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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ruth, Chapter IV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>R U T H</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:5-10">Deut. xxv. 5</A>,
&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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
II. How his marriage with Ruth was publicly solemnized, and attended
with the good wishes of his neighbours,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>.
III. The happy issue that descended from this marriage, Obed, the
grandfather of David,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:13-17">ver. 13-17</A>.
And so the book concludes with the pedigree of David,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:18-22">ver. 18-22</A>.
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>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Ru4_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ruth Refused by Her Kinsman.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>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.
&nbsp; 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit
ye down here. And they sat down.
&nbsp; 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:
&nbsp; 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>
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 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>
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy <I>it</I> for thee. So
he drew off his shoe.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:7-25"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 7</A>,
&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>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:10">Prov. xxxi. 10</A>);
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
"<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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
"<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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:5">Deut. xxv. 5</A>,
unless by custom it was afterwards made to extend to the next of kin),
but to the law of redemption of inheritances
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+25:24,25">Lev. xxv. 24, 25</A>),
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
"<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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+32:10-12">Jer. xxxii. 10</A>,
&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>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
And it was done in this case,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:9">Deut. xxv. 9</A>.
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>
<A NAME="Ru4_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ruth Married to Boaz.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>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.
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 11 And all the people that <I>were</I> in the gate, and the elders,
said, <I>We are</I> witnesses. The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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:
&nbsp; 12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar
bare unto Judah, of the seed which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall give thee of
this young woman.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+2:1"><I>ch.</I> ii. 1</A>)
<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> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. That it was solemnized, or at least published, before many
witnesses,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
"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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+25:15">Lev. xxv. 15</A>),
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:14">Luke xiv. 14</A>),
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
and hearkened to
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
when they said, <I>We are witnesses.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
Ruth, it should seem, was now sent for; for they speak of her
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
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> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:21">Num. xxvi. 21</A>.
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>
<A NAME="Ru4_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Ru4_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Pedigree of David; Naomi Comforted in Her Grandson.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1312.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in
unto her, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> gave her conception, and she bare a son.
&nbsp; 14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed <I>be</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which
hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may
be famous in Israel.
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and
became nurse unto it.
&nbsp; 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.
&nbsp; 18 Now these <I>are</I> the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat
Hezron,
&nbsp; 19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
&nbsp; 20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
&nbsp; 21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
&nbsp; 22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here is,
I. Ruth a wife. Boaz took her, with the usual solemnities, to his
house, and <I>she became his wife</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
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>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+113:7,8">Ps. cxiii. 7, 8</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Ruth a mother: <I>The Lord gave her conception;</I> for <I>the
fruit of the womb is his reward,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:3">Ps. cxxvii. 3</A>.
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>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+113:9,Isa+54:1">Ps. cxiii. 9; Isa. liv. 1</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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,"
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+4:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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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