CHAPTER IV _Boaz gathers a council of the elders at the city gates, states_ _the case, and proposes to the nearest kinsman to redeem the_ _inheritance of Elimelech, and take Ruth to wife_, 1-5. _The kinsman refuses, and relinquishes has right to Boaz_, 6. _The manner of redemption in such cases... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:2. _HE TOOK TEN MEN_] Probably it required this number to constitute a court. How simple and how rational was this proceeding! 1. The man who had a suit went to the city gates. 2. Here he stopped till the person with whom he had the suit came to the gate on his way to his work. 3. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:3. _NAOMI - SELLETH A PARCEL OF LAND_] She was reduced to want; the immediate inheritors were extinct, and it was now open for the next heir to purchase the land, and thus preserve the inheritance in the family according to the custom of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:4. _I THOUGHT TO ADVERTISE THEE_] Both Dr. _Kennicott_ and Father _Houbigant_ have noticed several corruptions in the _pronouns_ of this and the following verses; and their criticisms have been confirmed by a great number of MSS. since collated. The text corrected reads thus: "And I sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:5. _THOU MUST BUY_ IT _ALSO OF RUTH_] More properly, _Thou wilt_ _also acquire Ruth_. Thou canst not get the land without taking the wife of the deceased and then the children which thou mayest have shall be reputed the children of Mahlon, thy deceased kinsman.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:6. _I CANNOT REDEEM_ IT _FOR MYSELF_] The _Targum_ gives the proper sense of this passage: "And the kinsman said, On this ground I cannot redeem it, because I have a wife already; and I have no desire to take another, lest there should be contention in my house, and I should become a co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:7. _A MAN PLUCKED OFF HIS SHOE_] The law of such a case is given at large in Deuteronomy 25:5. It was simply this: If a brother, who had married a wife, died without children, the eldest brother was to take the widow, and raise up a family to the brother deceased; and he had a right to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:11. WE ARE _WITNESSES._] It is not very likely that any writing was drawn up. There was an appeal made to the people then present, whether they had seen and understood the transaction; who answered, _We have witnessed it_. If any minutes of court were kept, then the transaction was ente... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:12. _LIKE THE HOUSE OF PHAREZ_] This was very appropriate; for from Pharez, the son of Judah, by Tamar, came the family of the Beth-lehemites and that of Elimelech.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:13. _SO BOAZ TOOK RUTH_] The law of Moses had prohibited the Moabites, even to the tenth generation, from entering into the congregation of the Lord; but this law, the Jews think, did not extend to _women_; and even if it had, Ruth's might be considered an exempt case, as she had been a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:16. _NAOMI TOOK THE CHILD_] This might do for Naomi, but it was bad for the child. A child, unless remarkably healthy and robust, will suffer considerably by being _nursed_ by an _old woman_, especially if the child _sleep with her_. The _aged_ gain refreshment and energy by sleeping w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:17. _THE NEIGHBOURS GAVE IT A NAME_] That is, they recommended a name suitable to the circumstances of the case; and the parents and grandmother adopted it. _THEY CALLED HIS NAME OBED_] עובד _obed, serving_, from עבד _abad, he served_. Why was this name given? Because he was to be the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:18. _NOW THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS_] The Targum gives a copious paraphrase on this and the following verses, I shall insert the principal parts in their proper places.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:19. _HEZRON BEGAT RAM_] He is called _Aram_ here by the _Septuagint_, and also by St. Matthew, Matthew 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:20. _AMMINADAB BEGAT NAHSHON_] The Targum adds, "And Nahshon was chief of the house of his father in the tribe of Judah." _NAHSHON BEGAT SALMON_] In the Hebrew it is שלמה _Salmah_, which _Houbigant_ thinks was an error of an ancient scribe, before any final letters were acknowledged in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:21. _AND SALMON BEGAT BOAZ_] The _Targum_ goes on, "And Salmon begat _Absan_ the judge; he is _Boaz_ the Just, on account of whose righteousness the people of the house of Israel were redeemed from the hands of their enemies; and at whose supplication the famine departed from the land o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ruth 4:22. _AND OBED BEGAT JESSE_] "Who," says the _Targum_, "also is called Nachash, נחש because neither iniquity nor corruption was found in him, that he should be delivered into the hands of the angel of death, that he might take away his soul from him. And he lived many days until the cou... [ Continue Reading ]