4 Which he might do, though ſhe was a ADabite, becauie the Pro- kibition againſt marrying ſuch, 15 to be reſtrained to thoſe whocon- tinue in the Heatheniſh eſtate; as 15 evident from the reaton of it : Whereas Ruth was a ſincere Profelite and Convert to the God and Faith of Ifra:] (ze ) Had Conjugal Converſe with her. See Gen. 6. 4. y (i.e) Strength to Conceive and retain Seed.
14 And the woman faid unto Naomi, Bleſſed be the LORD, which hath not Þ left thee this day with- out a || kinſman z, that his name may be famous in I
el 4. _— Which is underſtood, Either, Firſt, Ofthe Son new born- Or, rather, Secondly, Of Boaz : For the Name of Goel, winch 1s tran- ſlated Kinſman or Redeemer, 1s never, that I know of, given to the Chi'd born, bur always tothe perſon begetting him of his Brothers or near Kinſmans Wife. And whereas it is obj=Ctcd, That there was no c-uſe for this Congratulation at this time in reference to Boaz, becauſe that was done divers Months before this time : It may be replied, that the Memory of that g:.nerous Afftion was revived upon this occaſion, and therefore is fir1y mentioned as the Founda- tion of this Child's birth : and rhis happy Effe& juſtly leads them to the Cauſe and Original of it, which was this» That Boaz hd fhewed himſelf ro be a Kinſman or Redeemer, not only in Name and Tile, as the other Kinſman was, wv. 6. but in Truth and Reality. The words may be rendred, which hath not made, or ſuffered thy Kinſ. man to fail to thee; (i. e. ) To negle& or refuſe the performance of his Duty to thee and thine, as the other Kinſman did. 4 Heb. and bis ame ſhall be famous in Iſrael, for this Noble and Worthy ACtion, wherein he gave ſo great an Example of Piety, Charicy, Hunulity, and S:If-denial- ;
15 And he ſhall be unto thee a reſtorer of thy life 6, and Þ a nouriſher of + thine old age : for thy daughter
in law which loveth thee, which * is better to thee than
tHeb-thy ſeven ſons, hath born him c. gr0y hairs.
þ (i.e. ) Of the comfort of thy Life, which was1n a great mea- ſure dead and gone. c Towit, a Son: the Pronoun for the Neun, underſtood, which is frequent in the Hebrew Tongue. Or, hath born to him ;, ( i. e. ) tothy Kinſman, to wit, a Son, which is eaſily underſtood : and fo the Pronoun affix is put for the ſeparate ; of which there are Inſtances ; as Joſ. 15; 19: 1 King. 19: 21: Job 7 37: Exek 29+ 3.
: SANDER Chap. I:
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bo, ſom, and became nurſe untoitr. | |
17 And the womengher neighbours gave it a name d, ſaying, There is a ſon born to Naomi, and they called
115 name Obede : he is the father of Jeſſe, the father of . David.
a (i.e. ) They gave her Advice at out the Name; for other- wiſe they had no Power or right to do fo. e A ſervair, to wir, to :hee, to nouriſh, and comfort, and aſliſt thee ; which Dury Chil- dren owe to their Progenitors.
18 E Now theſe are the generations of Pharez: , | * Pharez begat Hezron, 1Chron-
19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Rambegat Ammi- (2... nadab,
20 And Amminadab begat Nahſhon, and Nahſhon begat || Salmon, || Orz
21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed. Salma". 22 And Obed begat Jeſſe, and Jefle begat David f.
f How can this be a true Genealogy, ſeing by this means four Perſons take up three hundred and eighty Years, which were be- tween Salmon and David, and conſequentiy every one of them muſt beger a Son when he was very old ? Arſe. 1. It is not certain, that. each of theſe was the immediate Parent of him whom be is ſaid ro neget : for ſometimes Grand-fathers are ſaid in Scripture to beget their Grand-Children, to wit, by the intervention of their imme» diat- Sons; whereof Inſtances have been given. And ſometimes in Genealogies whole generations are omitted, as may appear by Ezra 7.2- compared with 1 Chron. 6. 3, and by Matth. 1. 8. which might be done here for divers reaſons now unknown. 2. There are many Examples even in prophane Writers, both Ancient and Modern, of perſons that have not only lived 120, and 430 years and upwards, but have been vigorous, and have begotten Children at above 100 years old ; and of Women that have conceived and born Childrenat the Age of 50, 60, yea, 70 years And therefore if it were fo in theſe more ancient Times, when men were longer- lived, and under the Law, when long Life was expreſly promiſed ro the obedient and in perſons of ſtrong Conſtitutions, and ſeber Converſations, ſuch as ſome of theſe are krown to have been, and
che others may juſtly be preſumed to be ſuch, it is not ſtrange, nor in the leaſt incredible.
2: Þt
LE
The ARGU
'L SA Mun
MEN T.
T is not certainly known who was the Pen-man of this Book, or whether it was Written by one or more Hands ; noris it of any great Importance : For ſince there are ſufficient Evidences that God was the chief Author of it, it matters not who was the Infrument. As when it appears that ſuch a thing was really an fi of Parliament, or of the Council-Table, it is
mot conſiderable 1vho was the Clerk, or which was the Pen that Wrote it. And this is the leſs material in ſuch Hiſtorical Books, wherein there is but little which concerns the Foundation of Faith and Good Life, and therefore it was not neceſſary to Name the Writer of them. It may abundantly ſuffice, that there were in theſe Times divers Prophets and Holy Men of God ; as Samuel, and Nathan, and Gad, and David himſelf, ho might each of them Irite ſome part of this and the following Book. | But if any Man will out of perverſneſs doubt or deny that theſe Frote it, yet this I ſuppoſe no diſcreet and impartial Man will deny, that it is wholly incredible that ſuch Books ſhould be Written in their Times, and recommended to the Church as aPart of
the Holy Scriptures, aud (o received by the ſucceeding Autbority in the Church and Commonwealth of Iſrael.