THE BOOK OF RUTH -Year before the common year of Christ, 1186. -Year from the Flood, 1162. -Year before the first Olympiad, 410. -Creation from Tisri, or September, 2818. -This chronology is upon the supposition that Obed was forty years of age at the birth of Jesse; and Jesse, fifty at the bir... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:2. _ELIMELECH_] That is, _God is my king_. _NAOMI_] _Beautiful_ or _amiable_. _MAHLON_] _Infirmity_. _CHILION_] _Finished, completed_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:3. _ELIMELECH - DIED_] Probably a short time after his arrival in Moab.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:4. _AND THEY TOOK THEM WIVES_] The Targum very properly observes, that _they transgressed the decree of the word of the_ _Lord, and took to themselves strange women_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:5. _AND MAHLON AND CHILION DIED_] The Targum adds, _And_ _because they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and_ _joined affinity with strange people, therefore their days were cut_ _off_. It is very likely that there is more here than conjecture.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:6. _SHE HAD HEARD_] _By the mouth of an angel_, says the _Targum_. _THE LORD HAD VISITED HIS PEOPLE_] "Because of the righteousness of Ibzan the judge, and because of the supplications of pious Boaz." - _Targum_. It is imagined, and not without probability, that Mahlon and Chilion are... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:11. ARE _THERE YET_ ANY MORE _SONS_] This was spoken in allusion to the custom, that when a married brother died without leaving posterity, his brother should take his widow; and the children of such a marriage were accounted the children of the deceased brother. There is something very... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:14. _AND ORPAH KISSED HER MOTHER-IN-LAW_] The Septuagint add, Και επεστρεψεν εις τον λαον αυτης, _And returned to her own_ _people_. The Vulgate, Syrian, and Arabic, are to the same purpose.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:15. _GONE BACK - UNTO HER GODS_] They were probably both idolaters, their having been proselytes is an unfounded conjecture. _Chemosh_ was the grand idol of the Moabites. The conversion of Ruth probably commenced at this time.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:16. _AND RUTH SAID_] A more perfect surrender was never made of friendly feelings to a friend: _I will not leave thee _- I will follow thee: _I will lodge where thou lodgest _- take the same fare with which thou meetest; _thy people shall be my people _- I most cheerfully abandon my own... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:17. _THE LORD DO SO TO ME, AND MORE_] May he inflict any of those punishments on me, and any worse punishment, if I part from thee till death. And it appears that she was true to her engagement; for Naomi was nourished in the house of Boaz in her old age, and became the fosterer and nur... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:19. _ALL THE CITY WAS MOVED ABOUT THEM_] It appears that Naomi was not only well known, but highly respected also at Bethlehem; a proof that Elimelech was of high consideration in that place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:20. _CALL ME NOT NAOMI_] That is, _beautiful_ or _pleasant_. _CALL ME MARA_] That is, _bitter_; one whose life is grievous to her. _THE ALMIGHTY_] שדי _Shaddai_, He who is _self-sufficient_, has taken away the props and supports of my life.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:21. _I WENT OUT FULL_] Having a _husband_ and _two sons_. _THE LORD HATH BROUGHT ME HOME AGAIN EMPTY_] Having lost all _three_ by death. It is also likely that Elimelech took considerable property with him into the land of Moab; for as he fled from the face of the famine, he would natu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 1:22. _IN THE BEGINNING OF BARLEY HARVEST._] This was in the beginning of _spring_, for the barley harvest began immediately after the passover, and that feast was held on the 15th of the month _Nisan_, which corresponds nearly with our _March_. The _Targum_ says, "They came to Beth-lehe... [ Continue Reading ]