iluch fresh light is thrown on this subject in a paper by Prof. Burton of Chicago, in the American Journal of Theology for July 1898, entitled ' The Politarchs,' in which he has carefully collected, and commented on, the inscriptions which attest the u.se of the noun iroXa-apxns or of the verb iroXi- Tapxio). The following is a summary of his results : — There are seventeen inscriptions which attest the existence of the office of politarch in ancient cities, to which other two may be added, if we accept recent probable restorations. Eleven con- tain the verb, always in the present participle, and mostly in the genitive plural ; seven contain the noun, giving in all eleven instances of it. There is itacistic variation between ei and i in the second syllable of both noun and verb. While isolated examples occur from Thrace, liithyiiia, the lios- poran kingdom, and Egypt, no fewer than thirteen belong to Macedonia, and live of these without much doubt to Thessalonica itself. None have apparently been di.scovered from Greece proper, and there is no re.ason to believe that the ollieo existed south of Macedonia. Its presence in the latter province so largely was probably due to Roman inlluence in its municipal organization. The five Thessalonian inscriptions extenil from the beginning of the 1st to the middle of the 2nd cent. A.D. As regards number, Thessalonica had five politarchs in the reign of Augustus and six under Antoninus Pius and Marcus Auielius. Burton gives a full bibliography, mentioning as the most recent book that of Dimitzas : 'H Macf- bovla iv \lOois ^Oeyyopi^vois Kal fMvtj/xclois (Fta^ofj.{voi$,
2 vols., Athens, 189(i. William P. Dickson.
RULER(S) OF THE SYNAGOGUE.— See SvNA-
aoc.UK.
RUMAH {m^n; B Kpov/xd, A 'Pi-Mi).— The home of Pedaiah, the maternal grandfather of king Jelioiakim, 2 K 23^". .losephus, in the parallel passage. Ant. X. v. 2, has 'Ajiovni, no tfoubt ft copyist's error for 'Apov/id, wliich may lie the Arumaii of Jg 9*', which lay in the neighbourhood of Shechcm. Another Rumah (in Galilee) is named in Jos. BJ III. vii. 21, which tna;/ have been the birthplace of Pedaiah (see Neubnuer, Giog. du Talm. 203 ; GuArin, GaliUe, i. 367 f . ;
316
RUNNERS
RYE
Bnhl, GAP 220f.), if we may suppose that con- nubium still subsisted between the Northern and Koutbern kingdoms.
The reading non for non in Jos 15'^, although supported by tlie LXX (B 'Fe/Mvi, A 'Poi;/;td), is probably a copyist's error. See Dumah, No. 2. According to Jerome, there was a various reading, Itumnh (i.e. Home) for Dumnh in Is 21", which is said also to have been found in a manuscript belong- ing to R. Meir. J. A. Selbie.
RUNNERS.— See Footman, and Guard, No. 2.
RUSH.— See Ueed.
RUTH (nn, LXX 'PoiJe).- The heroine of the Bk. of Ruth. She was a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon (Ru 4'°) the son of Elimelech and Naomi ■who were residing in the land of Moab because of a famine in Judah (Ru I'"'-). Bv the time that the famine ceased, Elimelech and his two sons were dead. Naomi decided to return to her own land, and after she and her daughters-in-law had started she recommended them to stay in their native land and marry again. Ruth refused, and declared her intention that nothing short of death should part her from Naomi. They went on their way, and arrived at Bethlehem, much to the surprise of the inhabitants. It was the beginning of barley har- vest. Elinielech's kinsman, Boaz, was one of the leading inhabitants of Bethlehem, and Ruth went to glean, and by chance entered a part of his field. Here Boaz noticed her and bade her remain in the same field, and praised her for the care she had taken of her mother-in-law. He invited her to share the meal of the reapers, and instructed his men to show her proper respect (ch. 2). Instigated by her mother, she introduced herself into his presence at night and claimed his protection. He was quite « illing to give it to her, but there was a nearer kinsman who had prior rights to bis, and he had to be reckoned with first. Boaz therefore sent Ruth home with a present for her mother, whilst he himself took the necessary steps to call upon the nearer kinsman to e.vercise or refuse to exercise his rights (ch. 3). He summoned him to his side at the gate of the city, with ten elders of the city as witnesses. He then called upon the nearest kinsman to buy or redeem Elinielech's portion of land. He refused to do this, because it involved his taking to wife Ruth the Moabitess, and passed on his rights to Boaz by drawing olT his shoe and giving it to Boaz ; for ' this was the manner of attestation in Israel.' The people in the gate were called upon as well as the elders to bear witness to the transaction, and invoked the blessing of God upon Boaz and Uuth (4'"'*). In this way they were married, and their firstborn son was called Obed, from whom were descended David and Christ (Ru 4""'-, of. Mt 1»).
The name Ruth is of uncertain origin. It is to be noticed that her alleged descendant David entered into friendly relations v.ith Moab (cf. 1 S 22'- *). The transaction recorded in this book is on the same lines as that legalized in Dt 25°'"', though not coming under that law (see Driver, Deut. 285). The actual selling of the laud by Naomi conies nearer to the law of Lv 25^. At- tempts have been made to assign the history to the days of E"lon (Jg 3'^"*), or the time of scarcity preceding Gideon's call (Jg &^] next article.