Ruth 3:15

_ALSO HE SAID, BRING THE VAIL THAT THOU HAST UPON THEE, AND HOLD IT. AND WHEN SHE HELD IT, HE MEASURED SIX MEASURES OF BARLEY, AND LAID IT ON HER: AND SHE WENT INTO THE CITY._ Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it, х_ HAMITPACHAT_ (H4304)]. Eastern veils are large sheets-those of ladies being of red silk; but the poorer or common class of women wear them of blue, or blue and white, striped linen or cotton. They are wrapped round the head, and fall down over the shoulders, enveloping the whole person (see Rogers' 'Domestic Life in Palestine,' p. 46; Graham's Jordan and Rhine, p. 195)....

14-18 Ruth had done all that was fit for her to do, she must patiently wait the event. Boaz, having undertaken this matter, would be sure to manage it well. Much more reason have true believers to cast their care on God, because he has promised to care for them. Our strength is to sit still, Isaiah 30:7. This narrative may encourage us to lay ourselves by faith at the feet of Christ: He is our near Kinsman; having taken our nature upon him. He has the right to redeem. Let us seek to receive from him his directions: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Acts 9:6. He will never blame us as doing this unseasonably. And let us earnestly desire and seek the same rest for our children and friends, that it may be well with them also....

Verse Ruth 3:15. _BRING THE VEIL_] המט פחת _hammit pachath_; this seems to have been a cloak, plaid, or what the Arabs call _hayk_, which has been largely explained elsewhere. See Judges 14:12. _SIX_ MEASURES _OF BARLEY_] We supply the word _measures_, for the Hebrew mentions no _quantity_. The Targum renders _six seahs_, שית סאין shith sein, which, as a seah was about _two gallons and a_ _half_, must have been a very heavy load for a woman; and so the Targumist thought, for he adds, _And she received strength from the_ _Lord to carry it_. If the _omer_ be meant, which is about _six pints_, the load would not be so great, as this would amount to but about _four gallons and a half_; a very goodly present.

THE VAIL - Quite a different word from that rendered “vail,” in Genesis 38:14. It seems rather to mean a kind of loose cloak, worn over the ordinary dress (see the margin). SIX MEASURES - i. e. six seahs, in all two ephahs, twice as much as she gleaned Ruth 3:17, and a heavy load to carry; for which reason he laid it on her, probably placed it on her head. It is well known that women can carry great weights when duly positioned on their heads. AND SHE WENT INTO THE CITY - The Hebrew has “he went,” namely, Boaz, where, accordingly, we find him Ruth 4:1....

EXPOSITION RUTH 3:1 AND NAOMI, HER MOTHER-IN-LAW, SAID TO HER, MY DAUGHTER, SHALL NOT I SEEK OUT FOR THEE A REST, THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE? When Ruth had nothing more to do on the harvest-fields, where Boaz appeared daily, and was unremittingly gracious to her, she may have fallen into a pensive mood. Naomi was quick to note the varying '_nuances_'_ _of feeling, and said "_My _daughter, shall I not seek out for thee a rest?" The expression _rest_, or _resting-place_, though in itself of generic import, was, when used in such circumstances as environed Ruth, quite specific in application, and would be at once understood. It was _a home _to which Naomi pointed, a home for her daughter's heart. In such a home, if warm and pure, there would be repose for the affections. "That it may be well with thee," or

ALSO HE SAID,.... Which seems to confirm the first sense, that what he had said before was to Ruth, beside which he also said to her what follows: BRING THE VAIL WHICH THOU HAST UPON THEE, AND HOLD IT; by which it appears that he rose also thus early, since he ordered her to bring her vail to him, and hold it with both her hands, while he filled it from the heap of corn: this vail was either what she wore on her head, as women used to do, or a coverlet she brought with her to cover herself with, when she lay down; the Septuagint renders it a "girdle", that is, an apron she tied or girt about her; which is as likely as anything: and when she held it, he measured six measures of barley; what these measures were is not expressed; the Targum is six seahs or bushels, as the Vulgate Latin version, but that is too much, and more than a woman could carry; unless we suppose, with the Targum, tha...

CHAPTER 3 AT THE FEET OF BOAZ _ 1. Naomi instructs Ruth (Ruth 3:1)_ 2. At his feet (Ruth 3:6) 3. The discovery (Ruth 3:8) 4. The six measures of barley (Ruth 3:14) 5. He will not rest until he have finished the thing (Ruth 3:18) What follows in the realization of redemption must be connected with Leviticus 25, the law concerning the redemption of an inheritance and the other law about the marriage of a brother-in-law as given in...

RUTH 3. BOAZ AS A GOË L. Elimelech and his two sons were dead. Would any member of the family have enough right and proper feeling to save his name from extinction? The nearest relative was in this case silent and inactive. But, with the originality of love, Naomi devised a plan not merely for the redemption of her late husband's estate and the continuation of the family succession, but for the happy settlement of Ruth in a Judæ an home. Ignorant of the customs of Bethlehem, Ruth follows her mother-in-law's instructions to the letter. According to the sentiment of the time there was nothing immodest or unwomanly in their bold and unusual line of action. Rightly understood, it was only a gentle and delicate way of appealing to a kinsman's chivalry; and Ruth did not appeal in vain. Ruth 3:1. Better a resting-place (_mg._); the beautiful Heb. word (_mĕ? nûḥ?â_) has much the same ass

VAIL. mantle or cloak, worn by all peasants; only the town-women veiling the face. Compare Isaiah 3:23. SHE WENT -HE WENT. The verb is masculine. Some codices, with Syriac and Vulgate, read "she"....

_the mantle_ Only again in Isaiah 3:22; apparently a large wrap worn over the ordinary clothes. _six_measures _of barley_ The measure to be supplied is uncertain: six _seahs_=two ephahs (i.e. bushels), which the Targ. gives, or six _ephahs_, would be too heavy to carry; hence it is suggested that six _omers_are meant = 3 / 6 of an ephah, Exodus 16:36. The gift is intended for Naomi, who would have to consent to the marriage, as standing in the relation of parent to Ruth. Mr S. A. Cook points out a parallel in a Babylonian tablet (_KB._iv. P. 187, xi. lines 1 6), where the widowed mother is approached by the intending bridegroom; _The Laws of Moses and the Code of H̬ammurabi_, p. 75 _n_....