mh_parser/vol_split/8 - Ruth/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Ru.v" n="v" next="iSam" prev="Ru.iv" progress="23.96%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Ru.v-p0.1">R U T H</h2>
<h3 id="Ru.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ru.v-p1">In this chapter we have the wedding between Boaz
and Ruth, in the circumstances of which there was something
uncommon, which is kept upon record for the illustration, not only
of the law concerning the marrying of a brother's widow (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5-Deut.25.10" parsed="|Deut|25|5|25|10" passage="De 25:5-10">Deut. xxv. 5</scripRef>, &amp;c.), for cases
help to expound laws, but of the gospel too, for from this marriage
descended David, and the Son of David, whose espousals to the
Gentile church were hereby typified. We are here told, I. How Boaz
got clear of his rival, and fairly shook him off, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.1-Ruth.4.8" parsed="|Ruth|4|1|4|8" passage="Ru 4:1-8">ver. 1-8</scripRef>. II. How his marriage with
Ruth was publicly solemnized, and attended with the good wishes of
his neighbours, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.9-Ruth.4.12" parsed="|Ruth|4|9|4|12" passage="Ru 4:9-12">ver. 9-12</scripRef>.
III. The happy issue that descended from this marriage, Obed, the
grandfather of David, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.13-Ruth.4.17" parsed="|Ruth|4|13|4|17" passage="Ru 4:13-17">ver.
13-17</scripRef>. And so the book concludes with the pedigree of
David, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.18-Ruth.4.22" parsed="|Ruth|4|18|4|22" passage="Ru 4:18-22">ver. 18-22</scripRef>.
Perhaps it was to oblige him that the blessed Spirit directed the
inserting of this story in the sacred canon, he being desirous that
the virtues of his great-grandmother Ruth, together with her
Gentile extraction and the singular providences that attended her,
should be transmitted to posterity.</p>
<scripCom id="Ru.v-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4" parsed="|Ruth|4|0|0|0" passage="Ru 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ru.v-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.1-Ruth.4.8" parsed="|Ruth|4|1|4|8" passage="Ru 4:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ruth.4.1-Ruth.4.8">
<h4 id="Ru.v-p1.8">Ruth Refused by Her Kinsman. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1312.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ru.v-p2">1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him
down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by;
unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And
he turned aside, and sat down.   2 And he took ten men of the
elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
  3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again
out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which
<i>was</i> our brother Elimelech's:   4 And I thought to
advertise thee, saying, Buy <i>it</i> before the inhabitants, and
before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem <i>it,</i>
redeem <i>it:</i> but if thou wilt not redeem <i>it, then</i> tell
me, that I may know: for <i>there is</i> none to redeem <i>it</i>
beside thee; and I <i>am</i> after thee. And he said, I will redeem
<i>it.</i>   5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field
of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy <i>it</i> also of Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead
upon his inheritance.   6 And the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem <i>it</i> for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance:
redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem <i>it.</i>
  7 Now this <i>was the manner</i> in former time in Israel
concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all
things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave <i>it</i> to his
neighbour: and this <i>was</i> a testimony in Israel.   8
Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy <i>it</i> for thee. So he
drew off his shoe.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p3">Here, 1. Boaz calls a court immediately. It
is probable he was himself one of the elders (or aldermen) of the
city; for he was a mighty man of wealth. Perhaps he was father of
the city, and sat chief; for he seems here to have gone up to the
gate as one having authority, and not as a common person; like Job,
<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.29.7-Job.29.25" parsed="|Job|29|7|29|25" passage="Job 29:7-25"><i>ch.</i> xxix. 7</scripRef>,
&amp;c. We cannot suppose him less than a magistrate in his city
who was grandson to Nahshon, prince of Judah; and his lying at the
end of a heap of corn in the threshing-floor the night before was
not at all inconsistent, in those days of plainness, with the
honour of his sitting judge in the gate. But why was Boaz so hasty,
why so fond of the match? Ruth was not rich, but lived upon alms;
not honourable, but a poor stranger. She was never said to be
beautiful; if ever she had been so, we may suppose that weeping,
and travelling, and gleaning, had withered her lilies and roses.
But that which made Boaz in love with her, and solicitous to
expedite the affair, was that all her neighbours agreed she was a
virtuous woman. This set her price with him <i>far above rubies</i>
(<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.31.10" parsed="|Prov|31|10|0|0" passage="Pr 31:10">Prov. xxxi. 10</scripRef>); and
therefore he thinks, if by marrying her he might do her a real
kindness, he should also do himself a very great kindness. He will
therefore bring it to a conclusion immediately. It was not
court-day, but he got ten men of the elders of the city to meet him
in the town-hall over the gate, where public business used to be
transacted, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.2" parsed="|Ruth|4|2|0|0" passage="Ru 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. So
many, it is probable, by the custom of the city, made a full court.
Boaz, though a judge, would not be judge in his own cause, but
desired the concurrence of other elders. Honest intentions dread
not a public cognizance. 2. He summons his rival to come and hear
the matter that was to be proposed to him (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.1" parsed="|Ruth|4|1|0|0" passage="Ru 4:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>Ho, such a one,</i> sit down
here." He called him by his name, no doubt, but the divine
historian thought not fit to record it, for, because he refused to
raise up the name of the dead, he deserved not to have his name
preserved to future ages in this history. Providence favoured Boaz
in ordering it so that this kinsman should come by thus
opportunely, just when the matter was ready to be proposed to him.
Great affairs are sometimes much furthered by small circumstances,
which facilitate and expedite them. 3. He proposes to the other
kinsman the redemption of Naomi's land, which, it is probable, had
been mortgaged for money to buy bread with when the famine was in
the land (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.3" parsed="|Ruth|4|3|0|0" passage="Ru 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
"<i>Naomi has a parcel of land to sell,</i> namely, the equity of
the redemption of it out of the hands of the mortgagee, which she
is willing to part with;" or, as some think, it was her jointure
for her life, and, wanting money, for a small matter she would sell
her interest to the heir at law, who was fittest to be the
purchaser. This he gives the kinsman legal notice of (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.4" parsed="|Ruth|4|4|0|0" passage="Ru 4:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), that he might have the
refusal of it. Whoever had it must pay for it, and Boaz might have
said, "My money is as good as my kinsman's; if I have a mind to it,
why may not I buy it privately, since I had the first proffer of
it, and say nothing to my kinsman?" No, Boaz, though fond enough of
the purchase, would not do so mean a thing as to take a bargain
over another man's head that was nearer a-kin to it; and we are
taught by his example to be not only just and honest, but fair and
honourable, in all our dealings, and to do nothing which we are
unwilling should see the light, but be above-board. 4. The kinsman
seemed forward to redeem the land till he was told that, if he did
that, he must marry the widow, and then he flew off. He liked the
land well enough, and probably caught at that the more greedily
because he hoped that the poor widow being under a necessity of
selling he have so much the better bargain: "<i>I will redeem
it</i>" (said he) "with all my heart," thinking it would be a fine
addition to his estate, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.4" parsed="|Ruth|4|4|0|0" passage="Ru 4:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. But Boaz told him there was a young widow in the
case, and, if he have the land, he must take her with it, <i>Terra
transit cum onere—The estate passes with this incumbrance;</i>
either the divine law or the usage of the country would oblige him
to it, or Naomi insisted upon it that she would not sell the land
but upon this condition, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.5" parsed="|Ruth|4|5|0|0" passage="Ru 4:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. Some think this does not relate to the law of
marrying the brother's widow (for that seems to oblige only the
children of the same father, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5" parsed="|Deut|25|5|0|0" passage="De 25:5">Deut. xxv.
5</scripRef>, unless by custom it was afterwards made to extend to
the next of kin), but to the law of redemption of inheritances
(<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Lev.25.24-Lev.25.25" parsed="|Lev|25|24|25|25" passage="Le 25:24,25">Lev. xxv. 24, 25</scripRef>), for
it is a <i>goel,</i> a <i>redeemer,</i> that is here enquired for;
and if so it was not by the law, but by Naomi's own resolution,
that the purchaser was to marry the widow. However it was, this
kinsman, when he heard the conditions of the bargain, refused it
(<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.6" parsed="|Ruth|4|6|0|0" passage="Ru 4:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "<i>I cannot
redeem it for myself.</i> I will not meddle with it upon these
terms, lest I mar my own inheritance." The land, he thought, would
be an improvement of his inheritance, but not the land with the
woman; that would mar it. Perhaps he thought it would be a
disparagement to him to marry such a poor widow that had come from
a strange country, and almost lived upon alms. He fancied it would
be a blemish to his family, it would mar his blood, and disgrace
his posterity. Her eminent virtues were not sufficient in his eye
to counterbalance this. The Chaldee paraphrase makes his reason for
this refusal to be that he had another wife, and, if he should take
Ruth, it might occasion strife and contention in his family, which
would mar the comfort of his inheritance. Or he thought she might
bring him a great many children, and they would all expect shares
out of his estate, which would scatter it into too many hands, so
that the family would make the less figure. This makes many shy of
the great redemption: they are not willing to espouse religion.
They have heard well of it, and have nothing to say against it;
they will give it their good word, but at the same time they will
give their good word with it; they are willing to part with it, and
cannot be bound to it, for fear of marring their own inheritance in
this world. Heaven they could be glad of, but holiness they can
dispense with; it will not agree with the lusts they have already
espoused, and therefore, let who will purchase heaven at that rate,
they cannot. 5. The right of redemption is fairly resigned to Boaz.
If this nameless kinsman lost a good bargain, a good estate, and a
good wife too, he may thank himself for not considering it better,
and Boaz will thank him for making his way clear to that which he
valued and desired above any thing. In those ancient times it was
not the usage to pass estates by writings, as afterwards (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.10-Jer.32.12" parsed="|Jer|32|10|32|12" passage="Jer 32:10-12">Jer. xxxii. 10</scripRef>, &amp;c.), but by
some sign or ceremony, as with us by livery and seisin, as we
commonly call it, that is, the delivery of seisin, seisin of a
house by giving the key, of land by giving turf and a twig. The
ceremony here used was, he that surrendered <i>plucked off his
shoe</i> (the Chaldee says it was <i>the glove of his right
hand</i>) and gave it to him to whom he made the surrender,
intimating thereby that, whatever right he had to tread or go upon
the land, he conveyed and transferred it, upon a valuable
consideration, to the purchaser: this was a <i>testimony in
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.7" parsed="|Ruth|4|7|0|0" passage="Ru 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. And
it was done in this case, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.8" parsed="|Ruth|4|8|0|0" passage="Ru 4:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. If this kinsman had been bound by the law to marry
Ruth, and his refusal had been a contempt of that law, Ruth must
have <i>plucked off his shoe</i> and <i>spit in his face,</i>
<scripRef id="Ru.v-p3.15" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.9" parsed="|Deut|25|9|0|0" passage="De 25:9">Deut. xxv. 9</scripRef>. But, though
his relation should in some measure oblige him to the duty, yet the
distance of his relation might serve to excuse him from the
penalty, or Ruth might very well dispense with it, since his
refusal was all she desired from him. But bishop Patrick, and the
best interpreters, think this had no relation to that law, and that
the drawing off of the shoe was not any disgrace as there, but a
confirmation of the surrender, and an evidence that it was not
fraudulently nor surreptitiously obtained. Note, Fair and open
dealing in all matters of contract and commerce is what all those
must make conscience of that would approve themselves Israelites
indeed, without guile. How much more honourably and honestly does
Boaz come by this purchase than if he had secretly undermined his
kinsman, and privately struck up a bargain with Naomi, unknown to
him. Honesty will be found the best policy.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ru.v-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.9-Ruth.4.12" parsed="|Ruth|4|9|4|12" passage="Ru 4:9-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ruth.4.9-Ruth.4.12">
<h4 id="Ru.v-p3.17">Ruth Married to Boaz. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p3.18">b. c.</span> 1312.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ru.v-p4">9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and <i>unto</i>
all the people, Ye <i>are</i> witnesses this day, that I have
bought all that <i>was</i> Elimelech's, and all that <i>was</i>
Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.   10 Moreover
Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my
wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that
the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and
from the gate of his place: ye <i>are</i> witnesses this day.
  11 And all the people that <i>were</i> in the gate, and the
elders, said, <i>We are</i> witnesses. The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p4.1">Lord</span> make the woman that is come into thine
house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of
Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in
Beth-lehem:   12 And let thy house be like the house of
Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p4.2">Lord</span> shall give thee of this young
woman.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p5">Boaz now sees his way clear, and therefore
delays not to perform his promise made to Ruth that he would do the
kinsman's part, but in the gate of the city, before the elders and
all the people, publishes a marriage-contract between himself and
Ruth the Moabitess, and therewith the purchase of all the estate
that belonged to the family of Elimelech. If he had not been
(<scripRef id="Ru.v-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.2.1" parsed="|Ruth|2|1|0|0" passage="Ru 2:1"><i>ch.</i> ii. 1</scripRef>) <i>a
mighty man of wealth,</i> he could not have compassed this
redemption, nor done this service to his kinsman's family. What is
a great estate good for, but that it enables a man to do so much
the more good in his generation, and especially to those of his own
household, if he have but a heart to use it so! Now concerning this
marriage it appears,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p6">I. That it was solemnized, or at least
published, before many witnesses, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.9-Ruth.4.10" parsed="|Ruth|4|9|4|10" passage="Ru 4:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. "You are witnesses," 1.
"That I have bought the estate. Whoever has it, or any part of it,
mortgaged to him, let him come to me and he shall have his money,
according to the value of the land," which was computed by the
number of years to the year of jubilee (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.25.15" parsed="|Lev|25|15|0|0" passage="Le 25:15">Lev. xxv. 15</scripRef>), when it would have returned of
course to Elimelech's family. The more public the sales of estates
are the better they are guarded against frauds. 2. "That I have
purchased the widow to be my wife." He had no portion with her;
what jointure she had was encumbered, and he could not have it
without giving as much for it as it was worth, and therefore he
might well say he purchased her; and yet, being a virtuous woman,
he reckoned he had a good bargain. <i>House and riches are the
inheritance of fathers,</i> but a prudent wife is more valuable, is
from the Lord as a special gift. He designed, in marrying her, to
preserve the memory of the dead, that the name of Mahlon, though he
left no son to bear it up, might not be cut off from the gate of
his place, but by this means might be preserved, that it should be
inserted in the public register that Boaz married Ruth the widow of
Mahlon, the son of Elimelech, which posterity, whenever they had
occasion to consult the register, would take particular notice of.
And this history, being preserved for the sake of that marriage and
the issue of it, proved an effectual means to perpetuate the name
of Mahlon, even beyond the thought or intention of Boaz, to the
world's end. And observe that because Boaz did this honour to the
dead, as well as this kindness to the living, God did him the
honour to bring him into the genealogy of the Messiah, by which his
family was dignified above all the families of Israel; while the
other kinsman, that was so much afraid of diminishing himself, and
marring his inheritance, by marrying the widow, has his name,
family, and inheritance, buried in oblivion and disgrace. A tender
and generous concern for the honour of the dead and the comfort of
poor widows and strangers, neither of which can return the kindness
(<scripRef id="Ru.v-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.14.14" parsed="|Luke|14|14|0|0" passage="Lu 14:14">Luke xiv. 14</scripRef>), is sure
what God will be well pleased with and will surely recompense. Our
Lord Jesus is our <i>Goel,</i> our <i>Redeemer,</i> our everlasting
Redeemer. He looked, like Boaz, with compassion on the deplorable
state of fallen mankind. At a vast expense he redeemed the heavenly
inheritance for us, which by sin was mortgaged, and forfeited into
the hands of divine justice, and which we should never have been
able to redeem. He likewise purchased a peculiar people, whom he
would espouse to himself, though strangers and foreigners, like
Ruth, poor and despised, that the name of that dead and buried race
might not be cut off for ever. He ventured the marring of his own
inheritance, to do this, for, <i>though he was rich, yet for our
sakes he became poor;</i> but he was abundantly recompensed for it
by his Father, who, because he thus humbled himself, hath <i>highly
exalted him, and given him a name above every name.</i> Let us own
our obligations to him, make sure our contract with him, and study
all our days how to do him honour. Boaz, by making a public
declaration of this marriage and purchase, not only secured his
title against all pretenders, as it were by a fine with
proclamations, but put honour upon Ruth, showed that he was not
ashamed of her, and her parentage and poverty, and left a testimony
against clandestine marriages. It is only that which is evil that
hates the light and comes not to it. Boaz called witnesses to what
he did, for it was what he could justify, and would never disown;
and such regard was then had, even to the contemned crowd, that not
only the elders, but all the people that were in the gate, passing
and re-passing, were appealed to (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.9" parsed="|Ruth|4|9|0|0" passage="Ru 4:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), and hearkened to (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.11" parsed="|Ruth|4|11|0|0" passage="Ru 4:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>) when they said, <i>We
are witnesses.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p7">II. That it was attended with many prayers.
The elders and all the people, when they witnessed to it, wished
well to it, and blessed it, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.11-Ruth.4.12" parsed="|Ruth|4|11|4|12" passage="Ru 4:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. Ruth, it should seem, was
now sent for; for they speak of her (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.12" parsed="|Ruth|4|12|0|0" passage="Ru 4:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) as present: <i>This young
woman;</i> and, he having taken her to wife, they look upon her as
already come into his house. And very heartily they pray for the
new-married couple.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p8">1. The senior elder, it is likely, made
this prayer, and the rest of the elders, with the people, joined in
it, and therefore it is spoken of as made by them all; for in
public prayers, though but one speaks, we must all pray. Observe,
(1.) Marriages ought to be blessed, and accompanied with prayer,
because every creature and every condition are that to us, and no
more, that God makes them to be. It is civil and friendly to wish
all happiness to those who enter into that condition; and what good
we desire we should pray for from the fountain of all good. The
minister who gives himself to the word and prayer, as he is the
fittest person to exhort, so he is the fittest to bless and pray
for those that enter into this relation. (2.) We ought to desire
and pray for the welfare and prosperity one of another, so far from
envying or grieving at it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p9">2. Now here, (1.) They prayed for Ruth:
<i>The Lord make the woman that has come into thy house like Rachel
and Leah,</i> that is, "God make her a good wife and a fruitful
mother." Ruth was a virtuous woman, and yet needed the prayers of
her friends, that by the grace of God she might be made a blessing
to the family she had come into. They prayed that she might be like
Rachel and Leah, rather than like Sarah and Rebekah, for Sarah had
but one son, and Rebekah but one that was in covenant, the other
was Esau, who was rejected; but Rachel and Leah did <i>build up the
house of Israel:</i> all their children were in the church, and
their offspring was numerous. "May she be a flourishing, fruitful,
faithful <i>vine by thy house side.</i>" (2.) They prayed for Boaz,
that he might continue to do worthily in the city to which he was
an ornament, and might there be more and more famous. They desired
that the wife might be a blessing in the private affairs of the
house, and the husband a blessing in the public business of the
town, that she in her place, and he in his, might be wise,
virtuous, and successful. Observe, The way to be famous is to do
worthily. Great reputation must be obtained by great merits. It is
not enough not to do unworthily, to be harmless and inoffensive,
but we must do worthily, be useful and serviceable to our
generation. Those that would be truly illustrious must in their
places shine as lights. (3.) They prayed for the family: "<i>Let
thy house be like the house of Pharez,</i>" that is, "let it be
very numerous, let it greatly increase and multiply, as the house
of Pharez did." The Bethlehemites were of the house of Pharez, and
knew very well how numerous it was; in the distribution of the
tribes, that grandson of Jacob had the honour which none of the
rest had but Manasseh and Ephraim, that his posterity was
subdivided into two distinct families, Hezron and Hamul, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.26.21" parsed="|Num|26|21|0|0" passage="Nu 26:21">Num. xxvi. 21</scripRef>. Now they prayed that
the family of Boaz, which was one branch of that stock, might in
process of time become as numerous and great as the whole stock now
was.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ru.v-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.13-Ruth.4.22" parsed="|Ruth|4|13|4|22" passage="Ru 4:13-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ruth.4.13-Ruth.4.22">
<h4 id="Ru.v-p9.3">The Pedigree of David; Naomi Comforted in
Her Grandson. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p9.4">b. c.</span> 1312.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ru.v-p10">13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and
when he went in unto her, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p10.1">Lord</span>
gave her conception, and she bare a son.   14 And the women
said unto Naomi, Blessed <i>be</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ru.v-p10.2">Lord</span>, which hath not left thee this day without
a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.   15 And he
shall be unto thee a restorer of <i>thy</i> life, and a nourisher
of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which
is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.   16 And
Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse
unto it.   17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name,
saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name
Obed: he <i>is</i> the father of Jesse, the father of David.  
18 Now these <i>are</i> the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat
Hezron,   19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
  20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
  21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,   22 And
Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p11">Here is, I. Ruth a wife. Boaz took her,
with the usual solemnities, to his house, and <i>she became his
wife</i> (<scripRef id="Ru.v-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.13" parsed="|Ruth|4|13|0|0" passage="Ru 4:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), all
the city, no doubt, congratulating the preferment of a virtuous
woman, purely for her virtues. We have reason to think that Orpah,
who returned from Naomi to her people and her gods, was never half
so well preferred as Ruth was. He that forsakes all for Christ
shall find more than all with him; it shall be recompensed a
hundred-fold in this present time. Now Orpah wished she had gone
with Naomi too; but she, like the other kinsman, stood in her own
light. Boaz had prayed that this pious proselyte might receive a
full reward of her courage and constancy from the God of Israel,
<i>under whose wings she had come to trust;</i> and now he became
an instrument of that kindness, which was an answer to his prayer,
and helped to make his own words good. Now she had the command of
those servants with whom she had associated and of those fields in
which she had gleaned. Thus sometimes <i>God raiseth up the poor
out of the dust, to set them with princes,</i> <scripRef id="Ru.v-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.113.7-Ps.113.8" parsed="|Ps|113|7|113|8" passage="Ps 113:7,8">Ps. cxiii. 7, 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p12">II. Ruth a mother: <i>The Lord gave her
conception;</i> for <i>the fruit of the womb is his reward,</i>
<scripRef id="Ru.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.127.3" parsed="|Ps|127|3|0|0" passage="Ps 127:3">Ps. cxxvii. 3</scripRef>. It is one of
the keys he hath in his hand; and he sometimes makes the barren
woman that had been long so to be <i>a joyful mother of
children,</i> <scripRef id="Ru.v-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.113.9 Bible:Isa.54.1" parsed="|Ps|113|9|0|0;|Isa|54|1|0|0" passage="Ps 113:9,Isa 54:1">Ps. cxiii. 9;
Isa. liv. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p13">III. Ruth still a daughter-in-law, and the
same that she always was, to Naomi, who was so far from being
forgotten that she was a principal sharer in these new joys. The
good women that were at the labour when this child was born
congratulated Naomi upon it more than either Boaz or Ruth, because
she was the match-maker, and it was the family of her husband that
was hereby built up. See here, as before, what an air of devotion
there was then even in the common expressions of civility among the
Israelites. Prayer to God attended the birth of the child. What a
pity it is that such pious language should either be disused among
Christians or degenerate into a formality. "<i>Blessed be the
Lord</i> that has sent thee this grandson," <scripRef id="Ru.v-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.14-Ruth.4.15" parsed="|Ruth|4|14|4|15" passage="Ru 4:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. 1. Who was the preserver
of the name of her family, and who, they hoped, would be famous,
because his father was so. 2. Who would be hereafter dutiful and
kind to her, so they hoped, because his mother was so. If he would
but take after her, he would be a comfort to his aged grandmother,
a restorer of her life, and, if there should be occasion, would
have wherewithal to be the nourisher of her old age. It is a great
comfort to those that are going into years to see any of those that
descend from them growing up, that are likely, by the blessing of
God, to be a stay and support to them, when the years come wherein
they will need such, and of which they will say they have no
pleasure in them. Observe, They say of Ruth that she loved Naomi,
and therefore was better to her than seven sons. See how God in his
providence sometimes makes up the want and loss of those relations
from whom we expected most comfort in those from whom we expected
least. The bonds of love prove stronger than those of nature, and
there is a <i>friend that sticks closer than a brother;</i> so here
there was a daughter-in-law better than an own child. See what
wisdom and grace will do. Now here, (1.) The child is named by the
neighbours, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.17" parsed="|Ruth|4|17|0|0" passage="Ru 4:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
The good women would have it called <i>Obed, a servant,</i> either
in remembrance of the meanness and poverty of the mother or in
prospect of his being hereafter a servant, and very serviceable, to
his grandmother. It is no dishonour to those that are ever so well
born to be servants to God, their friends, and their generation.
The motto of the princes of Wales is <i>Ich dien—I serve.</i> (2.)
The child is nursed by the grandmother, that is, dry-nursed, when
the mother had weaned him from the breast, <scripRef id="Ru.v-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.4.16" parsed="|Ruth|4|16|0|0" passage="Ru 4:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. She laid it in her bosom, in
token of her tender affection to it and care of it. Grandmothers
are often the most fond.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ru.v-p14">IV. Ruth is hereby brought in among the
ancestors of David and Christ, which was the greatest honour. The
genealogy is here drawn from Pharez, through Boaz and Obed, to
David, and so leads towards the Messiah, and therefore it is not an
endless genealogy.</p>
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