_Ruth's marriage and descendants_ 1 _.Now Boaz went up_ He had decided to redeem Elimelech's estate if the next of kin refused the obligation; this is the primary meaning of the transaction about to be described. _went up_, i.e. from the threshing-floor; cf. _go down_Ruth 3:3, of the opposite direc... [ Continue Reading ]
_the elders_ possessed magisterial authority, and could be summoned to deal not only with criminal charges (Deuteronomy 19:12; Deuteronomy 21:2-4; 1 Kings 21:8 ff.), but with cases affecting the rights of a family (Deuteronomy 25:7-9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_selleth_ The tense is perfect, and implies _is resolved to sell_; the sale does not take place till Ruth 4:9. Cf. Genesis 23:11; Genesis 23:13, for the same idiomatic use of the perfect. Naomi came into possession of her husband's property after his death, see Ruth 4:9 _n_.; this was not in accorda... [ Continue Reading ]
_disclose it_ See marg.; lit. the phrase means to draw aside the long hair covering the ear in order to whisper something; cf. 1 Samuel 9:15; 1 Samuel 20:2 and elsewhere in Samuel. _them that sit here_ appear to be _all the people_of Ruth 4:9_; Ruth 4:11_, as distinct from _the elders_. _If thou wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou must buy it also of Ruth_ The text is certainly wrong, for it gives a misleading sense; with a small change read as in Ruth 4:10, RUTH ALSO THOU MUST BUY, with Vulg., Pesh.; the LXX. gives both translations! Rendered strictly the whole sentence runs -What day thou buyest … thou wilt have bough... [ Continue Reading ]
_lest I mar mine own inheritance_ When the Go'el learns that if he redeems the estate he is expected to marry the widow, he takes back his promise (Ruth 4:4). He declares that he cannot afford to be so generous. If he were to have a son by Ruth, the child would take the name and estate of the dead,... [ Continue Reading ]
_in former time in Israel_ Cf. 1 Samuel 9:9, which begins similarly. Driver (_Introd._8, p. 455) thinks that the present verse is also an explanatory gloss, because it is not needed in the narrative, and has the appearance of being a later addition; see, however, the Introduction, p. xiv. _a man dre... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye are witnesses_ Cf. Ruth 4:11. With this appeal for confirmation cf. Joshua 24:22; 1 Samuel 12:5. _I have bought … of the hand of Naomi_ More idiomatically the Hebr. perf. should be rendered in English I buy, i.e. I stipulate to buy; cf. the perf. in Ruth 4:3 _selleth_. The purchase-money was to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover Ruth … have I purchased_ do I buy, the same word and tense as in Ruth 4:9. This was an additional and voluntary feature of the transaction, due to the goodwill of Boaz, and as such receives the applause and congratulations of the people. _to raise up the name of the dead_ One object of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_like Rachel and like Leah_ Genesis 29:31 to Genesis 30:24. May Ruth become the ancestress of a famous race! Dante ranks her fourth after Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, in Paradise; _Parad._xxxii. 10 ff. For _did build the house of Israel_cf. Deuteronomy 25:9 and Genesis 14:2; Genesis 30:3 mg. _do thou wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Perez_ is mentioned because he was one of the ancestors of the house of Judah, Genesis 38:29, and, according to the genealogies, Boaz was his descendant, 1 Chronicles 2:4; 1 Chronicles 2:9-11. _the seed which the Lord shall give_ Cf. 1 Samuel 2:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
On account of the words _this day_, Bertholet and Nowack take the _near kinsman_(_go'el_) as referring to the new-born son. It is true that the words which follow, -let his name be famous," apply to the child; but throughout the story the _near kinsman_is Boaz. He has done all, and more than all, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_better to thee than seven sons_ Ruth has proved it by her piety towards the dead and the living. _Seven_is a round number, cf. 1 Samuel 1:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
_took the child, and laid it in her bosom_ to shew that she adopted the child of Ruth as her own; cf. the phrase -born upon the knees" Genesis 30:3; Genesis 50:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the women her neighbours_. Cf. Ruth 4:14 and Ruth 1:19. In St Luke 1:58 f., the neighbours and kinsfolk propose to name the child. _There is a son born to Naomi_ The child is popularly considered to belong to Naomi's family. Cf. Genesis 30:3, where the son of Bilhah, born on the knees of Rachel, i... [ Continue Reading ]
_these are the generations … begat_ Standing formulae of P, e.g. Genesis 5:3-32; Genesis 6:9 ff; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10 ff. etc. Though cast into P's form, the genealogy is constructed out of ancient materials. It is attached to Perez, because he is named in Ruth 4:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hezron begat Ram_ The genealogy occurs with fuller details in 1 Chronicles 2:4-15; according to _ib. 1 Chronicles 2:25; 1 Chronicles 2:27_Ram is the son of Jerahmeel and grandson of Hezron. In _ib._Ruth 4:1 Hezron like Perez is a son of Judah. _Amminadab_ i.e. _my kinsman_, or _paternal uncle (amm... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nahshon_ i.e. _serpent_, a name belonging to the early period. This Nahshon son of Amminadab was a prince of Judah (Numbers 1:7; Numbers 2:3; Numbers 10:14) and a contemporary of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:23), according to P; here he is made the grandfather of Boaz, obviously by omitting a good man... [ Continue Reading ]
_and Jesse begat David_ The present genealogy was therefore designed to supply what 1 Sam. omitted, and to trace David's descent from Perez. _Note on the genealogy in Ruth 4:18_. The following points are to be noticed: (1) The genealogy consists of ten members, of which the first five, from Perez to... [ Continue Reading ]