of God manifest in the flesh; and let us cast from us as unscriptural and absurd the theology which would teach us that great events are indeed ordered by God, but that smaller matters are beneath His notice, and unworthy of it. While the greatest events are made to spring from minute causes, the Lord of the universe must be recognised alike in the smallest as in the vastest of His works, whether of providence or of creation. The very hairs of your head are all numbered.Macartney.

The story describes it as a fortunate incident, a curious coincidence; that is, it speaks in a natural human manner about it, because, when unable to trace the immediate action of a Divine hand, we are inclined to speak of chance rather than law, and of fortune rather than God. But we believe that it was by a supernatural guidance she was led there that day. It was her hap, but it was Gods will.Braden.

Things do not happencasualty, accident, chance, are mere words used to conceal our ignorance. Look deep enough, and you will find law, order, and purpose in the most chaotic circumstances; listen attentively, and you will hear the sound of a Divine harmony beneath the discordant and confusing noises of our present existence.Thomas Jones.

People say, How fortunate it is that things have turned out just as they havethat I was prepared for this! As if God did not arrange the whole! One might as well say, How fortunate it is that I have a neck beneath my head, and shoulders under my neck!Beecher.

Doubt Providenceand what the better are you? You have the liability to accident, and nothing to control it, nothing to throw light upon it, nor to which you yourself may fly. You are the creature of chance, driven to and fro as a fallen leaf, and when you cry, there is none greater than you to help you.Wardlaw Mc All.

This circumstance was with Ruth merely accidental, and not the result of choice and contrivance; but it was the effect of the Lords secret direction, in whose providence great events depend upon apparently trivial incidents.Scott.

Accidit accidens vel eventus. By mere chance in respect of Ruth, who, being a stranger, knew not whose field it was; but by a sweet providence of God, who led her hither by the hand, as it were, for her present encouragement and future advancement.Trapp.

Little do we know, when we go forth in the morning, what God means to do with us ere night. There is a providence that attends on us in all our ways, and guides us insensibly to His own ends; that Divine hand leads Ruth blindfold to the field of Boaz.Bishop Hall.

Blindfolded and alone I stand,
With unknown thresholds on each hand;
The darkness deepens as I grope,
Afraid to fear, afraid to hope:
Yet this one thing I learn to know
Each day more surely as I go,
That doors are opend, ways are made,
Burdens are lifted, or are laid,
By some great law unseen and still,
Unfathomd purpose to fulfil
Not as I will.Helen Hunt.

I do not deny that these things happened in the natural order. I say I am grateful for what happened; and look back at the past not without awe. In great grief and danger, may be, I have had timely rescue. Under great suffering I have met with supreme consolation. When the trial has seemed almost too hard for me, it has ended, and our darkness has been lightened. Ut vivo et valeosi valeo. I know by whose permission this is, and would you forbid me to be thankful? To be thankful for my life; to be thankful for my children; to be thankful for the daily bread which has been granted to me, and the temptation from which I have been rescued? As I think of the past and its bitter trials, I bow my head in thanks and awe. I wanted succour, and I found it. I fell on evil times, and good friends pitied and helped me.Thackeray.

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

Ruth Meets Boaz Rth. 2:1-23

Ruth Gleans in the Field of Boaz Rth. 2:1-7

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husbands, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
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.
3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

1.

What is the meaning of mighty man of wealth? Rth. 2:1

Boaz is described as a mighty man of wealth. Such terminology is usually used to describe one who was a brave man of war. The term was used in this way in Jdg. 6:12 in describing Gideon. The angel of the Lord called Gideon a mighty man of valor, but the original language is the same in both places. The phrase is translated in the same way in Jdg. 11:1 where Jephthah is called a mighty man of valor. Since Boaz had nothing to do with warfare, it is presumed the phrase means he was an influential man with considerable wealth, and the translation is so given.

2.

What was the law regarding gleaning? Rth. 2:2-3

The Mosaic law (Lev. 19:9; Lev. 23:22, cf. Deu. 24:19) expressly secured to the poor the right to glean in the harvest fields. It prohibited the owners from gleaning themselves, but hard-hearted farmers and reapers threw obstacles in the way of the poor. Some even forbade their gleaning altogether. Hence, Ruth proposed to glean after him who should generously allow it. She carried out this intention with the consent of Naomi. God led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, a relative of Elimelech, without her knowing the owner of the field or being at all aware of his connection with Elimelech. Ruth was industrious and willing to work with her hands to provide their daily bread.

3.

What was the relationship between Boaz and his reapers? Rth. 2:4

He treated them mercifully and they served him faithfully. He greeted them by saying. The Lord be with you. They replied to him by saying, The Lord bless thee. Such a greeting indicates the existence of a good rapport between the landowner and those who worked in his fields. Their expressions were more than the customary greetings which are often thoughtless and given hastily, such as our everyday, Hi! or Hello! Both the greeting of Boaz and the reply of his reapers were prayers.

4.

Why did he come from Bethlehem? Rth. 2:4

Men lived in towns and went out to their fields. It was unsafe for individual farmers to live alone in the countryside. They would be vulnerable to highway robbers and in danger of harm from predatory animals. Most of the time, these settlements had walls around them with gates which could be locked at night, thus protecting the people who dwelled there from any harm. Boaz resided in Bethlehem and went out to his field during the daytime. Thus we read, Boaz came from Bethlehem.

5.

Why did Ruth ask to work among the sheaves? Rth. 2:7

She wanted permission to go into the fieldsmore than walking along the roadside. The Old Testament law was specific in giving instructions as to how much grain could be gathered by those who were dependent upon this activity for their livelihood. For example, it was specified that they could go into the vineyard of their neighbor, but they were not to take any grapes out in a vessel. They could eat all that they needed while they were there. A similar rule was made with regard to walking through the standing grain of the fields. People were allowed to pluck the ears with their hands, but they were not allowed to use a sickle in the standing grain (Deu. 23:24-25). According to this custom and regulation Jesus disciples plucked grain as they walked through the grain fields on the sabbath day (Mat. 12:1-2). Ruths request was for freedom to work in the fields following the reapers.

6.

What can we learn from the servants conversation with Boaz? Rth. 2:4-7

It is evident from this answer of the servant who was placed over the reapers that Boaz did not prohibit any poor person from gleaning in his field. It is also clear that Ruth asked permission of the overseer of the reapers. She availed herself of this permission with untiring zeal from the first thing in the morning. She wanted to get the necessary support for her mother-in-law and herself. Lastly, we learn her history was well known to the overseer and also to Boaz, although Boaz saw her now for the first time.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) Boaz.It has been already said that if there are any gaps in the genealogy, these are most probably to be referred to its earlier portion. According to the line, however, given in Rth. 4:18 seq., Boaz is grandson of the Nahshon who was prince of the tribe of Judah during the wanderings in the desert and son of Salmon and Rahab of Jericho. It may be noted that the difficulty of date may be lessened by supposing that in the last two generations we have children of their fathers old age.

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

1. A kinsman of her husband’s An acquaintance and friend, and also a relative. But the Hebrew word is not the same as that rendered kinsman in Rth 2:20 and Rth 3:9; Rth 3:12-13. According to a Rabbinical tradition, Boaz was a nephew of Elimelech. He was a wealthy and influential citizen of Bethlehem, and perhaps had also distinguished himself in war.

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

‘ And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, an important man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.’

Introductory to what is about to unfold we are provided with information about Boaz, the man who will feature prominently in the story. He was ‘an important man of wealth’, and was of the family of Elimelech. Family was an important concept in Israelite eyes, and a man was seen as having a responsibility towards other members of his wider family. It was expected of him that where he could, he would redeem any family property that had had to be sold, and would enable the continuation of his kinsmen’s names by producing sons to take up their inheritance. Whilst the Law of Moses had only indicated this as being an obligation to brothers of a deceased man who had died childless (Deu 25:5-10), it was also apparently seen as incumbent on other close relatives to perform the same function, albeit voluntarily, when there were no brothers. Compare how Judah had basically admitted that he had been responsible to ensure that his daughter-in-law had had children by a family member, and that she could not therefore be greatly faulted for having ensured the continuation of her husband’s name by having intercourse with him by trickery (Gen 38:6-30). Such perpetuation was ancient custom and a matter of family honour. Deuteronomy had only been applying it to a specific situation.

Furthermore they would be seen as having an obligation to ensure that family members did not go hungry, and it is clear from the narrative that Boaz had been making enquiries into Naomi’s situation and was well informed about it (Rth 2:11). He was thus behaving like a loyal kinsman.

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

In the Field of Boaz

v. 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a relative by marriage, according to Jewish tradition a nephew of Elimelech, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. His ability and influence were freely recognized in the community, both in war and peace.

v. 2. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn, of grain, after him in whose sight I shall find grace. That was a privilege granted to the very poor, to widows and orphans by the precepts of Moses, Lev 23:22; Deu 24:19, but it must have been a rather bitter experience to one unaccustomed to charity, especially since the permission was not always given in good grace by the harvesters. But Ruth’s love for Naomi was sincere and faithful; she was ready to brave the ordeal. And she, Naomi, said unto her, Go, my daughter, for she was now utterly dependent upon the efforts of her daughter-in-law.

v. 3. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers, gathering up the ears that fell aside when the harvesters bound up the sheaves; and her hap was, it was a providential happening for her, to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. Unacquainted with the neighborhood as she was, she simply turned her footsteps to the first field she struck, but God guided her in her selection.

v. 4. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, to oversee the harvesting, and said unto the reapers, in a greeting which might be copied oftener, The Lord be with you! And they, as the laudable custom of the country required, answered him, The Lord bless thee! If the excellent relationship between employers and employees which this exchange of greetings implied obtained everywhere, there would be no need of arbitration committees between capital and labor.

v. 5. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, the foreman of the harvesters, Whose damsel is this? Being familiar with all the families in the entire neighborhood, he wanted to know to which of these she belonged.

v. 6. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab;

v. 7. and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves; so she came and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house, she had not even taken time to rest, so busy had she been. So the overseer praised both the humility and the diligence of Ruth, including the propriety and the reserve of her demeanor. It appears, then, that Boaz freely permitted the poor to glean on his fields, and that his overseer had taken his cue from his master, feeling very kindly disposed toward those in need, especially if they were, as in this case, humble and respectful.

v. 8. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, on the strength of the fine testimonial given her by the overseer, Hearest thou not, my daughter? He wanted to be sure that she followed his kind directions without hesitation. Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, for she modestly stayed at a distance from the reapers and binders, but abide here fast by my maidens, the women-servants who bound up the cut grain in sheaves;

v. 9. let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, right behind the binders, where the gleaning would be most productive, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? For they may occasionally have indulged in some rudeness toward the poor gleaners. And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, placed there for the use of the workmen, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Although Boaz was undoubtedly aware of a certain relationship between himself and this poor woman, he practices no condescension, he assumes no patronizing air, but protects her interests in a manner which would not hurt.

v. 10. Then she fell on her face, bowing down deeply, so as to touch the ground with her forehead, in recognition of his kindness, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, notice her at all, seeing I am a stranger? She felt unworthy of the kind interest which he was showing in her, especially since she was not even a member of the people of Israel.

v. 11. And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath been fully showed me, he had been given full information, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. She had had a home and parents living as well, all that she needed for earthly happiness; but all this she had left for an unknown country, with people that were strangers to her. It was not only devotion to her mother-in-law, as Boaz very well knew, but faith in the God of Israel which had determined Ruth’s course.

v. 12. The Lord, whom Ruth had chosen as her God, recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust, to take refuge. The words of Boaz reveal the truly pious mind of this chief among his brethren. He looks to Jehovah to reward Ruth as richly and abundantly as her love and its expression merited, so that she would miss nothing of that which she had left behind in the line of earthly blessings, but recover them all and more. “In his words there is undeniably the breathing of a pious, national consciousness, such as becomes an Israelitish family-head and hero in the presence of a recent proselyte to his faith and people. ”

v. 13. Then she said, with the same modesty which characterized her behavior throughout, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly, literally, “to the heart,” unto thine handmaid, though, as she adds in restriction of her apparent boldness in daring to place herself on a level with his servants, I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens, not in that relationship of service to him that she might have earned his kind regard.

v. 14. And Boaz, still more favorably disposed toward her on account of her humility, said unto her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar, the food which was supplied to the laborers, bread and roasted grain or parched corn, the former being dipped into a refreshing drink, consisting of vinegar and water, perhaps with a little olive oil. And she sat beside the reapers; and he, partaking himself of the simple meal, reached her parched corn, grain roasted in the ear, and she did eat, and was sufficed, she had her fill, and left, the uneaten quantity being carefully saved for her mother-in-law.

v. 15. And when she was risen up to glean, even before the others returned to work, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, not only at a distance in the rear, and reproach her not, not in any way interfere with her or heap shame upon her;

v. 16. and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, purposely pulling out some stalks from the bound sheaves, and leave them that she may glean them, and rebuke her not, by speaking harshly to her.

v. 17. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, separating the kernels from the husks; and it was about an ephah of barley, over three pecks, a considerable amount for a mere gleaner. God rewards faithfulness in the performance of the duties of life in rich measure, even here in time.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

IT is by way of introduction to the remaining narrative that the writer says:

Rth 2:1

And Naomi had, on her husband’s side, a friend. The C’tib reading (absolute ) is much to be preferred to the K’ri . But is ambiguous in import. It primarily means known, well-known, acquainted, an acquaintance (see Job 19:14; Psa 55:13; Psa 88:8, Psa 88:18). But as intimate acquaintances, especially in a primitive and comparatively unwelded state of society, are generally found within the circle of kinsfolk, the word may be used, and is here used, in reference to a kinsman. The Vulgate translates it consanguineus. The translation is interpretatively correct; but the original term is less definite, and hence, in virtue of the ambiguity, there is not absolute redundancy in the appended clause, of the family or elan of Elimelech. This friend of Naomi on her husband s side is said, in King James’s version, to be a mighty man of wealth. But the expression so rendered has, in the very numerous passages in which it occurs, a conventional import that stretches out in a different and nobler direction. It is the expression that is so frequently translated “a mighty man of valor (see Jos 1:14; Jos 6:2; Jos 8:3; Jos 10:7; Jdg 6:12; Jdg 11:1, etc.). In only one other passage is it rendered as it is by King James’s translators in the passage before us, viz; in 2Ki 15:20. There it is correctly so translated, interpretatively. Here there seems to be a leaning in the same direction, and yet it is not strongly pronounced. Cassel, however, takes the other cue, and translates “a valiant hero “Probably,” says he “he had distinguished himself in the conflicts of Israel with their enemies.” The expression originally means “strong in strength”, but is ambiguous in consequence of the many-sided import of the latter word , which means originally, either strength, and then valor; or, clannish following (see Raabe), and then military host, or force, or forces; also, faculty or ability, and then, as so often “answering all things,” riches or wealth. The idea the writer seems to be that the friend of the widow’s husband was a strong and substantial yeoman. He was of the family or clan of Elimelech. The word family is conventionally too narrow, and the word elan too broad, to represent the import of as here used. The idea intended lies somewhere between. And his name was Boaz. The root of this name is not found, apparently, in Hebrew, as was supposed by the older philologists, and hence its essential idea is as yet undetermined. Raabe finds its original form in the Sanscrit bhuvanti, which yields the idea of prosperousness.

Rth 2:2

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go, I pray thee, to the cornfields, that I may glean among the ears after whosoever shall show me favor. In modern style one would not, in referring, at this stage of the narrative, to Ruth, deem it in the least degree necessary or advantageous to repeat the designation “the Moabitess.” The repetition is antique, and calls to mind the redundant particularization of legal phraseology”the aforesaid Ruth, the Moabitess.” She was willing and wishful to avail herself of an Israelitish privilege accorded to the poor, the privilege of gleaning after the reapers in the harvest-fields (see Le 19:9; 23:22: Deu 24:19). Such gleaning was a humiliation to those who had been accustomed to give rather than to get. But Ruth saw, in the pinched features of her mother-in-law, that there was now a serious difficulty in keeping the wolf outside the door. And hence, although there would be temptation in the step, as well as humiliation, she resolved to avail herself of the harvest season to gather as large a store as possible of those nutritious cereals which form the staff of life, and which they would grind for themselves in their little handmill or quern. She said, with beautiful courtesy. “Let me go I, pray, thee;” or, “I wish to go, if you will please to allow me.” Such is the force of the peculiar Hebrew idiom. “There is no place,” says Lawson, “where our tongues ought to be better governed than in our own houses.” To the cornfields. Very literally, “to the field.” It is the language of townspeople, when referring to the land round about the town that was kept under tillage. It was not customary to separate cornfield from cornfield by means of walls and hedges. A simple furrow, with perhaps a stone here and there, or a small collection of stones, sufficed, as in Switzerland at the present day, to distinguish the patches or portions that belonged to different proprietors. Hence the singular word field, as comprehending the sum-total of the adjoining unenclosed ground that had been laid down in grain. “Though the gardens and vineyards,” says Horatio B. Hackett, “are usually surrounded by a stone wall or hedge of prickly pear, the grain-fields, on the contrary, though they belong to different proprietors, are not separated by any enclosure from each other. The boundary between them is indicated by heaps of small stones, or sometimes by single upright stones, placed at intervals of a rod or more from each other. This is the ancient landmark of which we read in the Old Testament”. The word field in Hebrew, , denotes radically, not so much plain, as ploughed land (see Raabe’s ‘Glosser’). In English there is a slightly varied though corresponding idiom lying at the base of the Teutonic term in use. A field (German Fold) is a clearance, a place where the trees of the original forest have been felled. The expression, that I may glean ‘among’ the ears, proceeds on the assumption that Ruth did not expect that she would “make a clean sweep” of all the straggled ears. There might likely be other gleaners besides herself, and even though there should not, she could not expect to gather all. After whosoever shall show me favor. A peculiarly antique kind of structure in the original: “after whom I shall find favor in his eyes.” Ruth speaks as if she thought only of one reaper, and he the proprietor. She, as it were, instinctively conceives of the laborers as “hands.” And she said to her, Go, my daughter. Naomi yielded; no doubt at first reluctantly, yet no doubt also in a spirit of grateful admiration of her daughter-in-law, who, when she could hot lift up her circumstances to her mind, brought down her mind to her circumstances

Rth 2:3

Ruth, having obtained the consent of her mother-in-law, went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers. That is, she “went forth,” viz; from the city, “and came to the cornfields, and gleaned.” “There are some,” says Lawson, “whose virtue and industry lie only in their tongues. They say, and do not. But Ruth was no less diligent in business than wise in resolution.” The later Jews had a set of fantastic bylaws concerning gleaning, detailed by Maimonides. One of them was, that if only one or two stalks fell from the sickle or hand of the reaper, these should be left lying for the gleaners; but if three stalks fell, then the whole of them belonged to the proprietor. Happily for Ruth, her steps were so ordered that the field which she entered as a gleaner belonged to Elimelech’s kinsman, Boaz. And it so happened, runs the story, that it was the portion of the fields that belonged to Boas, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

Rth 2:4

On the very day that the Moabitess entered on her gleaning, Boaz, in accordance with his wont, as a good and wise master, visited his harvest-field. And, behold, Boas came from Bethlehem. The law of kindness was on his lips; and while benevolence was beaming from his countenance, piety was ruling within his heart. He said to the reapers, Yahveh be with you! And they said to him, Yahveh bless thee! Courtesy met courtesy. It is a charming scene, and we may reasonably assume that there was reality in the salutations. Such civilities of intercourse between proprietors and their laborers are still, says Dr. W. M. Thomson, common in the East. “The Lord be with you is merely the Allah makum! of ordinary parlance; and so too the response, The Lord bless thee“. Modern Moslems are particular in the matter of salutations. “Abuhurairah reports that he heard Mohammed say, You will not enter into paradise until you have faith, and you will not complete your faith until you love one another, and that is shown by. making salaam to friends and strangers“ (Kitto’s ‘Bible Illustrations,’ in loc.).

Rth 2:5

And Boaz said to the young man who was set over the reapers, Whose is that young woman! His eye had been instantaneously arrested by the handsome stranger. Perhaps, as Jarchi remarks, he took note of the modest and graceful carriage of her person while she picked up industriously the straggled stalks. It is too Rabbinic, however, and artificial, finical, bizarre, to suppose with the same Jewish annotator that Boaz would notice with admiration that, while she picked up zealously all available couples of stalks, she left the triplets in the field unappropriated! The question which he put to the overseer is not who but whose is that young woman! She had not the gait or air of an ordinary pauper, and hence he wondered if she could belong to any of the families in Bethlehem.

Rth 2:6

And the young man who was set over the reapers replied and said, She is a Moabitish young woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. The young man had already received, no doubt from her own lips, particulars regarding the attractive stranger. Instead of the free definitive rendering of Luther and King James’s English version, “the Moabitish damsel,” it is better, with Michaelis, Wright, Raabe, to adhere to the original indefiniteness, “a Moabitish maiden.” Note the Zeugmatic use of the word returned as applied here, as well as in Rth 1:22, not only to Naomi, but also to Ruth. It is thus used on the same Zeugmatic principle as the word die in Gen 47:19 : “Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land?“

Rth 2:7

The steward continues his account of Ruth. She had respectfully solicited leave to glean. She said, Let me glean, I pray thee, and gather in bundles after the reapers. The expression, “and gather in bundles,” is in Hebrew and is rendered in King James’s version, as also by Coverdale, Tremellius, Castellio, Luther, Michaelis, “and gather among” or “beside the sheaves.” But such a request on the part of Ruth would seem to be too bold, the more especially as we find Boaz afterwards giving instructions to the young men to allow her, without molestation, to glean “even between the sheaves” (verse 15). Hence Pagnin’s free version is to be preferred, “and gather bundles” (et congregabo manipulos). Carpzov pleads for the same interpretation, and translates thus: “Let me, I pray thee, glean, and collect the gleanings into bundles (colligam obsecro spicas, collectasque accumulem in manipules). Montanus too adopts it, and Raabe likewise (und sammele zu Haufen). The steward praises Ruth s industry. And she came, and has remained ever since the morning until just now. She had worked with scarcely any intermission, diligently, from early morning. Drusius says that the following expression, rendered in King James’s version that she tarried a little in the house, occasioned him critical torture (locus hie et diu et acriter me torsit). Coverdale also had been inextricably perplexed. He renders it, “And within a litel whyle she wolde have bene gone home agayne.” The word house troubled these and many other interpreters, as if the reference were to Naomi s dwelling-house in the town. The reference, however, is evidently to a temporary but, shed, tent, or booth erected in the harvest-field for the siesta of the workers, and the accommodation of the master, when he was visiting by day, or exercising supervision by night. We would translate the clause thus”Her resting at the hut (has been) little.” Her siesta in the shade of the but was trot brief. She felt as if she could not afford a long repose.

Rth 2:8

And Boaz said to Ruth. We are to suppose that Boaz, having communicated with his overseer, and having given some instructions to his rearers, and likewise to the young women who bound the reaped corn into sheaves, moved onward to the place where Ruth, keeping modestly far in the rear, was gleaning. He entered into conversation with her, and, among other things, said to her, Hearest thou not, my daughter! A grave antique way of drawing special attention to what is about to follow. “My daughter” is a fatherly expression, appropriate on the part of an elderly person when addressing a young woman. Do not go to glean in the other field. Pointing, no doubt, as he spoke, to a parcel of adjoining fields, belonging to a neighbor proprietor. Boaz’s interest and sympathy went out strong, all at once, toward the daughter-in-law of his deceased relative. His heart was smitten with admiration for the modest and fascinating widow. He said further to her, as he walked on along with her in the direction of the reapers, and also do not pass on hence. The expression is not a redundant repetition of the preceding utterance. It was intended, apparently, to direct Ruth to a particular line of gleaning-ground, probably right behind the sheaf-binders, which it would be advantageous for her to occupy. He would point it out with his hand. And so keep close by my young women. Their proximity would give the stranger a feeling of security, and her nearness to them in their work would be manifestly for her benefit.

Rth 2:9

Boaz continues his talk, led on by an interest that was, probably, surprising to himself. Let thine eyes be on the field which they are reaping. He feels increasingly anxious concerning the fascinating stranger, and gives her excellent counsel. “Let not thine eyes be wiled away, wanderingly, from the work on which thou art so praiseworthily engaged.” And go thou behind ‘them.’ The reference is not to the same parties, who are indeterminately spoken of in the preceding clause”which ‘they’ are reaping.” A determinate feminine pronoun makes it evident that the reference is to the maidens, who were working in the rear of the reapers ( post eas). Have not I charged the young men not to touch thee? A fine euphemistic injunction; that was best obeyed, however, when most literally construed. And when thou thirstest, go to the jars, and drink of whatever the young men may draw. Most likely it would be from the well that was “by the gate of the city that the young men would drawthat very well of which her illustrious descendant, King David, spake, when he “longed, and said, O that one would give me drink of the water of the well in Bethlehem, which is by the gate” (see 2Sa 23:4, 2Sa 23:15; 1Ch 11:17, 1Ch 11:18). When the water was drawn by the young men, then the maidens would carry the filled jars upon their heads to the resting-place. Gleaners could not be expected to get the freedom of the water which was thus so laboriously drawn, and then fatiguingly carried from a distance. But Boaz made Ruth free, and thus conferred on her a distinguishing privilege, that must have been at once most acceptable and most valuable. The Vulgate renders the last clause too freely”of which the young men ‘drink.'” The familiar well referred-to “appears,” says Dean Stanley, “close by the gate” of the town. Yet not very close. “It is,” says Dr. John Wilson, “less than half a mile distant from the present village, and is in a rude enclosure, and consists of a large cistern with several small apertures”. Dr. Wilson has no doubt of its identity, though Dr. Robinson hesitated to come to the same conclusion.

HOMILETICS

Rth 2:1-9

The harvest-field.

RUTH WAS EAGER TO WORK (see Rth 2:2).

1. Work is honorable; it is wholesome; inspiriting too; the best antidote to ennui. If not immoderate, nothing is so efficacious in giving full development to man’s physique; nothing is so potent to put reins upon passions, and a curb on the tendency to morbid imaginations. All great men and women have been diligent workers. Jesus worked. He who is his Father and ours “worketh hitherto.”

2. Ruth did not hesitate to stoop to very lowly work. She was willing and wishful to glean in the harvest-fields (see verse 2). She humbled herself, and was free from the pride which goes before a fall. She “descended ascendingly.” It was in the school of adversity that she had been taught. All honest work is honorable. Dignity is lent to the humblest labors when they are undertaken in a spirit of magnanimity.

3. Ruth expressed her wish to her mother-in-law, and solicited her approval. “Let me go, I pray thee, to the cornfields, that I may glean among the ears after whosoever shall show me favor” (verse 2). The request was put in a beautifully deferential way. Nowhere is courtesy so precious as in the home. It is comely when displayed by juniors to seniors. It is charming when displayed by seniors to juniors.

4. Naomi yielded to Ruth’s request, and said, “Go, my daughter.” But we may be sure that it would cost her a pang to give her consent. The tears would start as she turned aside and said, “Is it come to this?” of it.

5. “A Divinity” was “shaping Ruth’s ends,” and leading her by a way she knew not. She was unconsciously led, as if by a guardian angel sent forth to minister, until she lighted on a field belonging to Boaz, a near kinsman of her own. “And she went forth, and came to the cornfields, and gleaned, and it so happened that it was the portion of the fields that belonged to Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech” (verse 3). While the Divinity was thus “shaping her ends” for her, she was herself, to the utmost of her little ability, busy in “rough-hewing them.” God’s agency does not supersede man’s, nor does man’s supersede God’s. Each of us should be able to say, “My Father worketh hitherto, and so do I.”

BOAZ ENTERS ON THE SCENE.

1. He had some preparation for the part he was about to act in the nearness of his relationship to Elimelech. In the absence of infinite comprehensiveness, it is right, as well as natural, for friends to take a special interest in friends.

2. Though not a “husband,” he was a “husbandman.” He had a house, and was a house-band. He was likewise conspicuous for good husbandry. He was in some respects a model husbandman. Note his habit of personal inspection and superintendence (see verse 4, and Rth 3:3). Note his courtesy to his workers as he passed along: “Yahveh be with you I” (verse 4). Note the hearty response which his courtesy elicited from his men: “Yahveh bless thee“ Note his habit of making inquiries of his overseer in reference to the state of his affairs (verse 5).

3. In position he was a substantial yeoman (verse 1). Stout in person, we may suppose. Stout in principle. Substantial in those resources that make wealth contribute to wealth.

4. The reason of his loneliness at home is not hinted at. Perhaps some great sorrow lay buried in his breast; perhaps some bright, sylph-like form lay buried in the grave.

5. He was now, as regards years, an elder in Bethlehem. Most likely all hopes of a brightened home had been for long lying dormant in his spirit. As to his age, it may be inferred from the fatherly way in which he addressed Ruth: “Hearest thou, my daughter?“ (verse 8).

BOAZ AND RUTH.

1. Scarcely had Boaz entered his field, when his eye was arrested by the vision of an elegant and beautiful gleaner, altogether unlike all the rest whom he saw in his field, or had ever seen before. He said to his steward, “Whose young woman is this?”

2. His question was answered, and other information of a highly satisfactory description was communicated. The young woman was a Moabite, who had accompanied home Naomi, her unfortunate mother-in-law (verse 6). She had, with unwonted respectfulness, solicited liberty to glean. “She said, Let me glean, I pray thee, and gather in bundles, after the reapers” (verse 7). She had been peculiarly diligent since early morning. “She came, and has remained ever since the morning, till just now” (verse 7). Nor had she availed herself much of the siesta-booth. “Her resting at the hut has been little” (verse 7). She seemed to grudge every moment that was not devoted to work.

3. Having obtained this information, Boaz wended his way to Ruth, speaking to the young men as he passed. When he came up to her, he was at once thrilled with admiration. He expressed to her his desire that she should continue on his fields all through the harvest season. “Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean on other fields.” He showed her, moreover, where she could glean to the best advantage. “Pass not on hence; keep close by my young women.” He informed her that, in passing along, he had enjoined the young men not to annoy her. “Have I not charged the young men not to touch thee?” He added that she was to be sure to make full use of the water that was drawn by the young men, and carried to the field by the maidens. “When thou art thirsty, go to the jars, and drink of what the young men have drawn” (verse 9). In all this we see the beginning of the reward which was, in the providence of God, conferred on noble, self-surrendering, self-sacrificing Ruth. The heart of Boaz was moving toward her. The blessing of the Most High was descending on her. So, in one form or another, will it descend on all who, in their different spheres, carry with them, according to the measure of their capacity, the spirit that, in beautiful activity, stirred and heaved within the heart of the Moabitish gleaner.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON

Rth 1:22; Rth 2:3

The gleaner

Bethlehem, “the house of bread” was famous Lethe pastures of its hills, and for the rich cornfields in its fertile valleys. The barley-harvest usually happened in April, and it was then that Naomi and Ruth returned to the village of Judah with which their names are associated. The Mosaic law sanctioned the practice of gleaning, commanded that the produce of the fields and vineyards should not be wholly removed, but that a portion should be left ” for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” Ruth had, therefore, a right to glean.

I. Ruth’s gleaning indicates THE POVERTY OF HER CONDITION‘. None but the in-necessitous would undertake such an occupation. Naomi and she must indeed have returned empty. In our land, and in our days, happily for the poor, there is always more remunerative work to be had by the industrious poor than this, which accordingly has, with the growing prosperity of the country, almost dropped out of use.

II. Ruth’s ABSENCE OF PRIDE is very apparent. The family into which she had married had owned some of the adjoining land; but in changed circumstances she was not too proud to mingle with the gleaners, and in lowly guise to gather ears of corn.

III. We cannot but admire Ruth’s VIRTUOUS INDUSTRY. Boaz afterwards said, in praise of her conduct “Thou followedst not young men.” She chose a blameless, though laborious, life. An example to all to avoid dependence, and to cultivate the habit of self-reliance and diligence.

IV. Remark Ruth’s FILIAL LOVE. She worked not only for herself, but for her mother-in-law, and found a, pleasure in supporting her.

V. SUCCESS attends Ruth s honest toil. She gathered barley with her hands; special favor was shown to her; a friend was raised up to assist her; prosperity crowned her efforts. “Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure.”T.

Rth 2:3

Her hap.

Words could hardly be more suggestive than these. They may be applied to circumstances in the life of every one of us. There have been turning-points in our history; we took one path rather than another, and with results (as we now see) how momentous to ourselves! So was it with Ruth of Moab, the gleaner.

I. MANY OF OUR ACTIONS ARE PERFORMED WITHOUT ANY THOUGHT OR INTENTION REGARDING THEIR RESULTS. In ordinary affairs how often do we decide and act without any special sense of the wisdom of one course rather than another! And there are positions in which our choice seems quite immaterial. It seemed of little consequence in which field this young foreigner, this friendless widow, went to glean a few ears of barley. So is it often with us. Shall we go to such a place? shall we pay such a visit? shall we form such an acquaintance? shall we read such a book? shall we venture on such a remark? shall we write such a note?

II. UNFORESEEN AND IMPORTANT ISSUES MAY DEPEND UPON CASUAL ACTIONS. Though it seemed of little consequence in which field Ruth gleaned, “her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz,” and from this fact sprang results of the greatest importance. “Her hap” determined her marriage, her wealth, her happiness and that of her mother-in-law, her union with Israel, her motherhood, her position as an ancestress of David and of Christ. In such seemingly insignificant causes originate the most momentous issues. Thus oftentimes it comes to pass that family relationships are formed, a professional career is determined; nay, religious decision may be brought about, life-work for Christ may be appointed, eternal destiny is affected.

Lessons:

1. Regard nothing as insignificant.

2. Look out for, and follow, the leadings of Divine providence.

3. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths!”T.

Rth 2:4

Salutations.

It is a pleasant picture of old-world life, among the ancient Hebrews, this of the “mighty man of wealth” coming down from his house to his cornfields to watch the work of the reapers, the progress of the harvest. Boaz seems to have lived on friendly terms with those in his employment, and to have taken an interest in them and in their toils. A lesson for all masters and employers of labor. And how picturesque the scene when the proprietor meets his laborers, and they exchange the customary greeting of the East, sanctified by Hebrew piety! Salutations are

I. SANCTIONED BY SCRIPTURAL USAGE. E.g. When the mower filleth his hand, and be that bindeth sheaves his bosom, “they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord!” (Psa 129:1-8.). E.g. Angels are represented as greeting those they are commissioned to visit. Gideon was saluted thus: “The Lord is with thee;” and Mary thus: “Hail, highly favored one I the, Lord is with thee.” E.g. Christ himself’ was wont to greet his disciples, saying, Peace be with you!” E.g. The apostles closed their letters with greetings and benedictions. “The Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means: the Lord be with you all!”

II. FOUNDED UPON DIVINELY–IMPLANTED PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN NATURE. They presume our social existence and nature. They imply sympathy. They express friendly and benevolent feelings.

III. CONDUCIVE TO THE EASY AND PLEASANT INTERCOURSE OF HUMAN SOCIETY. We all feel the influence of courteous address, polite expressions, and the minor benevolences of life. Christians should not be offended or contemptuous when well-meaning persons accost them with hand-shaking and minute inquiries after health, &c.; if well meant, courtesies should be kindly accepted.

IV. In the case of pious persons, EXPRESSIVE OF PRAYERFUL WISHES FOR GOOD. HOW many of our common salutations have their origin in piety and prayer! So, in the text, The Lord be with you! The Lord bless thee! So with such phrases as, Adieu! Good-bye! Good morning! God bless you! Farewell! They all convey a desire, a prayer. Let our salutations be sincere, and let our language and our conduct prove that they are so.T.

Rth 2:5-14

Filial, piety and fidelity recognized and recompensed.

As “the whole city was moved” at Naomi’s return, it is not surprising that the foreman over the reapers was able to answer the inquiry of Boaz”Whose damsel is this?” Though Boaz had not seen her before, he knew her story, and was evidently pleased to meet her. His judgments were just, his feelings were appropriate, his language was considerate, his conduct was generous. The character of Boaz commands our respect; and his treatment of Ruth, from beginning to end, was not only blameless, it was admirable. As we follow the simple and interesting narrative, we observe

I. FILIAL PIETY AWAKENING INTEREST. The beauty of the Moabitess, though in complexion or figure she was “not like unto one of the handmaidens” of Boaz, her modest demeanor and graceful movements, all excited remark and admiration; but, probably, had he not known of her coming back with Naomi, and of all she had done unto her mother-in-law, he would not have addressed her. His interest expressed itself in kindly language and treatment, such as were very suitable in the circumstances. In verse 11, Boaz acknowledges, in appreciative language, her disinterested devotion.

II. FILIAL PIETY PROMPTS AN OBSERVER‘S FERVENT PRAYER. In verse 12, Boaz is recorded to have said, “The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Who can contemplate a life of self-sacrifice, of affectionate devotion and service, without asking God to reward it with a recompense not in man’s power to bestow? No prayers are purer and more effectual than those presented for a devoted, dutiful, affectionately ministering daughter!

III. FILIAL PIETY SECURES A GENEROUS AND PRACTICAL RECOMPENSE. Boaz was so gratified by what he heard of Ruth’s conduct, and what he observed in her bearing and language, that he became the agent of Providence in rewarding her excellence. He bade her abide in his fields; he charged the young men to treat her with respect; he bade her take with welcome of the water, the wine, the bread, and the parched corn provided for the reapers. She found favor in his sight, and he comforted her by his friendly words.

Lesson:Divine providence does not overlook human virtue. Not that man has merit before God; but the fruits of the spirit are pleasing to the Giver of the Spirit. And God will raise up ministers of recompense for the comfort of his faithful children!T.

HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM

Rth 2:4

“The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.” Nothing is more beautiful in national history than good feeling between masters and men. Religion alone can inspire this feeling. It fails before mere expediency, and can only be secured by mutual dependence on God and on each other.

I. THE LIVING PRESENCE. The Lord with us means courage and consolationcourage to face difficulty, and consolation in all times of depression and disheartenment. Christ has given us his own gracious promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

II. THE HARVEST TOIL. “Said unto the reapers.” It is hard work everywhere in the glaring heat to put in the sickle, and to gather up the sheaves. We may learn from the spectacle the blessed lesson of our duty in relation to others. Let us try to cheer and inspire. Some are full of cold indifference, and others of critical complaint. We little know what a word of cheer does for others. Blame makes the hands hang down, and quenches that music of the heart which makes work pleasant and successful. Encouragement is like fresh strength to weary hearts.

III. THE KIND RESPONSE. The benediction of Boaz awakens a corresponding benediction from the reapers. The harp answers to the hand that sweeps it. Men are to us very much what we are to them. “The Lord bless thee.” We need never despair of this reward. Love begets love. Confidence begets confidence. Blessing awakens blessing. This is what we long and pray forcessation of war between capital and labor, and mutual benediction.W.M.S.

Rth 2:7

“I pray thee let me glean.” In rural life no sight is pleasanter than the hour when the gleaners come in and “gather after the reapers among the sheaves.” It bespeaks “something to spare.” It is like the “commons” or the grass by the roadside for the poor man’s cattle. We all like the spectacle of plenty; we all like the consciousness that the overflowings of the cup of plenty are to be tasted by others.

I. THERE IS WORK FOR THE HUMBLEST TO DO. We may not be permitted to take a leading part even in God’s great harvest-field, but we can all do something. We can glean words of comfort to carry to the bedsides of the sick and the homes of the poor. We can glean in the fields of Scripture lessons for the little ones, and promises for the broken-hearted. Thank God there is a place in the world for gleaners as well as reapers.

II. THERE IS WORK TO BE SOUGHT OUT. It is asked for. “I pray thee.” How many complain that no one finds a service for them. They are waiters and idlers because no one gives them a commission, or secures them a suitable field. They wait to be sought out, instead of saying, “Here am I, send me.” They wait to be besought, instead of beseeching for work. What a glorious day for the Church of Christ everywhere when men seek for the honor of service.

III. ALL WORK DEMANDS PERSEVERANCE. How constant Ruth is! “She came, and hath continued from the morning until now.” How much spasmodic energy there is; how many ploughs are left mid-furrow; how many begin and do not finish. It is not genius that wins the goal, but plodding earnestness. Ye did run well, glean well; what doth hinder you?W.M.S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

CHAPTER SECOND

Rth 2:1

The Relative

1And Naomi had [in Bethlehem] a kinsman [lit. acquaintance,] of her husbands, a mighty man of wealth [a valiant hero], of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL

Before relating the wonderful deliverance through a kinsman, by which faithfulness and love are rewarded, the writer first informs us briefly of the existence of the person who is chosen to effect this deliverance. Hitherto the acting persons have been only women, both of them loving and excellent; now, the portrait of a man is drawn, who is the model of an Israelite, as family-head and as landlord, in war and in peace.
Naomi had a kinsman. The expression for this is . In our texts, it is true, it is pointed , with , as Keri, in the margin. But occurs only once more (Pro 7:4), and there also we must probably read . The reading was preferred by the Masora only on account of the fem. , which occurs at Rth 3:2. The participle is of more frequent occurrence, cf. Psa 55:14. Hitherto, Naomi could say, as does the Psalmist (Psa 88:9): Thou hast put my kinsmen () far from me. Compare also Rth 2:19 of the same psalm, where it stands in parallelism with , lover, and , companion. She has likewise experienced what is written Psa 31:12, cf. Job 19:14. Literally, to be sure, the word means only an acquaintance; but it expresses more than we mean by that term. The man was not a very near relative, but one known to the family, as belonging to it. It was an acquaintance valid within the family lines; hence the word signifies as much as familiaris. It is used in a noteworthy connection at 2Ki 10:11, where Jehu slays all the great men, the , and the priests of Ahab,i. e. everybody that adhered to him, whether from family connection or interest. The Latin notus may occasionally approximate to the idea of the Hebrew term even more closely than the Greek ; not so much, however, in Catull. 79:4 (si tria notorum basia repererit), as in Liv. 3:44, where, with reference to the violence done to Virginia, is said: notos gratia (patris et sponsi) turbam indignitas rei virgini conciliat.

The fact is emphasized that Boaz was only a This not only explains a certain remoteness of Naomi from him, but it makes the piety, which notwithstanding the distance (manifest also from Rth 3:12) of the relationship, performs what the narrative goes on to relate, more conspicuously great than it would appear if, according to an unfounded conjecture of Jewish expositors, he were held to be the son of Elimelechs brother.

A valiant hero. These words are applied to Boaz in no other sense than to Gideon (Jdg 6:12), Jephthah (11:1), and others, and have no reference to his wealth and property. He was a strong and able man in Israel, in war and in peace. Probably he had distinguished himself in conflicts of Israel against enemies, perhaps against Moab. The ancestor of David is, as the Midrash (Ruth 31, d) remarks, rightly thus described. His name, Boaz (), is to be explained by reference to the name of one of the pillars erected by Solomon, and called Boaz, while the other was named Jachin (cf. my Gold. Thron Salomos, p. 45). It is not a compound of , but a contraction of , son of strength, of enduring vigor. The signification alacritas (Ges., Keil, etc.), would hardly be applicable to the pillar.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The same characteristic is ascribed to Boaz as to Gideon, and to David. But concerning his warlike deeds nothing is related. In Israel, however, there was no valor, properly so called, except such as sprang from the acknowledgment of the living God. The word is not applied to wild battle-rage, but to moral strength, which valiantly repels distress and dishonor, as Abraham drew the sword for his country against foreign oppressors. Boaz was a hero in war through his virtue in peace. And this virtue comes so clearly to view in the Book of Ruth, that the narrator could justly add: he was a brave man. For morally brave he shows himself in every relation: 1. as landlord; 2. as confessor of God; 3. as man of action; and hence he receives the reward both of him who dispenses blessings and of him who receives them.
[Fuller: This first verse presents us with two remarkable things: 1. Poor Naomi was allied to powerful Boaz. 2. Boaz was both a powerful man and a godly man.Tr.]

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

CONTENTS

As the history advanceth in its progress, the several particulars of it become more interesting. In this chapter we are introduced into the acquaintance of the hero of the subject, Boaz: and informed how Ruth became first brought acquainted with him. The events of a day are circumstantially related, and the consequences of it, in Ruth’s conduct during the season of the harvest follow.

(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.

As the main hinge upon which the whole of this sweet history turns, considered in a spiritual and typical sense, is centered in the character of Boaz, here spoken of, it will be proper, in the opening of the chapter in this place, no attend particularly to what is said of him. Boaz by name signifies strength. And he is said to be a rich kinsman’s of Naomi’s husband. Now it is a point which should never be lost sight of through the whole of this history, that the self-same word which in this place is rendered kinsman, is in some other scriptures rendered Redeemer. The original word is Goel. Thus for example: If the man have no (Goel) kinsman to recompense the trespass. So it is rendered Num 5:8 . So again in this same book, Rth 3:12 . I am thy (Goel) near kinsman. But in the book of Job 19:25 , the same word is rendered Redeemer. I know that my (Goel) Redeemer liveth. So again in the book of the Pro 23:11 . For their (Goel) Redeemer is mighty. So likewise in the prophecy of Isa 47:4 . As for our (Goel) Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is his name. And what is the evident conclusion from the comparative view of all these scriptures, but that the Goel-kinsman of our nature is one and the same person, the Goel-Redeemer of his people: of whom Boaz, in whom is said to be strength, is a lively type. Moreover, he is said to be the kinsman of Elimelech. And may we not, without violence to the sacred text, consider this certain man (as Elimelech is first called in the opening of the Book of Ruth), a lively type of our whole nature, to whom the Lord Jesus is indeed both our kinsman and Redeemer; being in his humanity bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; and in his Godhead our Redeemer, mighty to save, the Lord of Hosts is his name. And as it is a subject of the most interesting nature, to trace the affinity after the flesh of Boaz with the Lord Jesus, as well as to view him as the type of Jesus, I detain the Reader to make a further remark concerning his pedigree. And if the Reader will consult the opening of the Gospel by St. Matthew, he will there discover how that our Lord after the flesh sprung from Boaz and Ruth; and thereby manifested his connection both with the Jewish and the Gentile church. See Mat 1:5 . Hence, thou blessed Jesus, I may truly say thou art the Goel, the kinsman Redeemer, of thy people! thou art of our family, for thou didst take our nature upon thee, when thou becamest man for our sakes. And surely thou art a mighty man of wealth, for in thee dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and in thee are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 2:3Col 2:3 .

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

Rth 2:7

I do not hear Ruth stand upon the terms of her better education, or wealthy parentage; but now that God hath called her to want, she scorns not to lay her hand unto all homely services, and thinks it no disparagement to find her bread in other men’s fields.

Bishop Hall.

‘American girls,’ says Mr. Kipling in From Sea to Sea (i. p. 6), ‘develop greatly when a catastrophe arrives, and the man of many millions goes up or goes down, and his daughters take to stenography or typewriting. I have heard many tales of heroism from the lips of girls who counted the principals among their friends. The crash came: Mamie or Hattie or Sadie gave up their maid, their carriages and candy, and with No. 2 Remington and a stout heart set about earning their daily bread.’

Working in the quiet village, or in the distant field, women may be as pure and modest, men as highminded and well-bred, and both as full of the fear of God, and the thought that God’s eye is upon them, as if they were in a place or station where they had nothing to do but to watch over the salvation of their own souls; the meadow and the harvest-field need not be, as they too often are, places for temptation and defilement, where the old too often teach the young not to fear God and keep themselves pure, but to copy their coarse jests and foul language, and listen to stories which had better be buried for ever in the dirt out of which they spring. You know what I mean. You know what field-work too often is. Read the book of Ruth, and see what field-work may be and ought to be.

Charles Kingsley.

Reference. II. 7. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 220.

The Duty of Gleaning (Harvest Festival)

Rth 2:8

Boaz in this book is a type of Christ, and Ruth is the type of the Christian soul. And the command given by Boaz to Ruth to glean in his fields, and not to glean in any other field, is very emphatic, and is repeated afterwards by Naomi.

I. Where are we to Glean? We are warned that there is only one field in which we must glean the field of Jesus Christ; the field of His Church; the field purchased by His Death and Passion; the field watered by the blood of His martyrs; the field which for nineteen hundred years has produced its glorious harvest of countless saints.

David says, ‘Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God’. We must first be planted there by the Sacrament of Baptism. But this is not all. We must remain there, and grow there, and flourish there, and glean there, if we are to fulfil the commands of Holy Writ.

II. What are we to Glean? Even those who are gleaning in Christ’s Church need to be reminded that they are to seek those things which are best.

What are we gleaning? 1. Are we making the best use of our labour? Are we picking up the largest, and finest, and ripest ears of corn? The Sacraments of the Church, these are the full, ripe ears, the great means of grace. Do we avail ourselves of them in all their fullness.

2. Are we picking up those stalks of corn from which the birds have plucked the ears, which are, therefore, only husks and straw? What are our prayers and devotions? Are they merely formal words of the lips, and not feelings of the heart; the form of devotion without the spirit?

3. Are we picking up noxious weeds which grow among the com, and making up our sheaves with them?

St. Paul tells us some of the things which we should be gleaning in the fields of Christian virtue, when he says, ‘Whatsoever things are true,’ etc.

III. How are we Gleaning? With steady perseverance, with real industry; or in a fitful, idle, slothful way?

A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, part iv. p. 344.

Rth 2:9

Let us consider what that thing is which we call years of discretion. The young man is past his tutors, and arrived at the bondage of a caitiff spirit; he is run from discipline, and is let loose to passion; the man by this time hath wit enough to choose his vice, to act his best, to court his mistress, to talk confidently, and ignorantly, and perpetually, to despise his betters, to deny nothing to his appetites, to do things that, when he is indeed a man, he must for ever be ashamed of; for this is all the discretion that most men show in the first stage of their manhood; they can discern good from evil; and they prove their skill by leaving all that is good.

Jeremy Taylor.

References. II. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi. No. 1851. II. 14. J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii. p. 263. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 522. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 229.

Rth 2:15

Innocence and haycocks do not always go together. Macaulay.

References. II. 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2585. II. 15, 16. Ibid. vol. viii. No. 464.

Rth 2:16 with 2:12

Charity was so well matched with his religion, without which good words are but hypocrisy.

Bishop Hall.

Ruth, the Moabitess

Rth 2:17

I. Notice the good providence of God, illustrated in the story of Ruth and Naomi. We are shown here how true is that verse of the Psalms, ‘He is the father of the fatherless, and the God of the widow’. He never faileth those that trust in Him.

II. Let us notice in Ruth the reward of daughterly affection and dutifulness. Had she gone back, as her sister Orpah did, when Naomi gave her the choice of returning, even pressed her to go back, she would never have left that memorial of herself which will last while time lasts the book of Ruth in our Bible She would never have married Boaz, nor become by so doing the ancestress of the Messiah.

III. She is an example of another great quality. How beautiful in God’s sight, as in the sight of man, is maidenly modesty, purity, steadiness of conduct She spent, as we know, many days gleaning in the harvest field: never in all those days did she say or do aught that might cause shame.

IV. ‘Where hast thou gleaned today?’ This question opens out into a far wider meaning when we look at its spiritual instruction. It is a question that coming out of a Christian man’s mouth applies to many things beside that of gathering up the ears of com. Where hast thou gleaned today? may be asked, and ought to be asked, by each of us of his own soul, in respect to his way of spending the Sabbath, and asked at the close of every Sunday.

V. Notice the diligence of Ruth. She gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she gleaned, and it was about an ephah (eight gallons) of barley, a good day’s work, bringing with it a good recompense of reward. Ruth invites us to use all diligence to make our calling and election sure. She by what she did in the plot of ground at Bethlehem shows us what our work should be in the world. To glean, to gather up, here a little, and there a little, of those great Christian qualities which go to make a character that God will accept.

R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 119.

Rth 2:18

Discussing, in Arcady: For Better or Worse (pp. 225 f.), the effect of the workhouse system in rural England, Dr. Jessopp observes: ‘It does people good to be brought into daily intercourse with the aged and the weak and the needy. It is bad for us if our sense of pity and our gentle sympathies are never appealed to. We get hard and coarse and selfish, that way…. But for good or evil there stands the fact that in our villages we have very little to do with or for the old people who are a link with the past, and very little occasion to make any sacrifices for others, and still less are we called upon to interest ourselves in their sorrows. The law of the land has come in and taken out of our hands the duty of looking after the poor and aged.’

References. II. 19. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 97. T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 142. II. 20. S. Cox, The Booh of Ruth, p. 164. III. 1-18. Ibid. p. 105. H. W. Webb-Peploe, The Life of Privilege, p. 130.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Rth 2

1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth [” yet religious; a rare bird “], of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz [fleetness alacrity, or strength: a contrast to the name of her former husband].

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 [not afraid of hard work]. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

3. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap [literally, her hap happened] was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

4. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee [a beautiful picture of relations between the master and his servants].

5. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?

6. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the [a] Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab [as a stranger Ruth had a special claim to the gleaning: see Lev 19:9-10 ]:

7. And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves [“handfuls”]: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house,

8. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? [hinting at the seniority of Boaz] Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast [“cleave to”] by my maidens:

9. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn [shall draw from time to time].

10. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? [The Moabite language differed little from the Hebrew].

11. And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore [literally, yesterday and the day before].

12. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

13. Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord: for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly [comfortably] unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.

14. And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar [wine which had become sour]. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

15. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

16. And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

17. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah [four pecks] of barley.

18. And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.

19. And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.

20. And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen [one of those who must redeem].

21. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.

22. And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.

23. And so she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Boaz a Type of Christ

Rth 2

BOAZ was not only a forerunner but a type of Christ. As compared with some of the greater luminaries of the Bible, Boaz was but a secondary star; yet, in two aspects, he is amongst the brightest lights in the Biblical constellation. Even socially, Boaz is a man worth knowing quite a healthy soul, the winds of heaven getting well around him, and the sunshine falling amply into every fold and crevice of his gracious life. Boaz had fields, and lived much in the open air. A man of cheerful voice and well-controlled hilarity; a model agriculturist, quite a man to be copied and lived over again, age after age: so hospitable, so blithe, so strong, so bright-eyed altogether. When he came into the harvest fields he said to his reapers, “The Lord be with you;” and the reapers answered, “The Lord bless thee.” That was farm-life in the olden times. There is nothing humiliating in that scene, nothing merely sentimental; there is the pledge of happy fellowship, sacred and prosperous cooperation. Who will not say, when looking upon scenes of this kind, that the former times were better than these? Have we improved so very much? Is our boasted advancement a reality in very deed? Without pronouncing any opinion upon this, let us consider the inquiry and lay it solemnly to heart. Say, is there a sweeter picture in all domestic history than this? Look at it: a barley field, the blue heaven like a song in colour, the blithe birds, the sharp whisk of the keen sickles amid the falling barley, the reapers turning labour into music, the master saying, “The Lord be with you,” the reapers answering, “The Lord bless thee” ( Rth 2:4 ).

What a welcome Boaz gave to Ruth: “Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens” ( Rth 2:8 ). Ruth was astounded. How did Boaz know anything about her? “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” ( Rth 2:10 ). Some people never can be strangers. We may never have seen them before, but to see them once is to own a kinship; we know their touch, we know their voice, we have seen them before in some dream of love or some vision of sacred fancy; they are strangers only in a very limited sense, profoundly and truly they are of our own kith and kin, of the same quality of soul and heirs of the same expectation. “Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust” ( Rth 2:11-12 ). That is the way to welcome a heathen traveller. Make the pagan feel at once that all the past is forgotten, forgiven, and a new glad morning has dawned upon the enfranchised soul. Said Ruth, Why this welcome? Boaz answered, I know all about thee; I have heard the little dramatic tale; it is full of sweetness and music God bless thee, my daughter. Yes, our deeds live after us, and go before us, and make a way for us, and come up again and again in many a fashion, and touch society with the spirit of judgment or with the spirit of friendliness. We do not shake off our yesterdays, and sustain no further relation to them; they follow us, they constitute our life, and they give accent and force and meaning to our present deeds.

But Boaz was more than all this. He was a gentleman in every feature, and he was also an unconscious prophet. Who knows all the meaning of his own word? Who can explain all the issue and ultimate relationship of the simplest things which he does, in the Church, or in the harvest-field, or in any sphere of life? We know not what part we are taking in the building-up of God’s fabric. Sometimes when we little suppose we are doing anything at all towards building the temple of God, we are working most industriously and definitely in that direction. Boaz was but a farmer, a valiant man and wealthy, beloved by his servants, prosperous in his day; but beyond all that he was permitted, by the grace of God, to forecast the future. He was more than himself, or his whole self he had failed to recognise. This is the view we must take of life if we would live largely and usefully in the broadest sense of that term. Sometimes the work appears to come back to us without profit or gracious answer; but we know that it shall not always be so: the preaching of the word is seed cast into the ground, and the seed does not grow in one night. Sometimes life’s monotony wearies us; we say, As it was yesterday, so it is today, and to-morrow will see no change; and we are overborne by this sad dreariness. Let us look back into history in order that our cheerfulness may be revived. Men do not know what they are doing, even in prosecuting their ordinary avocations. The barley harvest may be as a sacrament, the open field an unroofed church, the gracious words spoken to strangers may come back again in prophecy and its sublimest fulfilment.

Boaz was a type of Christ. Boaz was the Goel of his family. Boaz was the next-of-kin in other words, he was the Goel. What part did the Goel play in the Hebrew family? The Goel was the redeemer in the first place, and the Goel was the avenger in the second place. In both these respects Boaz was a type of Christ. Let us understand something in detail which ought to be interesting to the youngest readers respecting the functions of the Goel. If a Hebrew was so poor, reduced to such extremity of distress, that he had to mortgage to use a modern expression his land, to encumber it, to bring it under obligation to a stranger, it was the business of the Goel of that particular family to redeem that land, and restore it to its rightful owner. When the silver trumpets of Jubilee sounded, all the land was free; but even in the years between one Jubilee and another, if the Hebrew tiller was so reduced as to be obliged to borrow upon his land, the Goel was bound to redeem it. The land itself never could be ceded. The Hebrew had no land to sell; he had only current rights, temporary interests, immediate advantages to dispose of: the land itself belonged to Israel, and in the year of Jubilee that doctrine was broadly asserted and minutely realised: but, as we have said, in the meantime men might be reduced to poverty, or be glad to avail themselves of the kindness of those who were round about them, or even to ask the stranger and alien to lend them something upon their lease. Then came up the next-of-kin literally, the Goel and redeemed the land, and restored the citizen to his place in the commonwealth of Israel. Is not Jesus Christ our Goel in this respect? Are we not all poor, dispossessed of everything, mean, self-helpless? That was our condition before God; that was the condition upon which Christ looked when he took up his position as our Goel, or Redeemer. But we have said the Goel was next-of-kin was Christ akin to man? That was his peculiar glory in his official or redeeming capacity: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same… he took not on him the nature of angels” then he would not have been akin to us “but he took on him the seed of Abraham,” and thus became our Kinsman; thus he was not ashamed to call us brethren. As our elder Brother, he is our Goel. He has come to redeem humanity, to enrich it with infinite and eternal wealth.

Take another view of the Goel’s function in Hebrew history. If a Hebrew sold himself into the service of another Hebrew he lost none of his rights; his citizenship was still recognised, and his prospects were honoured and fulfilled; but if the Hebrew sold himself into servitude to an alien or heathen, it was the place of his Goel or next-of-kin to come forth and emancipate him; there could be no slaves of that kind in Israel: the next-of-kin was bound to espouse the cause of the bondman, to redeem him, to break his chain, to buy him off, and to invest him with liberty. Here, again, at the time when the trumpets of Jubilee sounded, liberty was proclaimed to all; but in the meantime the Goel took up his function and discharged his gracious responsibility: he redeemed the slave. Herein it is easy to see how Boaz was a type of Christ We were all bondmen, sold under sin, heavy laden with the chains of bondage; and when there was no eye to pity, no arm to save, our Goel pitied, and his right arm wrought deliverance. He is our Emancipator, our Redeemer. Job said, “I know that my Goel liveth.” That noble verse loses nothing of its best meaning by the use of the Hebrew word. In the English Bible the reading is, “I know that my Redeemer liveth;” but the verse is still invested with ineffable meaning and suggestiveness when it is read: I know that my Goel my next-of-kin liveth, and that he will appear to redeem and bless.

There was another function namely, the function of the Avenger. If an Israelite had been wronged, injured, or slain, who was to see to the rectification of the case? who was to demand and execute justice? The Goel. This he was bound to do. It was not left to his choice whether he would do so or not; it was the prerogative and place of the Goel to avenge wrong, injustice, murder. And is there not an avenging element in the priesthood and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ in his Church? Do we take a complete view of the Saviour when we think of him only as meek, lowly, gentle, loving, forbearing a Man all tears? He can be described by such compassionate and gracious terms; not a word can be too endearing to apply to the Son of God in his office in relation to sin-destroyed humanity; but we read also of “the wrath of the Lamb;” he rules sometimes “with a rod of iron:” in some cases he “dashes” the enemy “in pieces like a potter’s vessel;” and men are exhorted to “kiss the Son lest he be angry,” to make peace with him “whilst his wrath is kindled but a little;” into that mystery of wrath we may not enter; who would force his way into that thundercloud? Enough it is to recognise its blackness and its terribleness, and to remember that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Whatever hell may be, it is something indescribably awful. There all thinkers may agree. Whilst controversy may rage about definitions and the right application of terms, about etymologies and figures of speech, there remains the tremendous and unchangeable reality, that whatever the fate of the impenitent sinner may be, it is inconceivably and indescribably appalling. (My soul, come not thou into that secret!)

Boaz, as we have said, was described as the next-of-kin literally, the Goel and to their own Goel all the distressed families of Israel had a right to look. Blessed be God, we have been invested in that right by Jesus Christ. He desires to be looked to; he invites our appeal; he says in effect: Tell me how your land is situated, what burdens rest upon it; tell me what are your domestic conditions: is the father dead? Is the house full of widowhood and orphanhood, and all forms of distress? Relate all the circumstances to me; I am your next-of-kin, and I will deliver and redeem, avenge and bless. Into his ever-listening ear pour all the tale of human want and woe, as speaking to One who is akin next-of-kin the Goel of humanity. We need the assurance that there is some such Goel. At times all things seem to be against us, and no voice is lifted up in our defence and for our comfort: all men seem to forsake us and flee. In that hour we need some such inspiration as comes from the assurance that our next-of-kin our Goel will never leave us nor forsake us. When we need him most he is nearest to us.

Not only was Boaz a Goel, he was a Menuchah, or rest, in whose protection Ruth found security. Menuchah means an asylum of rest, a protection of honour, a security that cannot be violated; and then in its last signification it means the very omnipotence and pavilion of God. In this respect Boaz was the type of Christ. In chapter Rth 3:1 , we read, “Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee shall I not seek a Menuchah for thee that it may be well with thee?” The house of her husband was called the Menuchah of the wife that is to say, the asylum of rest and protection. The orphanage is the Menuchah of the orphan. All homes, Christian institutions, asylums founded in the spirit of Christ and for the use of Christ, might be appropriately termed Menuchahs places of rest, asylums of security, pavilions defended by the almightiness of God. There was a certain land promised to Israel. In the hope of attaining that land Israel lived and toiled for many a year. What would Israel call that promised land? The Menuchah. To reach that Menuchah was the hope of Israel; to stand upon the soil of that promised Canaan was to be sure of the nearness and protection of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Then, in its highest religious meaning, the Menuchah signifies the peace, favour, rest and protection of God. Jesus Christ said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will be your Menuchah I will give you rest” sabbatic rest, complete peace, infinite reconciliation, the harmony in which there is no discord, the rest unbroken by a dream, undisturbed by any fear in the night-watches. All this is made the more vividly clear if we look at the case of Boaz and Ruth. Boaz was a near kinsman. There was one nearer still, but he declined to take up the functions of the family Goel; then what we might call the Goelship fell to the lot of Boaz, and he assumed the responsibility and prosecuted the task. Then Boaz was, moreover, a rest the man who afforded a sense of security to the poor wandering Moabitess. He was the Menuchah, the grand living asylum, in whose love Ruth found peace and security.

Transfer all these images to the Lord Jesus Christ, and see how beautifully they apply in every instance to the Messiah. He is our Goel; he will mightily redeem us: he will take back from the hands of the enemy all the prey which the enemy has seized; the foe will have to deliver up whatever he has possessed himself of that belongs to God and humanity. The Goel will see us put into a secure position; a position of righteousness, of solid defence, of truth and probity. Then is he not the soul’s Menuchah the soul’s resting-place, the soul’s eternal asylum? Have we not sought peace everywhere and failed in the pursuit? Have we not hewn out to ourselves cisterns, and found them to be broken cisterns that could hold no water? Have we not made a bed for ourselves in the wilderness, and found that we were pillowing our heads upon the sharp thorns? Amid all life’s tumult and the maddening pain of the soul, there has come this sweet voice: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will be your Goel, your Menuchah; I will mightily deliver you and lead you into the rest of God. This is what we teach about Jesus Christ. These are the sublime truths we associate with his name. In all history men have needed a Goel or a deliverer, a Menuchah or a rest; and all the anxiety, strife, pain of the world’s history, seemed to point in the direction of One who himself would combine the strength of the Goel and the grace of the Menuchah.

Thus a great historical gate is opened. Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David the darling of Israel and the man after God’s own heart. How little we know what we are doing! Who can tell what the next link in the chain will be? Let us persevere in our work as God may give us opportunity and grace. Sometimes it is very heavy; sometimes quite dreary; sometimes the sun is practically blotted out, and all the sky is in mourning. But if we rest on eternal principles, if we believe in the omnipotence of God, we shall live to see the return of the sun, and in the brightness of morning we shall forget the blackness and the sadness of night.

Looking at the Book of Ruth as a whole, we are struck with the marvellous working of providence. The book had a sad opening. It opened like a cloudy day. It began with famine and misery, and went onward into widowhood twice told; and the first chapter is like a rain of tears. We could not understand why it should be so why there should be a famine in Israel. The famine might have been otherwhere: why not afflict the heathen with famine, and let Israel, and Christian peoples, as we now term them, enjoy bountiful harvests, pulling down their barns to build greater? Why does the lightning strike the very steeple of the church? On the story goes, and God is working in it all. In the darkness his hand seems to be groping after something that he may loop on to something that had gone before. The movement of God is a movement of very subtle and intricate connections. Sometimes we wonder how the next link can be found, and often it is found in the night-time when we cannot see either the finder or the link he has found. Look at such portion of society as is open to our survey, and see how wonderful are the associations which have been made in life the unexpected relationships, the strange coincidences, the marvellous creations of help, deliverance, and friendship culminating in the most practical affection. How are these people brought together? There was no plan in it on the human side; there was nothing on the human side but surprise; yet how the movement has proceeded, and how out of mysteries has happiness been consolidated! You heard a discourse, and it became the turning-point in your life; you listened to a prayer, and whilst it was arising to heaven you made solemn oath and vow that you would be better, and that vow has been redeemed: you went into a public assembly, and saw a face, the seeing of which has changed the whole course of your life. The providence of God is not an Old Testament story; it is the action of the day, the movement now circling around us, the rustling of the leaves, the ploughing up of the land, the singing of the birds, the occurrences at home and abroad. Behold the hand of the living God, and in that hand put your trust. The most mysterious action of this providence was the bringing-in of the Gentiles. A new thing has been wrought in Israel: a Moabitess is numbered among the chosen children. Now that we read the story backwards we see the meaning of it all. Reading it as the facts occurred, the reading was often rough and most difficult. How true it is that we must wait to the end to see the real meaning of the beginning! When God’s way is finished, God’s way will be clear. We ought to take an interest in the introduction of Ruth into the sacred lineage, because she was the first-fruits of the people to whom we belong. She was a heathen woman, an outsider, a Gentile, and we belonged once to that outlawed class. Mean it is of us to say we do not take any interest in the conversion of distant nations, when we ourselves were once a distant nation, and have been converted to the faith and crown of Christ. We are not true to our own history, or grateful for our own deliverance, in the degree in which we are indifferent to the conversion of those who are afar off. Ruth was our first-fruits; Ruth was our kinswoman in the larger sense. Blessed be God for the introduction of our sister into Israel. She was in the direct line of the Son of God. The Gentile woman became a progenitor of God’s own Christ. A strange genealogy! Having perused it line by line we know what it is: the great king, the unknown man, the harlot, the Gentile Ruth, they all stand there, a symbolic humanity, so that when the Son of God comes, he comes not in one direction alone, not as born of the Jew only, but of a line of kings; in him all men are gathered up the mightiest, the weakest, the wanderer, the homeless. Verily this Man was the Son of God the Incarnate Deity!

Note

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

THE BOOK OF RUTH

XXXII

A CATECHISM

To what time in the history of Israel does the story of Ruth belong?

Ans. 1:1, to the period of the Judges.

2. What the relations of this book to the book of Judges, and its place in the Old Testament canon?

Ans. (1) It is an appendix to the book of Judges and the two were counted as one book in the early Jewish enumeration. It is an episode of the general story of the judges like the migration of the DANAIDES and the war with Benjamin in the latter part of that book.

(2) Its natural place of order is just after Judges, and it so appears in the Septuagint, Vulgate, and English Versions.

3. What its place in the Hebrew Bible, and why?

Ans. All the known Hebrew manuscripts are modern. The later Jews, for liturgical purposes, arranged their scripture into three grand divisions, to wit: The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, or other writings. In the synagogues on their various sabbaths and on their great days appointed sections from these grand divisions were read, so that every Jew would know beforehand the scriptural lesson. Now, in this Hebrew Bible so arranged, Ruth was the fifth book of the third division, coming between the Song of Songs and Lamentations. (See Isaac Leeser’s English Version.) The date of this arrangement was after the Septuagint version was made but before the coming of our Lord, as there appear to be references to it in Luk 4:16-17 ; Luk 24:44 , and Act 15:21 .

4. What passages in the book itself bear on the date of the composition?

Ans. The most important are Rth 1:1 ; Rth 4:7-8 , and Rth 4:18-22 . The first passage in verse I seems to imply that the period of the judges had passed before the book was written. In Rth 4:7-8 , it seems that the custom of taking off a shoe as a token of relinquishing a kinsman’s right to redeem had passed away when the book was written, and in Rth 4:18-22 , the last paragraph of the book, the genealogy is carried to David’s time and stops with David, which seems to imply that the book was written in the time of David, but not later than David’s time.

5. On what grounds do the radical critics place the date of the composition to the time of the Exile, after the downfall of the Monarchy and even later?

Ans. Their principal argument, as usual, is based on philology, that is, the use of certain expressions or words that they claim must belong to a later date. It is enough for me to say that their argument is so very feeble and inconclusive it is hardly worth a dignified reply.

6. Who probably was the author?

Ans. The book itself does not say, only we know that every Old Testament book was written by some prophet. The probable author of the whole book was Samuel, who lived to anoint David as king.

7. The scene of the story?

Ans. There are two scenes, the Land of Moab and Bethlehem of Judah.

8. What the purpose of the book?

Ans. On the face of it the body of the book is to give a picture of domestic life in the period of the judges, and to show how faith and piety are rewarded even in this life and to trace the line of the coming Messiah.

9. What the literary characteristics of the book?

Ans. It is a true story of domestic life, both historical and biographical. The principal personages in the story were the ancestors of David, showing the Moabitish link not only in David’s genealogy but in the genealogy of our Lord. On account of this relation to the fields it is sometimes called a pastoral and is certainly a gem of literature.

10. Analyze the story.

Ans. This story is dramatic and consists of three acts and several scenes, thus:

ACT I At Bethlehem.

Scene 1 A Happy Family

Scene 2 A Sore Famine

Scene 3 A Fortunate Transition

ACT II In Moab

Scene 1 Arrival and Settlement

Scene 2 Marriage and death of sons

Scene 3 Departure for Judah

ACT III At Bethlehem Again

Scene 1 Visit of all Bethlehem to Naomi

Scene 2 Gleaning in the Field

Scene 3 Naomi the Matchmaker

Scene 4 Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing-floor

Scene 5 A Court in the Gate

Scene 6 A Man-Child is Born

EPILOGUE: The Messianic Line.

11. What the more important contrasts of the story?

Ans. (1) With wars and deeds of violence to which the book of Judges is mostly given. A writer has said, “Blessed is the nation which has no history,” because history mostly is made of wars and commotions. One would get from the repetition of the bloody wars in the book of Judges that the whole life of the nation was violent, but this book on domestic life shows us the contrast in the home with the exceptional phases of national strife.

(2) The second contrast is between Ruth and Orpah, the two daughters-in-law of Naomi, both of whom have the opportunity to become incorporated with God’s people and remain in connection with them, but Orpah when put to the test returns to her own people and their worship of idols. Ruth, through faith, clings to Jehovah and his worship and becomes the ancestress of the Messiah.

(3) The third contrast is between Boaz and the other kinsman mentioned, who stood nearer in blood ties to Naomi than Boaz did. The one for fear of endangering his own inheritance surrendered the privilege of the kinsman, the other availed himself of the surrendered privilege and becomes known throughout the world as the ancestor of the Messiah.

12. What are the special lessons of this book?

Ans. (1) The lesson on the levirate marriage, that is where a man after marriage dies without children the closest male kin under the Mosaic law takes the widow as his wife with the view to raise up seed in the name of the dead husband and who inherited his part of the land.

(2) The second lesson is the messianic picture. All through the history of Israel is an ever increasing prophetic light pointing to the coming of Christ and especially showing that among the ancestors of Christ were Gentile women, as Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabitess.

(3) The third lesson is to note how famine and pestilence cause shifting of population. It was a famine that took Abraham to Egypt and the whole family of Jacob.

(4) The fourth special lesson is the exquisite gem of Ruth’s reply to Naomi. It is poetic, pathetic, manifesting a high order of faith and steadfastness. I will give it in its poetic form: Insist not on me forsaking thee, To return from following after thee; For whither thou goest, I will go, And wheresoever thou lodgest, I will lodge, Thy people is my people, And thy God my God. Wheresoever thou diest, I will die And there will I be buried. So may Jehovah do to me, And still more, If aught but death part me and thee.

(5) The fifth special lesson is the significance of names. “Elimelech” means, God is King, “Naomi” means, God is sweetness; and these names were bestowed as expressions of faith of their parents. You will see in the book that Naomi refers to the meaning of her name, on her return from Moab, when she says, “Call me no more Naomi, meaning sweetness, but Marah, meaning bitterness.” meaning the opposite of sweetness, which shows how pessimistic she had become; that instead of God being sweet to her he had become bitterness to her. It is like the pessimistic passage in the book of Job in the culmination of his affliction and in one of the Psalms.

13. What the probable bearing of this story on David’s exile in Moab as described in 1Sa 22:3-4 ?

Ans. David’s ancestors on one side were Moabites and this may account for his carrying his father and mother to Moab for a time during his outlaw life.

SPECIAL QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

1. Point out an oath in this book.

2. Point out a benediction.

3. Point out at least three names of God in this book.

4. Mention at least three texts from which good sermons could be preached.

5. Where do you find the Mosaic law allowing the privileges of gleaning after reapers in the harvest fields?

6. In Rth 2:12 , Boaz says to Ruth, “Jehovah recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.” Cite a passage in the Psalms about sheltering under the wings of God, and our Lord’s reference in Mat 23 to sheltering under wings, and the hymn of which this appears as a part: All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing.

7. Was the marriage of the Jew and Moabite lawful? Compare Deuteronomy and Nehemiah and then answer.

8. Cite a passage from Thomson’s Land and the Book, p. 647, bearing on Rth 2:17 .

9. In Rth 1:22 , Naomi says, “I went out full and Jehovah hath brought me home again empty”; did she refer to property or husband and sons?

10. See Josephus on the handing over of the shoe.

11. Read carefully Rth 4:3-5 , and answer whether Naomi still possessed landed property. If she sold this property allowing the nearest kinsman the option of purchase, would the sale be absolute or would it be merely a lease until the Year of Jubilee?

12. Meaning of Ephrathite?

I

GENERAL INTRODUCTION HEBREW POETRY

As we are to deal with poetry, in the main, in the following discussions, it becomes necessary that we should here give attention briefly to some important matters relating to the poetry of the Bible. This is essential as the principles of interpretation are so different from the principles of the interpretation of prose.

Hebrew poetry, rich and multifarious as it is, appears to be only a remnant of a still wider and fuller sphere of Semitic literature. There are references to this poetic literature in several places in the Old Testament, viz: Jos 10:13 ; 2Sa 1:18 , where it is expressly said that they were written in the book of Jashar which was most probably a collection of national songs written at various times.

The character of the poetry of the Hebrews is both deeply truthful and earnestly religious. Much of the contents of the Scriptures has all the ordinary characteristics of poetry. Though prosaic in form, it rises, by force of the noble sentiment which it enunciates and the striking imagery with which these sentiments are adorned, into the sphere of real poetry. Example, Rth 1:16-17 :

“And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.” This passage arranged in poetic form would appear as follows: Entreat me not to leave thee, And to return from following thee; For whither thou goest I will go, And where thou lodgest I will lodge; Thy people shall be my people, And thy God shall be my God; Where thou diest I will die, And there will I be buried; Jehovah do so to me and more also, If aught but death part thee and me.

We find the first poetry in our Bible in Gen 4:23-24 , the Song of Lamech, a little elegiac poem (See the American Standard Version), reciting a lamentation about a domestic tragedy, thus: And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

For an interpretation of this passage, see Carroll’s Interpretation, Vol. 1.

We now note all poetry found in the Pentateuch, as follows:

Gen 4:23 , the Song of Lamech, already referred to;

Gen 9:25-27 , a little poem reciting Noah’s curse and blessing on his sons;

Gen 25:23 , a single verse, forecasting the fortunes of Jacob and Esau;

Gen 27:27-29 , a beautiful gem, reciting Isaac’s blessing on Jacob;

Gen 27:39-40 , another gem recording Isaac’s blessing on Esau;

Gen 49:2-27 , Jacob’s blessings on his sons;

Exo 15:1-18 , Moses’ song of triumph over Pharaoh;

Num 6:24-26 , the high priest’s benediction;

Num 21:14-15 , a war song of Amon;

Num 21:17-18 , a song at the well of Be-er;

Num 21:27-30 , a song of victory over “Sihon, king of the Amorites”;

Num 23:7-10 , Balaam’s first prophecy;

Num 23:18-24 , Balaam’s second prophecy;

Num 24:3-9 , Balaam’s third prophecy;

Num 24:15-24 , Balaam’s fourth prophecy;

Deu 32:1-43 , Moses’ song;

Deu 33:2-29 , Moses’ blessing on Israel.

The poetry found in the historical books (Josh.-Esther) is as follows:

Jos 10:12-13 , Joshua’s little song of victory;

Jdg 5:1-31 , Deborah’s song;

Jdg 14:14 , Samson’s riddle;

Jdg 14:18 , Samson’s proverb;

Jdg 15:16 , Samson’s song of the jawbone;

1Sa 2:1-10 , Hannah’s song of exultation;

1Sa 21:11 , the song of the women about Saul and David;

2Sa 1:19-21 , David’s lamentation over Saul and Jonathan;

2Sa 3:33-34 , David’s lamentation over Abner;

2Sa 22:2-51 , David’s song of triumph over his enemies;

2Sa 23:1-7 , David’s last words;

1Ch 16:8-36 , David’s song of thanksgiving.

A great deal of the writings of the prophets is highly poetic, and many quotations from them in the New Testament are given in poetic form in the American Standard Version, but only a few passages appear in poetic form in the books of the Old Testament. These are as follows:

Isa 38:9-20 , Hezekiah’s song;

Lamentations;

Jon 2:2-9 , Jonah’s prayer;

Hab 3:1-19 , the prayer of Habakkuk.

Besides these passages, the great bulk of Hebrew poetry found in the Old Testament is in the poetical books Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon practically all of which is poetical in form, except Ecclesiastes which is poetic prose. These books constitute the basis of our present study.

There is quite a lot of poetry in the New Testament, consisting of original poems and many quotations from the Old Testament and some other writings, for the citations of which I refer the reader to the American Standard Version of the New Testament. These passages are in poetic form wherever they occur. This will give the reader some idea of the mass of poetical literature found in our Bible and it should impress him with the importance of understanding the principles by which it may be rightly interpreted.

On the distinguishing characteristics of Hebrew poetry, I commend to the reader most heartily Dr. John R. Sampey’s Syllabus of the Old Testament. Dr. Sampey was a great Hebrew scholar and his discussion on any point touching the Hebrew language must be considered authoritative. Since there is no better statement on these matters to be found anywhere, I give you in the following paragraphs a brief summary of his discussion on the forms and kinds of Hebrew poetry, noting especially what he says about parallelism, the grouping of lines, the stanza, the meter, and the kinds of Hebrew poetry. The general characteristics of Hebrew poetry are: (1) verbal rhythm, (2) correspondence of words, (3) inversion, (4) archaic expression and (5) parallelism.

Recent research goes to show that the Hebrew poets had some regard for the number of accented syllables in a line. They were guided by accentual beats rather than by the number of words or syllables. The most common form called for three accents to each line. The difficulty in getting an appreciation of the verbal rhythm in Hebrew lies in the fact that there is almost a complete loss of the true pronunciation of the Hebrew.

By correspondence of words is meant that the words in one verge, or member; answer to the words in another, the sense in the one echoing the sense in the other, the form corresponding with form and word with word. Some examples, as follows: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Psa 43:5 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, And watersprings into a thirsty ground. Psa 107:33 The memory of the righteous is blessed; But the name of the wicked shall rot. Pro 10:7

By inversion is meant to invert the grammatical order or parts in a sentence for the purpose of emphasis or for adjustment. Though inversion holds a distinguished place in the structure of Hebrew poetry, it is only a modified inversion that prevails and by no means does it compare favorably with that of the Greeks and Romans in boldness, decision, and prevalence. Examples: In thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth on men. Job 4:13 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silence for my counsel. Job 29:21 And they made his grave with the wicked, And with a rich man in his death; Although he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth. Isa 53:9

The archaical character of Hebrew poetry refers to the antiquity of the poetical elements as found in the Hebrew poetry, to the license, poetic hue and coloring, which cannot be confounded with simple, low, and unrhythmical diction of prose. Two elements, a poetical temperament and a poetical history, which are necessary to the development of a poetic diction, the Hebrews had as perhaps few people have ever possessed. Theirs was eminently a poetic temperament; their earliest history was heroic while the loftiest of all truths circulated in their souls and glowed on their lips. Hence their language, in its earliest stages, is surpassingly poetic, striking examples of which may be found in Genesis and Job.

By parallelism in Hebrew poetry is meant that one line corresponds in thought to another line. The three most common varieties of parallelism are: (1) synonymous, (2) antithetic, (3) synthetic. We will now define and illustrate each variety, thus:

(1) By synonymous parallelism is meant that in which a second line simply repeats in slightly altered phraseology the thought of the first line. Examples: He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision.

Psa 2:4 And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives. Pro 1:18

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?

Job 22:3 For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for naught, And stripped the naked for their clothing. Job 22:6 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; And the honorable man, he dwelt in it. Job 22:8 Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear troubleth thee. Job 22:10

(2) By antithetic parallelism is meant that in which the second line is in contrast with the first. Examples: A wise son maketh a glad father; But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother; Pro 10:1 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son; But he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame; Pro 10:5 The memory of the righteous is blessed; But the name of the wicked shall rot. Pro 10:7

Most of the 376 couplets in Pro 10:1-22:16 are antithetic.

(3) By synthetic parallelism is meant that in which the second line supplements the first, both together giving a complete thought. Examples: My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not. Pro 1:10 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thy hand to do it. Pro 3:27 Say not unto thy neighbor. Go, and come again, And to-morrow I will give: When thou hast it by thee. Pro 3:28 Devise not evil against thy neighbor; Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Pro 3:29 Strive not with a man without cause, If he hath done thee no harm. Pro 3:30

The less common varieties of parallelism found in Hebrew poetry are: (1) climactic, (2) introverted, and (3) emblematic. These are defined and illustrated as follows:

(1) In the climactic parallelism the second line takes up words from the first and completes them. Example: Ascribe unto Jehovah, O ye sons of the mighty, Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength. Psa 28:1 The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. Jdg 5:7

(2) In the introverted parallelism the first line corresponds with the fourth, and the second with the third. Example: My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine; Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things. Pro 23:15

3) In the emblematic parallelism the second line brings forward something similar to the first, but in a higher realm. Take away the dross from the silver, And there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner; Take away the wicked from before the king, And his throne shall be established in righteousness. Pro 25:4 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in network of silver. As an ear-ring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, So is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. As the cold snow is the time of harvest, So is a faithful messenger to them that send him; For he refresheth the soul of his masters. Pro 25:11-13 As clouds and wind without rain, So is he that boasteth himself of his gifts falsely. Pro 25:14 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble Is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. Pro 25:19 As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart. Pro 25:20 For lack of wood the fire goeth out; And where there is no whisperer, contention ceaseth. As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to inflame strife. Pro 26:20-21

The lines in Hebrew poetry are grouped as follows:

(1) Monostichs (Psa 16:1 ; Psa 18:1 );

(2) Distichs (Psa 34:1 ; Pro 13:20 ) ;

(3) Tristichs (Psa 2:2 ; Psa 3:7 );

(4) Tetrastichs (Gen 49:7 ; Psa 55:21 ; Pro 23:15 f);

(5) Pentastichs (Pro 25:6 f);

(6) Hexastichs (Gen 48:15 f);

(7) Heptastichs(Pro 23:6-8 );

(8) Octostichs (Pro 30:7-9 ),

A stanza in Hebrew poetry consists of a group of lines or verses upon the same subject or developing the same thought. There are four kinds of these stanzas, viz: the couplet, or a group of two lines; the tristich, or a group of three lines; the tetrastich, or a group of four lines; and the hexastich, or a group of six lines. In Psa 119 we have the strophe consisting of eight verses, each verse in this strophe beginning with the same letter.

There are four kinds of Hebrew poetry, viz: (1) lyric, (2) gnomic, (3) dramatic, (4) elegiac. These are defined and illustrated thus:

(1) Lyric is derived from the word, “lyre,” a musical instrument to accompany singing. There are many snatches of song in the historical books from Genesis to Esther. The Psalms are an imperishable collection of religious lyrics.

(2) By “gnomic” is meant proverbial. Proverbs, part of Ecclesiastes, and many detached aphorisms in other books of the Old Testament are examples.

(3) By “dramatic” is meant that form of literature that gives idealized representations of human experience. Job is a splendid example of this kind of literature.

(4) By “elegiac” is meant that form of poetry which partakes of the nature of the elegy, or lamentation. Lamentations is a fine example of this kind of poetry. There are other dirges in the historical books and in the prophets. 2Sa 1:19-27 and Amo 5:1-3 are examples. Much of Isaiah’s writing is poetic in spirit and some of it in form. So of the early prophetic writers, especially the early prophets. Now, according to this classification of Hebrew poetry, it should be an easy and profitable work for the reader to classify all the poetry of the Bible. This can be readily done with the American Standard Revised Version in hand. All the poetry of the Bible is written in poetic form in this version, and every student of the Bible should have it.

QUESTIONS

1. What can you say, in general, of the Hebrew poetry as we have it in the Bible?

2. What of the character of the poetry of the Hebrews?

3. Where do we find the first poetry in our Bible and what ia the nature of this little poem?

4. Locate all the poetry found in the Pentateuch.

5. Locate all the poetry found in the historical books (Josh.; Esther).

6. Locate the poetic passages in the prophets.

7. Where do we find the great bulk of Hebrew poetry in the Bible?

8. What of the poetry of the New Testament and how may it be located?

9. What book commended by the author on the forms and kinds of Hebrew poetry?

10. What the general characteristics of Hebrew poetry?

11. What is meant by rhythm and what renders an appreciation of verbal rhythm in the Hebrew now so difficult?

12. What is meant by correspondence of words? Illustrate.

13. What is meant by inversion? Illustrate.

14. What is meant by the archaical character of Hebrew poetry?

15. What is meant by parallelism and what the three most common varieties? Define and illustrate each.

16. What the less common varieties of parallelism? Define and illustrate each.

17. How are the lines in Hebrew poetry grouped? Give example of each.

18. What is a stanza in Hebrew poetry? How many and what kinds are found?

19. How many kinds of Hebrew poetry? Name, define, and illustrate each.

20. What suggestion by the author relative to classifying all the poetry of the Bible?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

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.

Ver. 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s.] Lyra saith Elimelech and Salmon – other Hebrews say Elimelech and Naasson – were brethren. Some, more probably, hold that Elimelech was the son of Salmon’s brother, and so his son the kinsman of Boaz once removed; for there was one nearer. Rth 3:12

A mighty man of wealth. ] Rich, and yet religious – a rare bird.

And his name was Boaz, ] i.e., Strength, or fortitude. He was strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. Pro 18:11 But good Boaz had learned better than to trust in uncertain riches: 1Ti 6:17 he was rich in this world, and withal rich in good works (ibid.), rich in faith, Jam 2:5 rich to Godward. Luk 12:21

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

Chapter 2

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

So Elimelech had, and in the fourth chapter Boaz calls him, “our brother Elimelech,” so a relation, perhaps a full brother, perhaps a half-brother who became a very wealthy man, a mighty man of wealth.

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

Now in the law, God made a provision for the poor people. There were welfare laws in those days. I think they are far superior to the welfare laws today. It wasn’t just a “give me,” or give-out dole to people. But the law declared that when you had fields, you could only harvest your fields once. You couldn’t go back through to pick the second time. You had one shot at your harvest. You went through once, that was it. Nor did you pick up anything off the ground. So that the poor of the land could come into your field after your harvesters had gone through, and whatever wasn’t ripe when they had gone through, whatever was there, was free for the poor people. Thus, they could always go into the fields and they could come in after your harvesters. They could pick up any vegetables, or any fruits or whatever that remained after your first once harvest through the thing then the rest was left for the poor, thus, were the poor of the land taken care of. It was a very excellent welfare law. The poor of the land were taken care of adequately by this law. If you wanted to eat there was always food. You could always go out into the field and gather it after the harvesters.

So Ruth said to Naomi, “I’m gonna go out and glean in the field after the harvesters.” It says,

And it was her hap [or we would say today, “It so happened,”] that she was in the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech ( Rth 2:3 ).

“It so happened,” no that’s not so. Nothing just so happens. When we relate a thing we say, “You know it was the strangest coincidence.” But really when you’re God’s child, and God’s hand is on your life, there aren’t really coincidences. God’s hand is in all of these things.

Now when God guides our lives, somehow we’ve got a mental concept that in order for God to guide me, there’s got to be some kind of a mystical, spooky kind of an aura, you know. Where you almost go into a semi-trance and a fog begins to sort of come around you. You hear a voice in the echo chamber that says, “Goooo left.” You expect God to lead you in some kind of a mystical way, when in reality God leads you in such natural ways. You say, “Well, it just happened that I was there at that moment.”

For the last few weeks my wife has been asking me concerning a doctor that was with us in Israel last year who helped her when she broke her arm. She said, “I’m so concerned about him? I wonder if everything is all right. We haven’t heard. We sent him a Christmas card, and we haven’t heard. I wonder, oh I wonder how he’s doing, if you’ve seen him.”

“No I haven’t seen him.”

“Well I wonder how they’re doing.” She’s been on to me for this for a few weeks. Well, at my son’s church the ladies were having a retreat up at Idylewild last weekend, not this, but the previous, and so Kay went up to teach the ladies. Because the dust was getting to her, she decided not to eat lunch there in the camp, but to go into a little restaurant called, “The Breadbasket.” So as she was in there eating lunch, who should come in but the doctor’s wife, who was passing by and decided, “Oh, I want to get one of the specialties of the bakery shop there.” So she just on impulse ran in to get something out of the bakery. It just so happened, you see? No, those things don’t happen, God is leading, God is guiding, and God put these things together but it happens so naturally, that you don’t recognize that it’s God doing it.

God leads us in very natural ways. It comes as a thought, it comes as an impulse, it comes as an idea, or it comes as an inspiration. “Oh, I’m hungry for a tamale.”

“Got to have a tamale.”

“Well where shall we go?”

“Well, let’s go there.” God is actually putting together circumstances. You get there and there’s the plan of God unfolding. He’s been guiding and it just so happened-but no. It doesn’t so happen. God’s hand is there leading and guiding. “For the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord, and he delights in His ways.” If you will in all your ways just acknowledge Him, He will direct your paths.

Now looking at it from our side, we say, “Now it so happened that she came into the field of Boaz.” But in reality God was holding her by the hand, and directing her to that field. She was going out wondering, “Where in the world am I going to glean? Oh my, this is all new. I don’t know any place around here. Oh, there’s some gals out there, I’ll follow them.” God was just leading all the way along.

Neat the way the Lord does lead our lives. It’s glorious the way God directs our paths as we just yield ourselves to Him. Before I get out of bed in the morning, I say, “Lord today is Yours. My life is Yours. Now You just lead me Lord in whatever You have for me. Direct my life today Lord. I don’t have any hard, fast plans that can’t be broken, Lord. You just bring into my path whatever You want. I want to be open to You today.” It’s always exciting because you never know just what God has in mind for you each day as He puts the circumstances together. We look at it and, “Man, that is the most amazing coincidence I’ve ever seen.” Not really. God was bringing the ends together all the way along.

And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee ( Rth 2:4 ).

Now Boaz does show many characteristics of a fine, outstanding, godly man. Just remember it’s a time of spiritual declension and apostasy, the period of the Judges. But here’s a man who’s walking with God, who comes out and greets his servants by saying, “The Lord be with you!” Evidently there’s a good management relationship here with servants, and they say, “And the Lord bless thee!” What’s the other indications of this man’s spiritual nature?

Then said Boaz unto his servant that was over the reapers, Where did this chick come from? [that’s a modern translation] And the servant that was over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I [beg you, or] pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers after the sheaves: and she came, and hath continued even from morning until now, she only tarried for a little time in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Listen my daughter? Don’t glean in any other field, neither go from here, but abide here fast by my maidens: And let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and follow after them: for I have charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when you’re thirsty, you can go to the vessels, and drink of the water that the young men have drawn. And she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that you should take knowledge of me, seeing I’m a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It has been fully shown unto me, all that thou hast done unto your mother in law since the death of your husband: and how you have left your father and mother, and the land of your nativity, and are come unto a people which you did not know before this. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given to thee of the Lord God of Israel, unto whose wings thou art come to trust ( Rth 2:5-12 ).

So it’s a beautiful scene. They are meeting and he speaks to Ruth and says, “You know just stay in the fields of my maidens, follow them. Don’t go to any other fields. When you get thirsty you can drink from the containers that the young men have drawn.” She’s amazed by the kindness.

She’s a stranger here, and she said, “How come you’re treating me so kindly? I’m a stranger.”

He said, “I’ve heard all about you. I’ve heard about your kindness to Naomi. I’ve heard about your decision really to come into a new land, and under the shelter of Jehovah.” So his beautiful words, “May Jehovah recompense thy work. May the Lord just reward your decisions. And a full reward be given to you from the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to trust.”

The people there were very close to nature. They were very earthy people. Thus, they pictured God in earthy pictures. One of the pictures that they had of God was that loving, protecting concern over His children, as a mother hen has that loving, protective concern over her little chicks. So that when danger threatens, the little chicks run under the mother who ruffles out her feathers and covers them, and stands there to protect them against danger. This is one of the pictures of God in the Old Testament. “Under His wings shalt thou trust.” This picture of a mother hen brooding, and covering, and protecting with her wings, with her feathers, her little coop. It’s a very earthly kind of thing, and if you haven’t been around a farm or chickens, you don’t understand it fully. Fortunately when I was a kid, even growing up here in California we were country enough where we still had chickens around in the backyard. “But may the Lord reward you under whose wings, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to trust.” Trusting in God now. Looking to Him.

Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and you have spoken friendly unto your handmaid, though I am not like one of your own handmaidens. And Boaz said to her, At mealtime you can come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left ( Rth 2:13-14 ).

So Boaz is showing a definite interest in her, reaching over and getting some parched corn for her. Inviting her to eat and showing the protection.

And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Now you let her glean even among the sheaves, don’t approach her: [“If she happens to wander over into the area where you haven’t been yet, don’t yell at her, let her go.”] Then every once in awhile just let a handful drop on purpose for her,… So Ruth gleaned that day and she came up with about a bushel of barley. [So that when she got back to Naomi,] Naomi said, Where in the world were you gleaning today? The Lord be gracious unto that man. Ruth said, Well I happened to be in the field of a man whose name is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her, Blessed is he of the Lord, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, he is one of our next goels, kinsman redeemers. [“This man is a family member, he’s a goel, he’s a kinsman redeemer to us, one of the next of kinsman redeemers.”] And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, You shall stay fast by my young men until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that you do not go out with his maidens, and that they do not meet you in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of the barley harvest and of the wheat harvest; and she stayed there with her mother in law ( Rth 2:15-23 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

The women went home to poverty, where the practical problems of life faced them. These were, of course, rendered the more difficult by the fact that Ruth was a Moabitess. Yet she it was who faced the fight and went forth as a gleaner to gather what would suffice for their present sustenance.

The human side of things is beautifully expressed in the words, “Her hap was to light on the portion of the field belonging unto Boaz.” All the issues reveal the divine overruling.

In this story of Ruth gleaning the principal interest centers in Boaz. The lines of his picture are few, but they are strong and a man of fine quality is revealed. His greeting to his laborers, “Jehovah be with you,” and their ready response, “Jehovah bless thee,” reveal the happy relationship between him and those serving him and show him a man of strong and yet natural religious life. His presence in the field, overseeing the affairs of harvest, and his quick recognition of the strange girl gleaning show the man of business capacity. Then all the rest of the story evidences the graciousness of his temper and the greatness of his heart.

In all probability he knew a Moabite woman would not be very cordially welcomed among his people, and therefore he provided for her with assiduous care. His influence is at once seen in the absence of objection among the people and their readiness to cooperate with him.

In short, Boaz stands out as a man of the finest fiber, simple, and strongly living in a degenerate age.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Gleaning after the Reapers

Rth 2:1-13

In great desolation of soul, Naomi had returned. She was no longer the happy woman of earlier days. Ruth also must sometimes have experienced the depression of homesickness which often steals over the heart of the stranger. But the two women found solace where sad hearts will always find it, first in God and then in ministry to each other, 2Co 1:4; 2Co 7:6. In fact, Ruths devotion to her mother became the common talk of the village, Rth 2:11.

Notice the beautiful old-time salutations between the employer and his employees. The omission of these courteous greetings is one of the mistakes of our modern civilization. We live in a time when the relations between master and servant, between mistress and maid, are strangely altered, being largely financial and selfish. Each tries to get as much as possible out of the other, and thus the personal touch is absent. Is it to be wondered at that the human machine runs hard and sometimes breaks down? But Boaz was clearly a good man. He had won the respect of the whole neighborhood, and his tender words to the young stranger, saluting her as a nestling under the wings of Jehovah, indicated that he dwelled in the secret place of the Most High.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Rth 2:2

Work has many aspects. It may be treated as a portion of man’s curse. But it was not work which was new to man. From the beginning work had been assigned to him; the difference was that work henceforth was to be both excessive in degree and comparatively unremunerative.

Notice:-

I. Nature works. Sometimes in the mere consciousness of health and vitality. There is that in a man which will not and cannot be idle. Doubtless human life is the gainer by every kind and department of industry. The labourers of society are its benefactors. Better any work than any idleness.

II. Faith works. (1) The work of faith looks within. Faith, which is the sight of the unseen, apprehends the existence of spirit, the possibility of regeneration, and the direct influence of Divine grace upon the heart and soul of man. It would not be faith in the Christian sense if it did not apprehend these mysteries. Before faith can set out upon her gleaning she must find grace in the sight of One unseen. (2) The work of faith looks upward. The eye of faith is upon God, even while the hand of faith and the foot of faith are moving among the things of this world. (3) The work of faith looks around. Faith does not look only on her own things, but on the things of others. Faith does seriously contemplate the wants and the woes and the wickednesses which are making havoc of humanity, and has something truly of that mind in her which was also first and perfectly in Christ Jesus. (4) The work of faith looks onward. Oftentimes faith would faint if it had not an onward aspect. It is willing to wait for the day of God’s power, willing to be lost and forgotten in the eventual ingathering.

C. J. Vaughan, Voices of the Prophets; p. 55 (see also Good Words, 1886, p. 815)

References: Rth 2:3.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 214; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 301. Rth 2:4.-R. L. Browne, Sussex Sermons, p. 81; C. Kingsley, The Water of Life, p. 140; F. E. Paget, Village Sermons: Trinity to Advent, p. 201; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 266; J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year: Sundays after Trinity, Part II., p. 97. Rth 2:12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1851. Rth 2:14.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix., p. 522; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 79; W. Meller, Village Homilies, p. 114; S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i., p. 229. Rth 2:15, Rth 2:16.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii., No. 464. Rth 2:16.-D. Lane, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. x., p. 149.

Rth 2:17

I. Notice first, the good providence of God as illustrated in the story of Ruth and Naomi. Who was more forlorn than Naomi when she set out, penniless and a widow, both her sons dead, to return into the land of Judah. God finds the widow friends, He finds the oppressed and solitary a Ruth to stay by them, a Boaz to see that they have their rights. He is a never-failing helper in the time of trouble.

II. Notice from this history the blessing which waits upon piety, for those who are kind and affectionate and helpful in their homes. Ruth was but a daughter-in-law, yet she acted the part of a real daughter to the widowed and childless Naomi. She clave to her in her trouble, she worked for her in her poverty, and she was rewarded even on earth.

III. Ruth is also an example of maidenly modesty, purity, steadiness of conduct. She kept fast by the maidens of Boaz unto the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest.

IV. Notice the diligence of Ruth. She gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she gleaned; it was a good day’s work, bringing with it a good recompense of reward. Ruth invites us to use all diligence to make our calling and election sure. God has set us in His field, the world, and set us there to glean, to gather up as we are able the precious seed. There is much for every one to do, and the time is short.

R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 3rd series, p. 119.

Reference: Rth 2:17.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 216.

Rth 2:19

I. There are some whose only chance of gaining knowledge is by gleaning. Their education has been neglected, and their time for reading is limited. To such let me say: (1) Glean where the corn grows and lies near at hand. You will not find the corn by the wayside or on the moor, It is not in all company that you may glean wisdom. To the most of us, Where hast thou gleaned? is but another way of saying, What hast thou got as the result of thy life? (2) To glean successfully we must be willing to stoop. He who would be fed with the bread of life must humble himself.

II. If we would glean a heap, we must be content with a little at a time. It is wonderful what may be done by never passing by a thing that is worth preserving. We have trampled under foot during our life that which, if saved, would have done much to make a golden age for ourselves.

III. No one can glean well who is not able to persevere. If we mean to succeed, we must go on long after we are weary. We shall glean with greater care and industry if we remember that we must live for ever on the results of this life. If men did but think they gather gold for a crown or iron for fetters, they would be more careful what they pick up.

T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 142.

References: Rth 2:19.-J. W. Burgon, Ninety-one Short Sermons, No. 76. Rth 2:20.-S. Cox, The Book of Ruth, p. 164; H. Melvill, Lothbury Lectures, p. 316. Rth 2:23.-R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 73. 2-Parker, vol. vi., p. 204. Jdg 3:1.-J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 25. Jdg 3:1-18.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. ii., p. 257 (also S. Cox, The Book of Ruth, p. 101); Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 112. Jdg 4:1-22.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. ii., p. 360 (and S. Cox, The Book of Ruth, p. 121); Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iii., p. 126.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 2 Gleaning in the Field

1. Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz (Rth 2:1-3)

2. Grace shown to Ruth by Boaz (Rth 2:4-17)

3. Ruth hears concerning Boaz (Rth 2:18-23)

Boaz comes now upon the scene. His name means in Him is strength. He is called a mighty man of wealth. As the kinsman-redeemer he is a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one in whom there is strength, the rich one. Ruth knows at first little of him and the coming relationship with the wealthy one. Boaz is related to Elimelech, whose name my God is king is typical of Israels faith. Through Elimelech only Naomi (the nation Israel) has a claim on Boaz. And she can only lay claim through Ruth. Even so Israel has a claim on the blessings promised to her through the remnant which returns to Him in the beginning of the harvest, the end of the age; that remnant, as stated before, is represented in Ruth.

How simple and beautiful is the story which follows. The mighty man of valor knows evidently all about her, though he does not act at once in her behalf. He appears on the harvest field. Beautiful greeting he brings! The LORD be with you; and they answer him, The LORD bless thee. Gracious are his words to her, who had cast herself upon his grace, for Ruth had said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. She anticipated in faith, though she did not fully know what grace was awaiting her. Even so the remnant of Israel in the last days. How he permits her to continue in the humble work. He provides for her. She is only to glean in his field. She is not to be molested; his gracious power shields her. She can also drink of the water he provides. Then she falls on her face. Beautiful are her words of humility, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? Then she hears from his lips that he knows all about her. More than that. He assures her of coming blessings, blessings Ruth will get because she trusted; blessings not of works, the law covenant, but of grace, because she believed. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

All foreshadows dispensationally the soul-exercise of the believing remnant of Israel, when the harvest begins, and the gracious dealing of the Lord with that remnant. Another application may also be made on spiritual lines of a soul which seeks blessing and how the Lord deals in His grace with those that seek Him. This we cannot follow in these brief annotations. Then he comes closer to her. She receives from his own hands. He also, unknown to her, gives instructions that handfuls on purpose are to be dropped, just for her. What evidences that the mighty, wealthy Boaz loves the poor stranger, Ruth! So the remnant will gradually learn of His love. And we also find our comfort here. We glean in His Word. It is typified by the wheat, the barley and the corn. Then when we feel our need and dependence on Him, and plead, as we always should, our ignorance, He drops the handfuls on purpose, so that we find just what we need for our spiritual sustenance and comfort.

And Naomi tells her something about Boaz. But she only calls him one of our redeemers. She should have said he is the redeemer. The secret who he is and what he will do for her, the trusting Ruth, she will learn only from himself. So unbelieving Israel does not know the full story of Him, who is the Redeemer. Boaz, Christ Himself, will make it known when He reveals Himself in His grace and power to the remnant of His people.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Chapter 9

Seek and Ye Shall Find

“And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 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. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.”

Rth 2:1-12

Here are three facts revealed in Holy Scripture that need to be written upon our hearts by the finger of God. Our puny brains may not be able to sort out the details. We may not b able to see the consistency of these facts. They may even appear to be contradictory. Yet, these three facts are plainly revealed in the Word of God. Faith bows to the Word and receives these things for what they are, the very truth of God.

1. God almighty saves whom he will (Rom 9:15-16; Rom 9:18). He chose some and passed by others. He sent his Son to redeem some, but not others. Christ makes intercession for some, but not others. He sends his word to some, but not others. The Holy Spirit regenerates and calls some, but not others. All whom the Father chose, the Son redeemed, and the Spirit calls shall be saved, all of them and no one else, no matter what. Salvation is of the Lord! Yet, our great, sovereign God has ordained the use of certain means, and will not save any sinner apart from the means he has appointed. God will not alter his purpose at all. If Nineveh is to be saved, Jonah (and no one else) must go to Nineveh, because God has determined to save Nineveh through the preaching of Jonah. God knows how to take care of the details. Ask Jonah.

2. You and I are responsible for those immortal souls placed by God under our influence (Eze 33:7-9). Men and women are saved or lost as a direct result of our actions (Eze 3:17-19; 1Ti 4:16). Gods purpose can never be altered or frustrated. What he has purposed he will do. Neither Lucifer, nor you, nor I can overrule him (Isa 14:24; Isa 14:26-27). Yet, as Satan is responsible for the angels he led to destruction, though not one elect angel fell, so we are responsible for those who are under our influence, though none of Gods elect shall by any possibility perish.

3. Every person is responsible for his own soul. If you seek the Lord, you will find him. He promises you will (Jer 29:12-13). If you refuse to seek him, you will perish forever in hell. If you trust Christ, you shall be saved. If you believe not on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be damned. Your faith will not add to the number of Gods elect. Neither will your unbelief alter the purpose of the Almighty (Rom 3:3-4). If you are saved, it will be because God chose you, redeemed you, and called you. If you die in your sins, it will be because you refused to walk in the light God gave you, you refused to hearken to the Word of God, you refused to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Your willful unbelief, not the purpose of God, shall be the cause of your everlasting condemnation (Joh 3:36; Pro 1:23-33).

In Rth 2:1-12, Ruth is set before us as a picture of a sinner seeking the Lord. This is the promise of God to sinners. Seek and ye shall find. I know that no one will ever seek the Lord who is not first sought out by the Lord. Our seeking him is the proof that we are sought of him. Yet, it is everyones responsibility to seek him. As Ruth sought barley in the fields of Boaz, so needy sinners seek the Bread of Life in the Book of God and in the House of God.

RUTHS ONLY HOPE WAS A NEAR KINSMAN.

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.” Everything in the Book of Ruth is about the kinsman. He is really the center of attention. The commentaries, for the most part, miss the point of the book. They talk about Ruth. But Ruth talked about this kinsman. Her kinsman, Boaz, is a type and picture of our great kinsman, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The kinsman, according to Gods Holy Law, had the right to redeem (Lev 25:25). He was kinsman. He was, as is seen this and the next chapters, willing to redeem. And Boaz, Ruths near kinsman was able to redeem her. This man, Boaz, as we have seen, was a beautiful type and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman Redeemer. He was a man; and the Son of God became a man that he might redeem and save his people (Gal 4:4-6; Heb 2:10-18). He was a man of great wealth; and Christ our Savior has all that is needed to redeem and save his people. He is of great wealth, indeed (Col 2:10). He has perfect righteousness and complete, perfect, blood atonement; and they are of infinite worth and merit before God. This mans name also points to Christ. Boaz means Strength. The Son of God, our Kinsman Redeemer, not only has all that is necessary to ransom our souls, he has the power to save (Joh 17:2; Heb 7:25).

BEING HUMBLED BY THE HAND

OF GOD, RUTH KNEW HER NEED OF GRACE.

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.” Before God saves he slays. Before he exalts he abases. Before he heals he wounds. He never lifts sinners up until he brings them down. Ruth had resolved that she would be found among the children of God. She would not go back to Moab. But if she lived in Bethlehem, she would have to do so as a poor beggar living upon the grace of another. This she was willing to do (Psa 110:3). Grace chose her. Grace created a need. Grace met her need. That is always Gods method of grace.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE BROUGHT RUTH

TO THE PLACE WHERE SHE WOULD MEET BOAZ.

Rth 2:3 “And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.” Though it made no difference to Ruth which field she gleaned in, her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz.

She had not planned it. In so far as she was concerned, this was purely accidental. But her hap was by the arrangement of providence. Her hap determined her marriage to Boaz, her wealth, her everlasting happiness, and her position in the genealogy of Christ. Her hap also brought about the incarnation of her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.! The Son of God must come into the world as a descendent of Boaz and Ruth. God purposed it from eternity. Yet, Boaz and Ruth would never have wed had she not gleaned in his field. This was no accident. Her hap was Gods purpose. Let us ever adore our heavenly Fathers wise providence. Let us regard nothing as insignificant. Let us look for and follow the direction of God in the daily affairs of your life, trusting his will and bowing to it in all things (Pro 3:5-6).

BOAZ SPOKE ABOUT RUTH AND FOR RUTH IN HER HEARING BEFORE HE SPOKE TO HER.

Rth 2:4-7 “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

In these verses, the conversation is all about Ruth. It appears not to be so much for Boaz to get information about her as for her to get information about him. We get a hint of this in Rth 2:8, where Boaz says to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter, implying that all he had said was for her benefit. Even so, the Lord Jesus often speaks about and for his elect through the preaching of the gospel before he speaks directly to them by the effectual call of his Spirit. Several things here are highly significant.

Boaz and his reapers appear to be one (Rth 2:4), as our Lord Jesus says he and his reapers are one (Mat 10:40). Those who serve him have his authority.

2. Ruth wisely followed the reapers through the field (Rth 2:3). There was no other way for her to get the bread she needed. Gods servants are his angels, sent into his field to gather his wheat into his barn (Mat 13:30). They are his reapers. They search the field of Holy Scripture and gather from the Word of Life bread for his children.

Boaz appeared in his field – Behold, Boaz came! What a blessing for Ruth! When a seeking sinner earnestly follows his reapers through the field of Holy Scripture, the Master is sure to meet him and bless him with that grace which fills his heart and flows through his lips.

Boaz and his workers talked to one another about Ruth. The Lord God and his servants talk to one another about his people, too. The reapers talked to Boaz about Ruth. They told him who she was – A Moabitess, where she came from – Moab, and what she had done (Rth 2:7). That is the way faithful, gospel preachers talk to God about the people for whom they labor.

Then Boaz told his servants what to do for Ruth. He told them to do nothing which might harm her, or hinder her (Rth 2:9) and to provide for her need (Rth 2:16). He commanded them to leave handfuls of purpose for her. Even so, the Lord God commands his servants, in preaching the gospel, to give out his Word like handfuls of purpose for his elect (Isa 40:10-11). Gospel preachers are to drop handfuls of gospel promises, gospel doctrines, and of grace, handfuls of the person and work of Christ (Eph 1:1-23; Eph 2:1-10; Eph 3:8). Preaching the gospel is not telling sinners what they must do, or what God wants to do. To preach the gospel is to tell people what God has done for sinners in Christ.

BOAZ SPOKE DIRECTLY TO RUTH ABOUT WHAT HE HAD SAID AND DONE.

Rth 2:8-9 “Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.”

Boaz assured the Moabitess of his gracious intentions., telling her to look to him for everything, telling her to simply trust him. He told her she had come to the right place and not to go anywhere else, and gave her license to drink freely at his fountain, to drink of the water drawn by his servants (Rev 22:16-17). He assured her of his protection, telling her that none of the men would touch her, rebuke her, reproach her, or shame her (Rth 2:9; Rth 2:15-16). He even courted her. Singling her out, Boaz drew Ruths heart to him and let her know that his heart was toward her (Rth 2:14). What a blessed picture this is of the way the Lord Jesus Christ deals with chosen, redeemed sinners, when he sends forth his Spirit at the appointed time of love to call them by his grace and make them willing in the day of his power (Psa 65:4; Psa 110:3)

RUTH WAS ASTONISHED AND UTTERLY OVERWHELMED BY BOAZS GOODNESS.

Boazs goodness did not make Ruth arrogant and presumptuous. It had just the opposite effect. It humbled her. Look at Rth 2:10. She fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. Ruth was completely overwhelmed by a sense of Boazs goodness and her own unworthiness of that goodness. Even so, when a weary, sinful, heavy-laden soul sees the exceeding riches of Gods grace in Christ, self bows to the ground (Isa 6:1-5; Act 9:1-9). It is not the wrath of God that leads to repentance, but the goodness of God (Rom 2:4). The hammer of the law breaks up the icy, hard, fallow ground of our hearts;. but it is the grace of God that melts our hearts before him! (Zec 12:10).

Bowing in utter humiliation before this great kinsmans goodness, Ruth said, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? She knew she was a stranger, a Gentile, without any covenant promise, without any rights, without any merit, without anything to plead before him except her need and his greatness. That is the way needy sinners respond to the exceeding richness and fulness of Gods grace in Christ. The first response of the renewed heart to the grace of God is to ask, Why me? (2Sa 7:18; 2Sa 9:8). Gracious souls are always astonished by grace (1 John 3; 1 John 1). There is but one answer to the question – Why? Why was I chosen? Why was I redeemed? Why was I called? God answers plainly. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious! He says, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

BOAZ ASSURED RUTH OF HIS INTEREST IN HER.

Rth 2:11-12 “And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.”

Ruth sure enough was interested in Boaz; but that gave her no comfort. She needed to know if this man was interested in her. It is one things for me to be interested in Christ, but is Christ interested in me? That is the matter of real concern. Boaz assured Ruth of two things. In Rth 2:11, he assured her of his knowledge of and interest in her. In Rth 2:12, he assured her of Gods faithfulness to sinners who trust him.

Notice the wording of that clause in Rth 2:12 describing Ruths faith – Under whose wings thou art come to trust. This is an allusion here to the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat? In other words, whether Boaz intended it to be so or not, the Holy Spirit is here telling us that faith in God is trusting that One whose blood atonement was represented in the blood sprinkled on the mercy-seat. It is there and only there, in Christ the Lamb of God, that God meets with sinners in mercy (Exo 25:22).

So she gleaned (Rth 2:17). She got bread, mercy, grace and life. Then she got a husband. Then she got an inheritance – His inheritance. Then she got great honor – His honor. So shall it be for all who take refuge in Christ, for all who come to trust under the wings of the Almighty (Heb 4:16).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

kinsman: Rth 3:2, Rth 3:12

a mighty: Deu 8:17, Deu 8:18, Job 1:3, Job 31:25

Boaz: Boaz, according the Targumist, was the same as Ibzan. Rth 4:21, Jdg 12:8-10, 1Ch 2:10-12, Mat 1:5, Luk 3:32, Booz

Reciprocal: 2Ki 15:20 – the mighty

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Section 2. (Rth 2:1-23.)

Help in humiliation: gleaning in the fields of him “in whom strength is.”

In the next section we have help found for Ruth, and are introduced to the redeemer Boaz, the plain figure of Christ. Not at once is redemption found, however, nor even known about. Ruth is at first merely a gleaner in his fields, soon learning, indeed, his bounty, and receiving from his hand, but in humiliation. It is a middle state that souls often pass through, before the realization of redemption; and with Israel’s remnant in the day to come, such a gradual dawning of light as to Christ, and their relationship to Him is natural, if not inevitable. The story of Joseph’s brethren presents this to us from the side of conscience and their guilt in relation to Him. Ruth gives us rather the attraction of heart, with light gradually breaking in, -a gentler and quieter story, though not without connection with the older one.

(1) First, we are made to know, though Ruth yet knows not, of Boaz and the relationship of Naomi to him. Boaz means “in him is strength,” and he is spoken of as a mighty man of valor, -not of wealth, as in the common version, though the word may mean “wealth”; but not so probably in the connection in which it stands. It is the same expression which is used of the deliverers in the book of Judges, and has a good reason for its place in this sense here. The wealth which Christ has for the needy has indeed been attained by conflict; for though He was “rich” from eternity who “for our sakes became poor,” yet the “riches of His grace” had to be acquired before they could be bestowed. It is fit that we should be reminded here, first of all, of that accomplished warfare into the fruits of which we enter, though this be not the subject of the book. Thus “in Him is strength” for our redemption.

Notice that Boaz is strictly only a relation of Elimelech’s, and through him it is that Naomi has any claim. Israel has no relationship to Christ except through the faith that Elimelech represents. In fact, and on this account, it is only through Ruth that Naomi can claim; but this will come before us later. Of all this she knows nothing yet.

But it is harvest, and Ruth proposes to go into the fields and glean, -a humble occupation and a poor one, but where, in the mercy that characterized the law, the poor and the stranger had special rights. These harvest-fields lead us once more to think of that work of Christ, the death of the corn of wheat, whereby the bread of life has been provided for us. Nature is full of its testimony to Him, -fuller than even His people ever cared to know.

But what a harvest-field is there in Scripture for us! And is it not true that, as surely as the whole of it is open to us now, so surely will the remnant of Israel, brought in after the Church is gone from earth, have but the gleanings? May not this even be a rightful application of the statute as to the gleaner, coming where it does amid the “set times” of Lev 23:1-44? May not there be room left for a double application of such a principle?

But gleaning in the field brings Ruth into contact with the master of the field; and so it is with the precious word of God when sought as food for the soul: it brings us into the presence of Him before whose eyes “all things are naked and open,” and who delights to minister to the necessity thus making itself manifest. How tender is His desire toward the seekers of the living bread that they should “go not to glean in another field, nor go from hence”! How soon do they find provision made for the inevitable thirst! How they are made to realize that here is One with knowledge of all their ways, and all the path by which they have come to where they are! Then there is nearer intimacy: we begin to learn what it is to take from His hand and to eat with Him till we are sufficed, and have something over. Then the gleaning goes on with more boldnesss and with more success: there is again and again what must have been dropped on purpose for us, until we find we have quite a store of precious grain. All this is the common history of seeking souls; while yet rest is not found, nor redemption known, nor relation established with the Lord of the harvest.

(2) It is from her mother-in-law that Ruth learns presently as to the man with whom she has found favor; but the knowledge she gains is, after all, indefinite. There is some relationship, she learns, and he is one of our redeemers, -a phrase which shows how little she has to give that is intelligent or that can be laid hold of. Joseph’s brethren are long, as we have seen, before they know with whom they have to do, and who knows them so well, and learn from his own lips that he is Joseph. It is a secret that can only be learnt from his own lips. For the remnant, attaching themselves to Israel’s hopes and going back along the lines of Israel’s history, it seems as if there would be much groping in the darkness before the light will dawn. They look upon Him whom they have pierced, only when He comes manifestly to all. Yet He has been with them as with Nathaniel before they see Him; and the Lord’s words in the great prophecy of Mat 24:1-51 seem clearly to imply that there will be those in Judea before He appears who will listen to His voice, and obey Him. Are we to make a distinction here between different classes? -those with less light and those with more? -or is it true of all that they will be under the fog of Jewish teaching, learning from the mother-in-law, and counting Him but as “one of their redeemers”?

Thus Ruth, however, is brought into connection with Boaz; for the grace that is in him to make deeper impression continuously upon her. She abides through the barley-harvest and through the wheat-harvest following. That which is gathered becomes naturally more valuable. But as to her own relations there is no change: Boaz is a kinsman,-one of her redeemers, and her home -a poor one yet -is with her mother-in-law.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Rth 2:7. Let me glean. She modestly asked this as a favour, which the law itself had allowed the poor.

Rth 2:10. She fell on her face, honouring Boaz as a prince and venerable father.

Rth 2:14. Dip thy morsel in the vinegar. The Israelites used a vinegar made of wine, to cool the body, and counteract the effects of hard labour and excessive heat. It was mostly mixed with a proportion of oil to give it an agreeable flavour.

Rth 2:17. An ephah contained ten omers, or about twenty quarts.

Rth 2:23. To the end of barley harvest, and of wheat harvest; in all about ten weeks, from the first week after Easter till a month after Whitsuntide.

REFLECTIONS.

We now trace farther steps of providence in accomplishing its designs of shedding a lustre on the house of David, and grace to the humankind in the redemption of the world. The sincere and extraordinary piety of Ruth was discovered by secluding herself from all giddy women of her own age, and the vain amusements of life. She affected no decorations of her person with a view to please, because she wanted to please the Lord alone. She sought no companion but her mother, and desired to gain no knowledge in comparison of the knowledge of God. These are all inestimable qualifications when proceeding from a heart deeply impressed with divine things.

Ruths piety discovered itself by the love of devotion. She kept the object of her faith constantly in view: it was the promise of the Lord to his people, and under his wings she had come to trust. She therefore attended his worship that she might learn the law, and become acquainted with the grace and comfort afforded by his word. Fine example in youth, and worthy of imitation.

Her piety was further distinguished by industry and filial affection. She went not about the streets to beg, or to claim kindred with the rich; but decently went forth into the field to maintain herself, and her aged mother, by the labour of her own hands. As idleness is mostly a companion of vice; so industry, and grateful returns to parents, are the happiest fruits of filial piety.

God by his grace having made this stranger meet and worthy of his favour, next directed her way into the field of Boaz, a near kinsman of Elimelech. Towards noon the venerable patriarch entered the field, saluted the reapers, and noticed the stranger, who still wore, it is presumed from her poverty, the Moabian dress. He acquainted himself with her name from his steward; by whom he was further continued in the good account he had previously heard of her morals and piety. He addressed her in language of encouragement, and invited her to eat with his maids. A good name, in the estimation of good men, is of great value; and soon or late this is the inestimable reward of a faith productive of every virtue. From this moment the tide of adversity began to turn, and a rising hope would induce Ruth gradually to forget her country and her tears. It would seem, from the courtesy of Boaz, though the thought of marriage entered not his head, that he was peculiarly struck with the first sight of a person with whom he was designated to form so important a link in the chain of providence. He found a sentiment formed in his heart more than he could express: it was the earnest of that unutterable goodness which that moment began one part of the foundation for the rising glory of his house. All young people should fear God, and be found in the way of piety; and then they are ready for the reception of all those treasures of providence and grace, which heaven may have kept in store for the comfort and happiness of future years.

Ruth returned with more than three pecks of barley, and related to her mother the happy adventures of the day. Naomi, better acquainted with the laws and customs of Israel than the daughter, augured more from the kindness of Boaz than Ruth had been able to conceive. She apprized her of the duties of a near kinsman in raising up issue to a deceased brother or cousin, who had died without an heir; and that the right of redeeming Elimelechs property belonged to Boaz. From that moment she encouraged Ruth to accept of the good mans invitation to glean in his field, the whole of both the harvests. Happy are those children who have a wise and aged parent to direct them in the affairs of life, and especially to give counsel in the eventful crisis of marriage. Wisdom in that case is often more to be esteemed than honour and fortune. It is a treasure which cannot be valued; for God has promised to guide his people in all the dubious steps of life. If the good man will keep a command of his passions, let reason operate, and seek the Lord by fervent prayer, he will guide him in judgment, and liberally bless him with wisdom from above.

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

Rth 2:1-23. The Meeting of Boaz and Ruth.Naomis kinsmanquite a different word from the near kinsman (gol) of Rth 2:20is introduced in Heb. words which sometimes denoted a wealthy man, and sometimes a valiant man, so that a peaceful farmer like Boaz is characterised in the same terms as warriors like Gideon and Jephthah (Jdg 6:12; Jdg 11:1). The name Boaz may mean in Him is strength.

Rth 2:2. It was a custom, and it became a law, in Israel that the poor, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow should be permitted to glean in the harvest fields (Deu 24:19 f., Lev 23:22).

Rth 2:3. It was Ruths hap to glean in Boazs field. Even a writer who sees the hand of God in everything (Rth 1:13) may speak of some things as happening: cf. our Lords words, By chance a certain priest came down that way (Luk 10:31).

Rth 2:7. Text uncertain, and in the house cannot be right. Probably the clause means simply without resting a moment.

Rth 2:8 f. It was the task of the young men to reap and of the maidens to gather the sheaves, as in western lands before the days of machinery.

Rth 2:12. Boaz offers a devout prayer for Ruth, a prayer which he is to be instrumental in fulfilling, though as yet this has not occurred to him.

Rth 2:13. Ruth gratefully acknowledges that he has comforted her by speaking kindly to her, lit. speaking to her heart (cf. Hos 2:14, Isa 40:2). She was a stranger in a strange land, not without memories of home, and she needed to be comforted, though Keats goes somewhat too far in his sympathy for the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home she stood in tears amid the alien corn. Her home was now, in truth, where Naomi was, and her refuge under the wings of Yahweh, the God of Israel (Rth 2:12).

Rth 2:14. Ruth, in the eyes of the law a mere heathen, is invited to dip her morsel in the vinegar along with the reapers of Bethlehem, though the orthodox Jew has always avowed to the Gentile, I will not eat with thee, drink with thee, nor pray with thee.

Rth 2:16. The bundles were the armfuls that were being gathered into sheaves.

Rth 2:17. At the end of the day Ruth had an ephahalmost a bushelof barley to take home.

Rth 2:18. A more graphic reading is found in the ancient VSS, and she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned.

Rth 2:20. This sounds like a recantation; after all Yahweh has not left off His kindness (contrast Rth 1:20 f.). One of our near kinsmen means one of those who have the right to redeem for us. Naomi and Ruth need a redeemer (gol), else Elimelechs property would go to strangers. The function of the near kinsman was of great importance in Heb. family life. If a man was so unfortunate as to have sold himself or his property, the gols part was to redeem him or it; if he was killed, the gol was the avenger of blood; and if he died without personal issue, the gol endeavoured to prevent his estate from passing to strangers (Lev 25:47-49).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

RUTH AND THE MAN OF GREAT WEALTH

(vv. 1-23)

Verse 1 of this chapter introduces us to Boaz, a man of great wealth who is clearly a type of the Lord Jesus. Besides being wealthy, he was a close relative of Naomi, though at this time Ruth did not know it.The Lord Jesus has a close relationship to Israel too, though Israel has for centuries ignored this, not realizing that all their blessings depend on this Redeemer.

Ruth, with lovely energy of faith, desiring support for her mother-in-law as well as herself, urged Naomi to allow her to glean heads of grain after the reapers had passed (v. 2).It may be she had learned of the provision God had directed to be made for the poor when the harvest was reaped (Lev 19:9-10). The harvesters were not to reap the corners of their fields nor to gather up any gleanings, but leave them for the poor and the stranger.

Obtaining Naomi’s permission Ruth went out and happened (surely by the direction of God) to come to the field of Boaz where she gleaned.Her gleaning speaks of her gathering up small portions of the word of God, just as the godly remnant of Israel will find for themselves after the Church of God has been raptured to heaven, so that the truth will not then be proclaimed as it is today, though God will provide some measure of blessing for those whose faith is awakened to seek Him.

The name of Boaz means “in him is strength,” and his character was most commendable, as verse 4 shows.In coming to the reapers of his field, he greeted them,”The Lord be with you,” and they answered, “The Lord bless you!” He showed genuine respect for his reapers, and they fully respected him — a relationship not often seen between an employer and his employees!As king the supervisor of the reapers who the young woman was who was gleaning grain, Boaz was told she was the Moabite woman who had come back with Naomi from the land of Moab. The supervisor commended her diligence in gleaning all day except for a short rest.

Boaz then spoke kindly to Ruth, encouraging her to continue gleaning in his field, keeping close to his young women (vv. 8-9). How good it is if we also discern the instructions of the Lord Jesus to us, to go to no other field, but glean in the place where He is acknowledged as Lord and in fellowship with those who are His servants. Boaz invited Ruth also to drink from the vessels of water that had been drawn by his young men.The young men speak of those with spiritual energy to minister the fresh, refreshing Word of God for the blessing of the Lord’s people.May we take advantage ofsuch ministry.

The attitude of Ruth in her response to Boaz was surely refreshing to his heart (v. 10). In genuine humility she asked him why she, a foreigner, should be so kindly treated by him, a prominent Israelite.His answer to this was most gracious too.He had been given a full report of her kindness to her mother-in-law since the death of her husband, and that her devotedness to Naomi had been such as to leave her parents and choose to live in another land among people she had not known (v. 11).

Boaz recognized that this devotion of hers must spring from faith in the God of Israel, and expressed the desire that the Lord would repay her work with a full reward, for he said she had come for refuge under the wings of the Lord God of Israel (v. 12).

Maintaining her lowly attitude, Ruth expressed her deep appreciation of the comforting words of Boaz, reminding him that she was not like his maidservants and yet he had been so kind to her (v. 13).Such too will be the humble attitude of the godly remnant of Israel when they return to their land, feeling themselves to be no longer entitled to blessing from Israel’s Messiah. Indeed, this is the right attitude for any sinner today, whether Jewish or Gentile, for none of us deserve the blessing of the Lord of glory. At mealtime he invited her to share with him, giving her parched grain, so she was satisfied and kept some (v. 14) for Naomi (v. 18).

The kindness of Boaz is further seen in his instructing his harvesters to let Ruth glean even among the sheaves and also to let grain fall purposely for her (vv. 15-16).Thus the Lord will encourage the faith of His people Israel during the time of tribulation.Boaz might have simply given a large amount of grain to Ruth, and save her the work of gleaning and beating out the grain, but he wisely left her with work to do, while encouraging her in seeing that her work was not in vain.

Working all day, Ruth then beat out the barley from the stalks (not easy work either) and found she had about an ephah of grain, which evidently amounted to about 7 gallons — not a light load to carry home (v. 17). When she brought it home, Naomi “saw what she had gleaned,” but Ruth gave to Naomi what food she had reserved from the meal Boaz had supplied (v. 18).In answer to Naomi’s question as to whose field she had gleaned in, Ruth told her the man’s name was Boaz (v. 19).This was pleasant news to Naomi, who was glad to hear that Boaz had been so kind to Ruth, specially since he was a close relative of Elimelech (v. 20).

Ruth also told her that Boaz had urged her to stay close by his harvesters until the harvest was completely gathered (v. 21).Naomi therefore confirmed this advice, adding that Ruth should not expose herself to the possibility that people might see her in another field (v. 22). Boaz had not said this, but Naomi’s words illustrate the fact that we are often more affected by what people see us do than we are by the plain instructions of scripture. For Ruth, the words of Boaz would surely be enough, and God’s Word ought to be enough for us.We should be gleaning in the Lord’s field.If we should go to another field, we might be embarrassed in meeting someone there whom we would not want to influence in the wrong way and yet our example carries with it such an influence.We should obey the Lord out of love for Him, not for fear of the opinions of others.

Ruth therefore remained in the fellowship of the servants of Boaz, gleaning through all the barley harvest and the wheat harvest that followed.Thus she fully accepted the advice of Boaz and showed a faithful, devoted affection for her mother-in-law.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

RUTH THE GLEANER

Ruth 2

“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 . . . thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger” (Lev 19:9; Lev 19:10).

If in its beginning the story of Ruth portrays the grace that saves, this portion sets forth the grace that sustains. The grace of God not only brings salvation to us but, having done so, it teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. As we come under the teaching of grace so shall we make spiritual progress. It is this growth in grace, or spiritual progress, that is so attractively illustrated in this chapter.

It is blessed indeed for a young convert to start well by making a definite break with the world and accepting the path of faith in company with the people of God. A good start however, is not enough. If we are to be maintained in the path of faith there must be growth in grace. If, says the Apostle Peter, Christians are to enjoy “grace and peace” in abundance if they are to enjoy all things that pertain to life and godliness, and to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” it will only be “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord” (2Pe 1:2-4); therefore he closes his Epistle by exhorting believers to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18).

The Corinthian believers, though they made a good start were very slow in making spiritual progress. They were hindered by worldliness and the wisdom of this world. The Galatians made a good start, for, says the Apostle, “ye did run well,” but he has to ask, “Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Gal 5:7). They had been hindered by legality through coming under false teachers. So today many appear to start well and give promise of being devoted Christians, but, alas! in after life they make little soul progress They do not grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They fall before the attractions of the world and become worldly, or under the influence of false teachers and become legal.

This portion of Ruth’s story will discover to us the secret of growth in grace. Here it is evident that Ruth is viewed as a gleaner. In verse 2 we find her saying to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean.” In verse 7 she says to the servant, “Let me glean.” In verse 17 we read, “So she gleaned,” and again in the last verse, “So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean.”

Ruth then is presented as a gleaner. But what is the spiritual significance of gleaning? We must remember that the first chapter ends by telling us that it was “the beginning of barley harvest.” Naomi and Ruth found themselves in the midst of plenty. But however plentiful the harvest unless gathered in it will be useless to feed the hungry. The reapers and the gleaners must do their work or otherwise they will starve in the midst of plenty. By gleaning Ruth appropriated for her own need, and that of Naomi, the rich supply put at their disposal by the lord of the harvest.

May we not therefore say that spiritually gleaning sets forth the appropriation by the believer of the spiritual blessings to which God has given him a title. In the history of Israel God gave that nation an absolute title to the land, the boundaries of which were set forth with great exactness; nevertheless God said, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given you.” They had to take possession. So too Paul can say with the utmost confidence that believers are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, but this did not hinder him from praying that there might be a special work, by the Holy Spirit in the inner man, in order that the saints might comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of all these spiritual blessings.

It was a wonderful day in our history when the Lord called us to Himself, and we learned that our sins were forgiven, and we were sealed with the Holy Spirit and were thus made meet to be partakers of the portion of the saints in light; and though there can be no growth in meetness for the glory, yet the Apostle does look for growth by the true knowledge of God (Col 1:10, N. Tr.). And yet, alas! what poor gleaners we have been. How little we have entered into the unsearchable riches of Christ.

2.

How is it we have been such poor gleaners? Is it not that gleaning demands conditions with which we are not always prepared to comply. This becomes manifest as we note the qualities which made Ruth such an excellent gleaner.

First she was marked by a spirit of humility and subjection. She says to Naomi, “Let me now go,” and again she says to the servant, “Let me glean.” She did not act independently of others who were older and more experienced than herself. She did not despise guidance and counsel. She did not suffer from an unbroken will, leading her to do that which was right in her own eyes. Peter can say, “Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1Pe 5:5). Subjection and humility are linked together by the Spirit of God. The proud man does not like to submit to anyone. An unbroken will is the greatest hindrance to growth in grace.

Secondly, Ruth was marked by diligence. As we read in verse 7, “She came and hath continued even from the morning until now, her sitting in the house hath been little as yet” (N. Tr.). Again in verse 17 we read, “She gleaned in the field until even.” Is there not a great lack of diligence with believers in the things of God? We are diligent enough in the things of this world, but alas, the things of the Lord too often have only the odd moments of our lives. Are we diligent in the study of the Word? Are we diligent in prayer? We may plead that the hurry and difficulties of life leave but little time, but the question is still, How do we spend the little time that we have? In Heb 6:11, the writer exhorts to diligence and then adds, “Be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” If we desire to enter into the enjoyment of our inheritance we must be diligent. Small wonder if we make but little soul progress when we can find time to read the daily news, and light literature of this world, and yet find no time to glean in the rich pastures of God’s holy Word.

Thirdly, Ruth was persevering. She was not diligent one day and slothful the next, but “she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of the barley harvest and of wheat harvest.” Day after day she gleaned until the end of both the barley and the wheat harvest. The Bereans were specially commended not simply for searching the Scriptures, but because they did so daily (Act 17:11). It is easy to be diligent for one day, but to be diligent day after day calls for perseverance. Daily is a hard and testing word. Let the disciple “take up his cross daily,” said the Lord. To put forth some great effort to make some heroic sacrifice, is comparatively easy but to go on quietly day after day following Christ is the test. It is not the man that starts well that wins the race but the man that perseveres.

Finally, we read that Ruth “beat out that she had gleaned” (verse 17). It is not enough to glean the barley and the wheat, it must be beaten out. The truth we gather whether through our private study, or from the ministry of others, must become the subject of prayer and meditation if it is to promote spiritual growth. The mere acquisition of truth will only puff up. It must be enjoyed in communion with the Lord if it is to lead into further knowledge of the Lord.

Thus in order to make spiritual progress a condition of soul is called for marked by subjection, diligence, perseverance and meditation .

Moreover, the condition of the individual soul, while of the first importance, is not all. There is the help which we derive from others that promotes spiritual progress. This is strikingly seen in the different characters that pass before us in this chapter. Naomi, the maidens, the reapers, the servant set over the reapers, and finally Boaz the mighty man of wealth, all pass before us, and all are viewed in connection with Ruth. In different ways all are helping her to glean, bringing before us the different means that are set in activity by Christ to promote the spiritual growth in grace of His beloved people.

3.

Naomi had long been in relationship with Boaz, and is able to advise and instruct Ruth. So now there are those who have been long on the way, in relationship with Christ; and though they may have failed much (like Naomi) yet they are fitted by experience to instruct and counsel the younger saints. Naomi hardly sets forth one gifted to teach or preach but rather those aged saints, of whom we read in the second chapter of Titus, who are to be examples to others, “teachers of good things,” and able to give loving advice to the younger women. In the spirit of these verses, Naomi, raising no difficulties, placing no hindrances in her way, at once says, “Go, my daughter.” She encourages Ruth in this happy work. Moreover, on Ruth’s return from her labours she gladly recognises her progress, for we read “she saw what she had gleaned” (v. 18). Further she interests herself in Ruth’s progress, for she enquires, “Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou?” (v. 19). Lastly she enlightens Ruth as to Boaz and gives her loving counsel as to her gleaning (vv. 20, 22). Would that there were a little more of the spirit of Naomi leading the elder saints to care for the younger, to encourage them, take note of their progress, enquire after their spiritual welfare, instruct them in the knowledge of Christ, and counsel them as to their gleaning.

4.

The maidens also help in this happy work of gleaning. They come before us in verses 8, 22 and 23. They are the companions with whom Ruth gleaned. Do they not speak, in a picture, of that happy fellowship and communion between the Lord’s people which so greatly helps in promoting spiritual progress?

Boaz warns Ruth “Not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens.” There are other fields and other maidens, but they are strangers to Boaz. Whether young or old in the path of faith we do well to heed the warning of Boaz. For the world has many an attractive field and can offer very pleasant company at times, but the world’s fair fields and the world’s vain company are not of Christ. In the days of the Apostles the world gave them but a prison, and when set free they went to their own company. Of necessity we have to do with men of the world in relation to business and the affairs of this life, but it is not in that circle that we can enjoy sweet fellowship and make spiritual progress. This alone can be found in our “own company,” the company of the Lord’s people. In the early days of Christianity the unbroken fellowship of God’s people resulted in “great power” and “great grace.” In Hebrews 10 we are exhorted to “Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.” The saints are not the source of love and good works but the company of the saints certainly promotes love and good works. The day of judgment for this world is approaching, hence we do well to part with this world’s company, and find our happy portion with “the maidens of Boaz,” those who are undefiled and have kept their garments white. The nearer the day, the nearer we should draw to one another.

5.

The reapers also have their service in connection with Ruth. They pass before us in verses 4, 5-7, 9 and 21. They were the servants of Boaz and vividly set before us the characteristics that should mark the servants of the Lord who addict themselves to ministry for the help of the Lord’s people.

The first necessity for every servant of the Lord is the presence of the Lord. So we find Boaz greeting his reapers with the beautiful desire “The Lord be with you” (v.4). And in like spirit we read in the gospel day, “They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them” (Mar 16:20).

Second, for the service of Boaz to be effectually accomplished there must be subjection to the servant set over the reapers. We need not only the Lord with us but also the control of the Spirit, the Divine Person that is prefigured by the nameless servant (v. 5).

Third, the reapers go before, and Ruth follows after, as she can say, “Let me glean and gather after the reapers.” Scripture recognises that there are those among the people of God who lead spiritually, who have spoken to us the Word of God and whose faith we are told to follow. Such we are to obey and to such submit, for they watch for our souls (Heb 13:7; Heb 13:17).

Fourth, these young men – the servants of Boaz – draw water out of wells. It was the privilege of Ruth to drink the water, but it was the responsibility of the young men to draw the water. Not all are called, or fitted, to draw water out of the deep wells of God, but all can drink of the water when placed in vessels suited to their capacity. The water in the well is beyond the reach of many; the water in the vessel is available for all. And so the word to Ruth is, “Go unto the vessels and drink.” Timothy was to “meditate upon these things,” to give himself “wholly to them.” This surely was drawing water from the well. But his “profiting” was to “appear to all.” This was the water in the vessel available for all (1Ti 4:15).

Fifth, in order that the reapers may be fitted for their service they receive special directions from their master. “Boaz commanded his young men saying, Let her glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not” (vv. 15, 16). The special need of individuals will call for special directions from the Lord. How near the servant must be to the Master, if in the course of his service, he is to know how to let fall a special handful, for a special need, without “reproach” and without “rebuke.” The Lord in this, as in all else, is our perfect example. When, on the resurrection day, He sends a message to Peter saying, “Go your way, tell His disciples, and Peter,” was He not with infinite perfection letting fall a “handful of purpose” for a poor wandering sheep, without “reproach” and without “rebuke” (Mar 16:7).

Lastly, the labours of the reapers will end the harvest, for Boaz instructs Ruth to keep fast by my young men, until “they have ended all my harvest” (v. 21). And as it was with the servants of Boaz so will it be with the servants of the Lord, for the Apostle used the glorious hope that is set before us to energise the servants in their service. “Therefore, my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1Co 15:58).

6.

The servant of Boaz, set over the reapers, also has his place in connection with the progress of Ruth in gleaning. He is nameless and little seen and yet is behind all, on behalf of Boaz, controlling every reaper in the fields of Boaz. Furthermore, he brings Ruth into touch with Boaz, conversing with Boaz about Ruth. The servant too is in perfect accord with the mind of Boaz. He acquaints Boaz with the truth, but utters no word to her disparagement, and anticipates the mind of Boaz in encouraging Ruth to glean in the fields of Boaz. Surely a striking type of that great Person the Holy Spirit who has come from the glorified Christ in the name of Christ to represent the interests of Christ. One who does not speak of Himself, who is unseen by the world, but who controls the servants of the Lord and, by His gracious work in souls, brings into contact with Christ. He is One who has come to earth in the interests of Christ, and who thinks and acts in perfect accord with the mind and heart of the Father and the Son.

7.

Lastly we have Boaz presenting Christ in a twofold way First in the glory of His Person and work, and second in His gracious dealings with us individually.

Personally Boaz is represented as “a kinsman” and a “mighty man of wealth.” The word “kinsman” used so many times in the Book of Ruth, is elsewhere translated “redeemer” a word that gives the true import of the kinsman’s service. The kinsman had the right, and the power, to redeem his brother and his brother’s inheritance, if either had passed into the hands of a stranger.

By the fall man has lost all right to the earthly inheritance and he himself has come under the power of the enemy and, as a guilty sinner, is exposed to death and judgment. He has power neither to redeem himself, nor the earth, from the power of sin, death or Satan. He needs a redeemer, one who has the right as well as the power to redeem. Christ is the great Redeemer, the One of whom Boaz was but a type. He redeems His people by purchase and by power. The price He paid was His own life given for us, “We have been redeemed not with corruptible things as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” Further He redeemed by power, for not only was His blood shed, but, by resurrection, He annulled the power of death and the grave. Already redeemed by blood we wait to be redeemed by power, for that moment when He delivers these mortal bodies from all trace of mortality by changing our bodies of humiliation, and fashioning like unto His own body of glory according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. Finally we shall have the inheritance – a rich possession which He has purchased – which He will redeem from the power of sin and death and Satan, and the enjoyment of which we shall share in association with Christ unto the praise of His glory (Eph 1:14).

8.

Moreover, in Boaz, we have not only the foreshadowing of the glories of our great Redeemer, but a beautiful unfolding of the gracious ways of the Lord in His dealings with us individually. It is our privilege not only to learn the truth as to His Person and work, but to experience His gracious dealings by which we are led into the knowledge of Himself. Would that all believers sought to have a more definite soul history with Christ in secret – a history that they could not say much about to others – known only to Christ and the soul with which no stranger intermeddles.

Of such personal dealings with the soul we have a foreshadowing in the gracious ways of Boaz the man of wealth with Ruth the stranger.

These ways are marked by grace and truth, bringing before us the One who came by grace and truth. In our weakness we may show grace at the expense of truth, or maintain truth at the expense of grace. With Christ there is the infinite expression of grace with the perfect maintenance of truth.

With touching grace Boaz places all his riches at the disposal of the stranger from Moab – one who, according to the letter of the law, was not to enter the congregation of the Lord until the tenth generation (Deu 23:3). His fields, his maidens, his young men, his wells, his corn, all are at the disposal of Ruth. She is to abide in his fields, to keep fast by his maidens, to glean after his young men, and to drink from his well. He utters no word concerning her origin, her strangership or her poverty. No word of reproach for the past, no threats as to the future, no claims upon her for present bounty, all is given in sovereign unbounded grace. Nor is it otherwise in the dealings of Christ with sinners such as ourselves. Grace puts heaven’s best gifts at the disposal of a sinful woman at Sychar’s well; grace commanded the fish of the sea for a man full of sin like Peter; and grace opens paradise of God to the dying thief. And so grace has blessed us with all the unsearchable riches of Christ without money and without price.

But as we well know the riches of grace do not dim the lustre of truth. Yea, it is the grace that calls forth the truth. There is no need for Boaz to remind this stranger of her lowly origin. She herself confesses the truth, but it is the grace of Boaz that draws forth the confession. She falls on her face before Boaz, thus effacing herself in the consciousness of the greatness of the person in whose presence she is, one to whom she owes every blessing. She owns by her question, “Why have I found grace in thine eyes?” that there is nothing in herself to merit such grace. And she owns by nature she has no claim upon Boaz, for she confesses “I am a stranger.” Alone in the presence of the grace of Boaz, she gives him his true place and she takes her true place, reminding us of other shining examples of the ways of grace and truth in the days of our Lord.

If grace tells a poor sinner of the free gift of the living water springing up into everlasting life, it will also call forth the truth as to herself. That word of Jesus, “Go call thy husband,” was truth telling her all things that ever she did, and that other word, “Come hither,” was grace making her welcome to all the love of the heart of God. The truth revealed to her the vileness of her heart, but grace revealed to her a heart that, knowing all things that ever she did, could yet love her and make her welcome to come to Him.

And thus on another occasion, with another woman – one, who, like Ruth, was a stranger, a woman of Canaan – we see the display of these same ways of grace and truth. The disciples would have maintained truth at the expense of grace. They said, “Send her away.” Not so the Lord, and yet He will not dispense grace at the cost of truth. Hence He so deals with her that the truth is drawn out from her own lips, for she is brought to confess, “Truth Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” She owns the truth that she is but a dog, but she sees the grace in the Lord that would not deny a crumb to a dog. The grace in the Lord leads her to own the truth as to herself. And she has the reward of faith, for the Lord, delighting to respond to such a claim upon His grace, can say, “Woman great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Mat 15:21-28).

Blessed indeed the moment in our history, when alone in the presence of the Lord we are made conscious of the vileness of our hearts in the presence of the grace of His heart. To learn in such moments that however vile we may be there is grace in His heart to meet it all.

Thus it was that Boaz comforted the heart of Ruth. She has owned the truth, “I am but a stranger,” and Boaz seems to say you can tell me nothing about yourself that I do not know; “It hath been fully shewed me, all that thou hast done” (v. 11). There is no lingering fear left in her mind that some day something may be disclosed as to the past which will lead Boaz to recall the gifts of grace. Set free she can say, “Thou hast comforted me,” “Thou hast spoken to the heart” (margin). Nothing so touches the heart, so wins the heart, or so comforts the heart, as to learn in the presence of the Lord He that knows all, and yet He loves me.

9.

This, however, does not close this portion of Ruth’s story. Grace has been shown by Boaz, truth has been confessed by Ruth, and this indeed has brought peace to the conscience and joy to the heart, but this is not all. Boaz is not content with bringing relief to Ruth and then leaving her with a heart filled with gratitude. Even if this satisfied her heart it would not satisfy his heart. If she expected no further blessing, he had yet more to bestow. Boaz will not be content without the company of the one to whose heart he has spoken. Thus it is he can say, “Come thou hither.” And in a deeper way is it not thus that the Lord deals with us? If He breaks down our fears, speaks to our hearts, and wins our affections, it is in order to have our company. Love is not content without the company of the one that is loved. To this end He died that whether we wake or sleep we might live together with Him. Happy then for us if we too hear and heed the gracious invitation, “Come thou hither.”

So it came to pass Ruth sat down in the company of a people that heretofore she had not known. But if “she sat beside the reapers” she did so in the company of Boaz, for we read “he reached her parched corn.” Happy for us if we sit down in the company of the Lord’s people conscious of the presence of the Lord Himself. Then indeed we shall feed on the corn of the land. We shall, like Ruth, be “sufficed” and “reserve some” (v. 14, N. Tr.). In His presence our souls are fed, our hearts are satisfied, and the satisfied heart will have of its fulness to give to others.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

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

(a) Or power, both in virtue, authority and riches.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

1. God’s providential guidance of Ruth 2:1-7

The motif of God’s providence, His working out His own plan through the circumstances of life, which runs through the Book of Ruth, is especially strong in this pericope.

The writer introduced Boaz as a kinsman (lit. acquaintance or friend, Heb. myd’) of Elimelech.

"According to the rabbinic tradition, which is not well established however, Boaz was a nephew of Elimelech." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 447.]

Scholars debate the etymology of Boaz’s name because it is obscure (cf. 1Ki 7:21), though most of the suggestions are similar. Keil and Delitzsch believed Boaz’s name means "alacrity" (promptness, or eager and speedy readiness), whereas J. Vernon McGee and Warren Wiersbe wrote that it means, "in whom is strength." [Note: Ibid.; McGee, p. 70; Wiersbe, p. 185.] Boaz lived up to this personality trait name, which his parents evidently gave him at birth, hoping that he would provide swift strength for many people.

Boaz was, by virtue of his family relationship, someone who was eligible to perpetuate Elimelech’s line, the larger of Naomi and Ruth’s needs. He was also wealthy, so he could provide food and physical protection for Naomi and Ruth, their immediate need (Rth 2:1). The same Hebrew words (’ish gibbor hayil), translated "man of wealth," later described Ruth (Rth 3:11) and, earlier, Gideon (Jdg 6:12). Here, for the first time in the book, a man appears in a major role.

Ruth’s plan to secure favor (Rth 2:2) was a plan to obtain food. She did not realize how favored she would become. God commanded farmers in Israel not to harvest the corners of their fields so the poor and needy, such as aliens, widows, and orphans, could glean enough food to live (Lev 19:9-10; Lev 23:22). The reapers were free Israelites who hired themselves out to do this work for a stipulated payment. [Note: Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, 1:76.] Ruth qualified for gleaning as an alien and as a widow. She submitted her plans for Naomi’s approval and received her blessing.

Ruth "happened" to glean in Boaz’s field, from the human viewpoint (Rth 2:3), but, as the story unfolds, God’s hand of blessing obviously guided Ruth’s choice to go to that particular field (cf. Pro 3:5-6; Mat 2:1-8).

". . . the author’s real meaning in Rth 2:3 b is actually the opposite of what he says. The labelling [sic] of Ruth’s meeting with Boaz as ’chance’ is nothing more than the author’s way of saying that no human intent was involved. For Ruth and Boaz it was an accident, but not for God. The tenor of the whole story makes it clear that the narrator sees God’s hand throughout. In fact the very secularism of his expression here is his way of stressing that conviction. It is a kind of underplaying for effect. By calling this meeting an accident, the writer enables himself subtly to point out that even the ’accidental’ is directed by God." [Note: Hals, p. 12. See also Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "A Rhetorical Use of Point of View in Old Testament Narrative," Bibliotheca Sacra 195:636 (October-December 2002):409.]

Boaz’s love for God and other people, those qualities most important in a human being from God’s perspective (Deu 6:5; Lev 19:18; cf. Mat 22:37-39), are obvious in this record of his dealing with his employees (Rth 2:4). There was no labor management tension here since Boaz treated his workers with kindness and consideration.

"Significantly, the two greetings form a chiasm with the name Yahweh at its beginning and end. Hence, the exchange dropped a subtle hint which followed up the ’luck’ of Rth 2:3: in a simple, undramatic way, it affirmed the presence of Yahweh in this scene. . . . Thus, by this simple device the narrator reminded his audience that, though offstage, Yahweh was nevertheless within earshot" [Note: Hubbard, pp. 144-45.]

Ruth’s character too was of high quality, as the reaper foreman reported (Rth 2:7) and as Boaz later testified he had learned earlier (Rth 2:11). We should probably understand the last part of Rth 2:7 to mean that Ruth had rested only a short time. [Note: Morris, p. 273.] In other words, Ruth was a hard worker.

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

2

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