The Pulpit Commentary — Ruth — Section 52

"I e,m Ruth, thy hnnrlmaid." Whnt she !le had been an ~cquainta~cc, and the equal s1tid in continuE1nce h11B been very generally m years, of Rt1th s father-m-law, Elimelech e,nd by Driver, among others (' HobreV:. and the impression had got hold on him that Tenses,' p. 136), misapprehended. Not by the handsome young widow might feel re- Raabe, however. It has been regarded ns a pugnance to his suit. Hence, instead of petition presented to Boaz--." Spread thy being in the least degree offended by the wings (or, thy wing) over thy handmaid, steps she had taken, he was relieved, and for thou art kinsmnn." The literal trans- felt full of gratification on the one hand, and lntion, however, and far the more delicate of gratitude on the other. Blessed be thou idea, as also far the more effective represent- by_ Ye.hve~. Literally, "to Yahveh," i. e, ation, is, "And thou hast spread thy wings "m relat10n to Yahveh" (see eh. ii. 20). over thy handm11id, for thou art kinsman." My daughter. His relative elderliness was Ruth explains her position under Boaz's in his mind. Thou hast made thy latter coverlet as if it were his own deliberate act. kindness better than the former. Michaelis Such is her felicitous way of putting the has seized the true meaning of these words : case. It is es if she had aaid, " 'l'he position " The kindness which thou art showing to in which thy handmaid actually is exhibits thy husband, now that he is gone, is still the true relation in which thou standest to greater than what thou didst show to him thy handmaid. She is under thy wings. while he lived." Her employment of the Thou hast benignantly spread them over her, word "kinsman," or goel, was evidence to for thou art kinsman." The Masorites have Boaz ,that she was thinking of the respect correctly regarded 7.i):i as a scriptio dejec- which she owed to her husband's memory. tiva for the dual of the noun, and hence Her concern in discharging that duty of have punctuated it ':Jf?,~f, "thy wings." The ' piety' struck the heart of Boaz ; and all majority of interpreters, however, have as- the more as, in his opinion, she might easily sumed that the word is singular, and have have found open doors, had she wished for hence translated it as if it had been punctu- them, in quarters where there was no con- ated ~~~f· The dual reading is to be nection of kinship with her deceased hus- preferred. Boaz himself had represented band. " She did not go after any young Ruth as having come trustfully under the man, whether poor or rich." She preferred, wings of Yahveh (see eh. ii 12). She ac- a.hove all such, her first husband's elderly cepted the representation. It was beautifully '' kinsman." In the original the construc- true. But, as she was well aware that God tion is peculiar-" in not going after the often works through human agency, she now young men, whether a poor one or a rich recognised the Divine hand in the kindness one." He does not simply mean that she of Boaz. " Thou hast spread, thy wings was free from vagrant courses and desires.. over thine handmaid." She was under his Her character lay, to his eye, on a far higher wings .because she had come under the wings level. His meaning is that she deliberately of Yahveh. She felt like a little timid refrained from "thinking of any young man." chicken; but she had found a refuge. It is The plural "young men" is to be accounted the wings of tender, gentle, sheltering care for on the principle that when an alternate that are referred to. There is only indirect is assumed or postulated, there is, in actual allusion to the typical coverlet under which contemplation, a plurality of individuals. she lay. For thou art kinsman (see eh. ii Ver. 11.-And now, my daughter, fear 20). The native modesty of Ruth led her to not: all that thou sayest I shall do to thee, account for her position by a reference to the for it is on e.11 hands known iu the ge.te of Jaw of kinship. She had rights, and she my people the.t thou art a. trnly capable Htood upon them. She conceived that Boaz woman. The word ',~~ in tho expression had correlative duties to discharge; but we may be sure that she would never have made ',:p n~~ is of many-sided import, and has the least reference to her rights, or to the no synonym in English, German, Latin, or correlative duties which she reg:i.rded ns Greek. But every side of its import brings devolving on Bo11z, had she not. known that into view one or other or more of such affili- his heart was already hers. a~ ideas as strffi'}th, force, forces, capa- Yer. 10.-And he said, Blessed be thou of bility-whether mental and moral on!,y,_ or Yahveh, my daughter; thou hast made thy also financial ; competency, S'!tbstantial'ity, latter kindness better than the former, in ability, bravery. All who had taken notice not going after any young man, whether of Ruth perceived that she was mentally and poor or rich. This verse is full of satisractory morally, ag well as physically, a substantia& evidence tho.t No.omi was perfectly right in nnd capable woman. She was possessed of conjecturing that Boaz, deep in love, was force, both of mind and characte_r. She restrained only by diffidence from formally was in the New England sense of the ex- declaring himself. It shows us too that the pre;sion, a woman of " faculty." She W!lll chief ground of his diffidence was his age. full of reso1trces, and thus nclequate t0 the BUTH, g  5(1 THE DOOK OF IlllTTI. [rn. m. 1- -lA.