go your way; for I am too old to and there will I be buried; the have an husband. If I should say Lord do so to me, and more also if I have hope, if I should have aaught but death part thee and me. husband also to-night, and should also bear sons : 13. 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 has gone out against me. 14. And they lifted up their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. 15. And she said, Behold thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods; Return thou after thy sister-in-law. 16. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or 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. 17. Where thou diest will I die, 18. When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. 19. So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them; and they said, Is this Naomi ? 20. And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bit terly with me. 21. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. 22. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley-harvest. Bethlehem-Judah is so called, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem that belonged to Zebulun. Another name of Bethlehem in Judah was Ephratah, sometimes shortened into Ephrath. This gave the citizens the title of Ephrathites. Gen. xxxv. 16, 19; xlviii. 7; etc. The time when these incidents took place is given within certain limits. They took place "when the judges ruled." But we can come still nearer the exact period. Josephus places the story of Ruth in the time of Eli. See the matter discussed in another place, page 20. Moab was east of the Jordan, and was as liable to famine as the country west of that river. Local causes may, at some particular time, have made provisions more plenty in Moab than in Palestine. The country around Bethlehem was generally very productive. This gave the name to the place; for Bethlehem means the the house of bread. The visit to Moab, on account of a famine, may have taken place when the Midianites oppressed the Israelites and ate up their substance. It is expressly said that the Midianites "destroyed the increase of the earth," and "left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass. vi. 4. The ninth verse admits of two constructions. It may mean, "May you find rest in the house of your deceased husband," among his friends. Or, it may mean, "May you find rest in the house of a new husband." The first is probably the true construction, though the getting of a new husband is alluded to in the immediate connection; and the Vulgate understands the passage as having this latter application. Return each to her mother's house. "Not that they wanted fathers, Ruth ii. 11, but because daughters used to converse more frequently with their mothers, and to be more endeared to them, and to dwell in the same apartments with them, which then were distinct from those parts of the house where the men dwelt." Poole. The language of this story is all very plain. The words of Ruth, to her husband's mother, expressing her confidence and affection, have always been admired, and will be to the end of time. Both herself and mother-inlaw had been sorely afflicted. They had been left alone in the world; but while Naomi was returning to her early friends, and the home of her youth, Ruth was leaving hers. But the latter had acquired such attachment and affection, toward her late husband's mother, and the religion she professed, that she was willing to leave friends and early associations, and go into a land of strangers, rather than be separated from her. The following is from the Jewish Targum. "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, for I desire to become a proselyte. And Naomi said, We are commanded to keep the Sabbath and other holy days; and on it not to travel more than two thousand cubits. And Ruth said, Whither thou goest I will go. And Naomi said, We are commanded not to lodge with the Gentiles. Ruth answered, Where thou lodgest I will lodge. And Naomi said, We are commanded to observe the one hundred and thirteen precepts. Ruth answered, What thy people observe that will I observe, as if they had been my people of old. And Naomi said, We are commanded not to worship with any strange worship. Ruth answered, Thy God shall be my God. Naomi said, We have four kinds of capital punishment for criminals, stoning, burning, beheading and hanging. Ruth answered, In whatever manner thou dyest I will die. Naomi said, We have a house of burial. Ruth answered, And there will I be buried." All the city was moved. Bethlehem was not a large town; and the early age and primitive state of society, at the period to which this story belongs, render the foregoing statement more credible than it would be under other circumstances. And they said, "Is this Naomi ?" "They said" is feminine in the Hebrew. This is quite natural, as the inquiry was by women about a woman. Naomi in Hebrew means pleasantness or beauty. Marah means bitterness. A place near the Red Sea was called Marah from its bitter waters. Ex. xv. 23. The beginning of barley harvest. This was about the first of April. The passover was held at this time, and the first fruits offered to Jehovah. RUTH II. 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. 8. 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 Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. 5. Then said Boaz unto his ser vant that was set over the reapers,, that thou hast spoken friendly unto 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. 8. 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: 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. 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? 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. 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 favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens, 14. And Boaz said unto her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy 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. 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; aud it was about an ephah 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. 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. 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. It was important to inform us of the character and standing of Boaz, on account of the sequel to the story. Though some things are said to happen, there can be but little doubt that the chief incidents were arranged by Naomi, from the first, with a view to the probable result the marriage of Ruth. "Ears of corn" in the Scriptures mean heads of wheat, and other grain. Ears of corn in our American sense, were unknown in that age and country. Even in England corn embraces all kinds of grain, not excepting peas and beans. In this broad sense we must understand the "corn laws.” Ruth is not reported here as gleaning in the field of Boaz, with a view to obtain a husband, but simply to obtain a livelihood, like any honest, industrious woman. The scheming was all Naomi's. The Lord be with you. Rather "Jehovah with you." This salutation was replied to by "Jehovah bless you.' If the latter were used first, the former would be employed in the response. This mutual courtesy and respect would hardly be expected, at the present day, be tween a class of laborers and their employer. Boaz had known that a woman had come back from Moab with Naomi; but he did not know at first that this Ruth was the one. The last sentence of verse 7th is not clear, though it is a literal rendering. The Vulgate rendering is absurd. "She has not returned home, even a moment.' The Septuagint is better, but it leaves out a part of the text. "She has not rested in the field a little." Abide here fast by my maidens. Boaz was even now interested in Ruth. By having her near him, he could better judge of her disposition and capacity. When athirst she would drink of what the young men had |