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2:1 Erat autem viro Elimelech consanguineus, homo potens, et magnarum opum, nomine Booz.
*H Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose name was Booz.


Ver. 1. Booz. The Scripture does not specify how nearly they were related. R. Josue says Elimelech, Salmon, and Tob (C. iii. 13,) were brothers, and Booz was the son of Salmon, which cannot be refuted, (Serar. q. 1. M.) though the authority and proofs be very weak. It is not, however, more probable that Booz was the brother of Elimelech. Some think that he was not the immediate son of Salmon, as four persons seem too few to fill up the space of 366 years, from the marriage of Rahab till the birth of David. But this is not impossible. C. See C. iv. 20.

2:2 Dixitque Ruth Moabitis ad socrum suam : Si jubes, vadam in agrum, et colligam spicas quae fugerint manus metentium, ubicumque clementis in me patrisfamilias reperero gratiam. Cui illa respondit : Vade, filia mea.
*H And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to her mother in law: If thou wilt, I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder, that will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter.


Ver. 2. To me. It was the privilege of the poor and of strangers to glean. Deut. xxiv. 19. Lev. xix. 9. Yet Ruth asks leave, through civility. C. — This law is no longer in force, but it would be inhuman for the rich to deny this liberty to those who are in distress, and willing rather to work than to beg. T.

2:3 Abiit itaque et colligebat spicas post terga metentium. Accidit autem ut ager ille haberet dominum nomine Booz, qui erat de cognatione Elimelech.
She went, therefore, and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
2:4 Et ecce, ipse veniebat de Bethlehem, dixitque messoribus : Dominus vobiscum. Qui responderunt ei : Benedicat tibi Dominus.
*H And behold, he came out of Bethlehem, and said to the reapers: The Lord be with you. And they answered him: The Lord bless thee.


Ver. 4. With you. This blessing the Church still adopts in her service. W. — It was customary to bless one another during harvest. Ps. cxxviii. 5. 8. C. — Booz did, as Cato advises, Ne opera parcas visere; "See what is going forward." The master's eye makes the servants diligent. H.

2:5 Dixitque Booz juveni, qui messoribus praeerat : Cujus est haec puella ?
*H And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers: Whose maid is this ?


Ver. 5. Man. Heb. náhar, a man in the prime of life. He had the care of all in the field, during the absence of his master; whence Josephus styles him agrocomos, or agronomos. M. — Homer mentions an officer or king, standing with his sceptre in the midst of the reapers, and silently rejoicing at the rich profusion of the field. Iliad. — Thus we see the taste of the ancients, while agriculture was honourable.

2:6 Cui respondit : Haec est Moabitis, quae venit cum Noemi, de regione Moabitide,
And he answered him: This is the Moabitess, who came with Noemi, from the land of Moab,
2:7 et rogavit ut spicas colligeret remanentes, sequens messorum vestigia : et de mane usque nunc stat in agro, et ne ad momentum quidem domum reversa est.
*H And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment.


Ver. 7. Moment. Heb. "her tarrying in the house is but small, or till now, that she remains a little in the house." She entered the house with the reapers, during the excessive heat of the day, and to avoid the suspicion of taking more than was allowed, during their absence. C. — Sept. "she hath not discontinued to work in the field even a little." Her diligence and modesty attracted the notice of Booz. H.

2:8 Et ait Booz ad Ruth : Audi, filia, ne vadas in alterum agrum ad colligendum, nec recedas ab hoc loco : sed jungere puellis meis,
And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids,
2:9 et ubi messuerint, sequere. Mandavi enim pueris meis, ut nemo molestus sit tibi : sed etiam si sitieris, vade ad sarcinulas, et bibe aquas, de quibus et pueri bibunt.
*H And follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink.


Ver. 9. Thee. The men tied the corn after the female reapers, (C.) and Ruth was authorized to follow, close at their heels, without fear. H. — The waters. This is not expressed in Heb. but it is in the Sept. and the Chal. C. — The privilege of having water in those countries was very considerable. M.

2:10 Quae cadens in faciem suam et adorans super terram, dixit ad eum : Unde mihi hoc, ut invenirem gratiam ante oculos tuos, et nosse me dignareris peregrinam mulierem ?
*H She fell on her face, and worshipping upon the ground, said to him: Whence cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thy eyes, and that thou shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me, a woman of another country?


Ver. 10. Country. S. Elizabeth was impressed with similar sentiments, when she was visited by the blessed Virgin; (H.) and so was David, when he considered the wonderful condescension of God. Ps. viii. 5. cxliii. 3. Job vii. 17. C. — Frequent instances occur in Scripture of people worshipping, or shewing their gratitude to their fellow creatures, by this posture of the body. M. — Yet no suspicion of idolatry attaches to them. Gen. xxiii. 7. &c. H.

2:11 Cui ille respondit : Nuntiata sunt mihi omnia quae feceris socrui tuae post mortem viri tui : et quod reliqueris parentes tuos, et terram in qua nata es, et veneris ad populum, quem antea nesciebas.
*H And he answered her: All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy mother in law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore.


Ver. 11. Heretofore, to embrace the same religion. M.

2:12 Reddat tibi Dominus pro opere tuo, et plenam mercedem recipias a Domino Deo Israel, ad quem venisti, et sub cujus confugisti alas.
*H The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayst thou receive a full reward of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled.


Ver. 12. Work. Booz doubted not but a full and eternal reward was due to good works. W. — Fled. This similitude frequently occurs, (Ps. xxxv. 8. Mat. xxiii. 37,) to denote protection. C. — Chal. "Thou art come to be a proselyte, and to hide thyself under the shade of the majesty of his glory." M.

2:13 Quae ait : Inveni gratiam apud oculos tuos, domine mi, qui consolatus es me, et locutus es ad cor ancillae tuae, quae non sum similis unius puellarum tuarum.
*H And she said: I have found grace in thy eyes, my lord, who hast comforted me, and hast spoken to the heart of thy handmaid, who am not like to one of thy maids.


Ver. 13. Heart. This has the same meaning as the former part of the sentence. C. See Ose. ii. 14. H. — Maids, but more lowly and mean. M.

2:14 Dixitque ad eam Booz : Quando hora vescendi fuerit, veni huc, et comede panem, et intinge buccellam tuam in aceto. Sedit itaque ad messorum latus, et congessit polentam sibi, comeditque et saturata est, et tulit reliquias.
*H And Booz said to her: At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. So she sat at the side of the reapers, and she heaped to herself frumenty, and ate and was filled, and took the leavings.


Ver. 14. Vinegar, or small wine, made on purpose for working people. Some think that such was presented to our Saviour. Yet vinegar was very frequently mixed with other things, and was esteemed particularly refreshing. Plin. xxiii. 1. C. — Side. Not in front, that they might not stare at her. M. — And she, &c. Heb. "and he gave her frumenty, or parched corn." A little oil might be poured upon it. See Lev. ii. 14. 2 K. xxvi. 28. H. — Travellers in Ethiopia only take parched barley with them. C. — The leavings, to Noemi. "Learn, says Seneca, (ep. 110,) to be content with a little." Sept. "and Booz heaped up food before her, and she ate and was filled, and left a part." H. — But it appears that she afterwards took it home, v. 18. M. — The vinegar and corn which were given to Ruth were very refreshing. The Spaniards still drink posca, or water and vinegar. T.

2:15 Atque inde surrexit, ut spicas ex more colligeret. Praecepit autem Booz pueris suis, dicens : Etiamsi vobiscum metere voluerit, ne prohibeatis eam :
*H And she arose from thence, to glean the ears of corn as before. And Booz commanded his servants, saying: If she would even reap with you, hinder her not:


Ver. 15. Reap. Heb. "if she will glean, even among the sheaves, do not cover her with confusion," (H.) or hinder her. Ps. xliii. 10. C.

2:16 et de vestris quoque manipulis projicite de industria, et remanere permittite, ut absque rubore colligat, et colligentem nemo corripiat.
And let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may gather them without shame, and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them.
2:17 Collegit ergo in agro usque ad vesperam : et quae collegerat virga caedens et excutiens, invenit hordei quasi ephi mensuram, id est, tres modios.
*H She gleaned therefore in the field till evening: and beating out with a rod, and threshing what she had gleaned, she found about the measure of an ephi of barley, that is, three bushels:


Ver. 17. Rod, as Gedeon had done. Judg. vi. 11. — That is, &c. an explanation of the Vulg. C. — The ephi contained three pecks and three pints. Arbuthnot. — Alcazar and A. Lapide say 960 ounces. M.

2:18 Quos portans reversa est in civitatem, et ostendit socrui suae : insuper protulit, et dedit ei de reliquiis cibi sui, quo saturata fuerat.
Which she took up, and returned into the city, and shewed it to her mother in law: moreover, she brought out, and gave her of the remains of her meat, wherewith she had been filled.
2:19 Dixitque ei socrus sua : Ubi hodie collegisti, et ubi fecisti opus ? sit benedictus qui misertus est tui. Indicavitque ei apud quem fuisset operata : et nomen dixit viri, quod Booz vocaretur.
And her mother in law said to her: Where hast thou gleaned today, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that hath had pity on thee. And she told her with whom she had wrought: and she told the man's name, that he was called Booz.
2:20 Cui respondit Noemi : Benedictus sit a Domino : quoniam eamdem gratiam, quam praebuerat vivis, servavit et mortuis. Rursumque ait : Propinquus noster est homo.
*H And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman.


Ver. 20. Dead. He hath not forgotten Elimelech, his friend, for whose sake he treats his daughter-in-law with kindness. H. — Kinsman. Heb. adds, "one of our redeemers, (C.) or next kinsmen." H. — To such the right of avenging the slain, of marrying the widow of the deceased, and entering upon his property, belonged. The best interpreters suppose that Booz was the nephew of Elimelech. C. Lev. xxv. 25. Deut. xxv. 5. M.

2:21 Et ait Ruth : Hoc quoque, inquit, praecepit mihi, ut tamdiu messoribus ejus jungerer, donec omnes segetes meterentur.
And Ruth said: He also charged me, that I should keep close to his reapers, till all the corn should be reaped.
2:22 Cui dixit socrus : Melius est, filia mea, ut cum puellis ejus exeas ad metendum, ne in alieno agro quispiam resistat tibi.
And her mother in law said to her: It is better for thee, my daughter, to go out to reap with his maids, lest in another man's field some one may resist thee.
2:23 Juncta est itaque puellis Booz : et tamdiu cum eis messuit, donec hordea et triticum in horreis conderentur.
*H So she kept close to the maids of Booz: and continued to glean with them, till all the barley and the wheat were laid up in the barns.


Ver. 23. And the wheat. Heb. Syr. and Arab. "It is good that thou keep close to the maidens of Booz, and continue to glean with them till," &c. This was the advice of Noemi: but Providence ordered that Ruth should be married to Booz before the commencement of the wheat harvest. C. — The Prot. agree with the Vulg. and Sept. "So she kept fast by, &c. unto the end of the barley harvest, and of the wheat harvest, and dwelt with her mother-in-law." These last words are expressed by the Vulg. in the following chapter. H.

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