89 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Tarry this day,.... Or lodge here tonight, where she was; this he said not from any design upon her, but for her own safety and honour, that she might not be exposed to danger or disgrace, by returning home at such an unseasonable time of night. The first letter in the word for "tarry" is larger than usual in the Hebrew text; which may be done to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she lay at his feet until the morning,.... In the same place where she first lay herself down: and she rose up before one could know another, because of the darkness, as the Targum, it not being yet break of day: and he said, let it not be known that a woman came into the floor, to whom he spoke these words is not said, perhaps to Ruth, whom...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Also he said,.... Which seems to confirm the first sense, that what he had said before was to Ruth, beside which he also said to her what follows: bring the vail which thou hast upon thee, and hold it; by which it appears that he rose also thus early, since he ordered her to bring her vail to him, and hold it with both her hands, while he filled...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when she came to her mother in law,.... To Naomi, in Bethlehem: she said, who art thou, my daughter? it being near dusk, she could not discern her, or perhaps she put the question before she opened the door and saw her; though one would think, if Ruth had called to her, she would have known her voice: rather therefore the particle may be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she said, these six measures of barley gave he me,.... Which she laid down before her, which was a proof of his kindness to her, that she was acceptable to him, and had well sped; of these six measures, see Ruth 3:15 which by some are allegorically interpreted of six blessings that should be bestowed upon her, as the spirit of wisdom,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then, said she, sit still, my daughter,.... Keep at home, say nothing of this affair to any person, be easy about it, take no other steps in it, wait the issue of it: until thou know how the matter will fall; not that she thought it was a chance matter, a fortuitous and contingent event with respect to God; for all decrees come from heaven, as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Ruth 4 This chapter relates how an offer was made to the nearest kinsman of Ruth to redeem her, and the field her husband left, which he refused to do, Ruth 4:1, upon which Boaz redeemed both, and married Ruth before the elders of the city as witnesses, and who congratulated him and her on that occasion, Ruth 4:9, to whom a son was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then went Boaz up to the gate,.... In the middle of the day, as Josephus (d) says, to the gate of the city, where people were continually passing and repassing to and from the country, and where he was most likely to meet with the person he wanted to see and converse with, and where courts of judicature were usually held, and where it was proper...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he took ten men of the elders of the city,.... Who were such, not merely in age but in office, who were the heads of thousands, fifties, and tens; ten of whom were a quorum to do business in judiciary affairs, to determine such matters as Boaz had propose, as to whom the right of redemption of a brother and kinsman's widow, and her estate,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto the kinsman,.... That is, Boaz said to the kinsman he called to, and who sat down by him before the ten elders that were present: Naomi, that is come again out of the land of Moab, selleth a parcel of land; meaning, that she was determined upon it, and was about to do it, and would do it quickly, and he had it in commission to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I thought to advertise thee,.... To give him notice of it; or "I said" (g); he said in his heart and mind, purposing to do it; or he said it to Ruth, promising her that he would do it: saying, buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people; or before those that sat there, even the elders, as witnesses of the purchase: if...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said Boaz,.... In order to try the kinsman, whether he would abide by his resolution, he acquaints him with what he had as yet concealed: what day thou buyest the field of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead; the wife of Mahlon, who was dead, the eldest son of Naomi, and so his widow, Ruth the Moabitess,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself,.... On such a condition, because he had a wife, as the Targum suggests; and to take another would, as that intimates, tend to introduce contention into his family, and make him uncomfortable; so Josephus says (h), he had a wife and children, for that reason it was not convenient for him to take...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming,.... It is a custom, and not a law, that seems here referred to, when an estate was bought and sold; not the law in Leviticus 25:25, though that respects the redemption of an estate by a near kinsman, yet no such manner was enjoined as here practised afterwards, made mention of;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, buy it for me,.... Which is repeated to show he gave his full consent to it, that he should make the purchase of it if he pleased, and which he confirmed by the following rite: so he drew off his shoe; thereby signifying that he relinquished his right to the purchase of the estate, and ceded it to him; the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people,.... Who were present at the gate of the city, or in court: ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's; all the land which belonged to him, who was the husband of Naomi, and the father of Ruth's husband, whose estate Boaz now bought, paying the value for it to Naomi:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife,.... Which was the condition on which the purchase of the land was, that whoever bought that should take her for his wife; nor did Boaz do evil in marrying her, though a Moabitess. Moab was not one of the nations with whom marriage was forbidden; and though it was a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, we are witnesses,.... Both of the purchase of the estate by Boaz being legally made, and of the marriage of Ruth to him, the condition of the bargain: the Lord make the woman that is come into thine house; not into his house, strictly and literally taken, the place of his habitation;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah,.... Of whose tribe the Bethlehemites were, and were also of the house or family of Pharez, as appears from Ruth 4:18, c. who was born to Judah of Tamar, one of another nation, as Ruth was, and from whom sprung a very numerous family, one of the five families of Judah and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife,.... Without any other rites or ceremonies than what are here expressed; for as yet the rites and ceremonies now in use with the Jews (o), in marriages had not obtained: and when he went in unto her; which is a modest expression of the conjugal duty performed him: the Lord gave her conception; for this is of...