Questions on the Octateuch 1 part 17/17

For this reason the most divine Matthew, when he composed the genealogy, left out the women celebrated for their virtue—Sarah, Rebekah, and the others—

but he mentioned Tamar, and Rahab, and Ruth;

and indeed also her who had been Uriah's wife, teaching that the Only-begotten of God became man for the sake of all people—both Jews and the other nations, both sinners and the righteous.

For Ruth was a Moabitess, while Bathsheba was unlawfully joined to the king.

Rahab, too, was a harlot, but through faith she obtained salvation;

and Tamar too is made illustrious by this same faith.

For it was not for the sake of licentiousness that she had union with her father-in-law;

but seeing that he was unwilling to join his son to her, she stole the sowing, so that the blessing might spring forth.

Indeed, immediately after this sowing she received no other seed, but loved a life of celibacy.

One might also observe Ruth, who on account of her piety left behind those who had begotten her, and followed her mother-in-law.

'Far be it from me to leave you, or to turn back from following you; for wherever you go, I will go;'

'and wherever you lodge, I will lodge there, for your people shall be my people;'

'and where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.'

'May the Lord do so to me, and add to it also, if even death should part me from you.'

And she said these things, though repeatedly urged by her mother-in-law to return to those who had begotten her;

for she had said, 'Turn back, my daughters;'

'Are there yet sons in my womb, that could become husbands for you? Turn back then, my daughters, for I am too old to belong to a husband.' And I said:

'I have no hope of belonging to a husband,'

'and should I bear sons, would you wait for them until they grew to manhood? Or would you restrain yourselves on their account from having a husband? No, my daughters, for it is more bitter for me than for you, since the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.'

'For,' she says, 'I am not pregnant, that you should wait to be joined to those who would be born from me, nor is it possible for me to be given to a husband, because of my old age;'

so that you should wait for my marriage, and the bearing of children, and their upbringing.

For I have received a blow sent by God.

It was fitting, then, that the account of Ruth should be recorded, if only for the sake of the Master;

yet the narrative itself, even taken by itself, is sufficient to bring every benefit to those who know how to profit from such things.

For it teaches us both Naomi's grievous misfortunes and her praiseworthy endurance, and the chastity of the daughters-in-law and their tender affection toward their mother-in-law;

and especially Ruth's, who, on account of the piety of her resolve and her remembrance of her late husband, preferred an aged and poor woman above those who had begotten her.

It has also taught us the virtue of Boaz.

For he not only generously shared the produce with Ruth, but also comforted her with words.

For he said, 'Do not go, daughter, to glean in another field;'

'but stay closely here with my young women.'

And having ordered her also to eat and drink together with the reapers, he added:

'It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people whom you did not know before.'

'May the Lord repay your work, and may your reward be full from the Lord God of Israel, to whom you have come, trusting to take refuge under his wings.'

And the blessing attained its fulfillment.

For she received her full reward from the Lord, having become an ancestress of the blessing of the nations.

And he not only shared food with her, but also became with his own hands the minister of her care;

not commanding another to serve her, but himself preparing the parched grain and bringing her the bread most generously; for when she had eaten her fill, she carried away what was left over to her mother-in-law.

And the mother-in-law, gratefully, repaid the absent benefactor with blessings.

For she said, 'Blessed be the one who took notice of you, for he has satisfied an empty soul, as he did also for him for whom he did it.'

For, she says, he did not look to your poverty, but to the Lawgiver, who commanded that every care be shown to widows.

Some find fault with both Naomi and Ruth—the one for having suggested it, and the other for having obeyed and carried it out, and for having lain down at the feet of Boaz.

When Ruth heard her mother-in-law say, 'The man is near of kin to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen,' she remembered his great kindness, and supposed that Boaz, being a kinsman of her husband, wished to be joined to her according to the law, so as to preserve the memory of the deceased.

For, it says, Ruth said to her mother-in-law:

and that he had said, 'Stay close with my young women until they have finished all my harvest.'

Having heard these words, Naomi advised her to sleep at the feet of Boaz, not so that she might sell her youthful beauty;

for, on the contrary, the words of her instruction make plain the opposite.

For, she says, 'You shall go, and uncover the place at his feet, and lie down; and he himself will tell you what you are to do.'

So confident was she in the man's chastity and righteousness.

And the deeds confirmed her words.

For according to her mother-in-law's instructions, when all were overtaken by sleep, Ruth lay down at the feet of Boaz;

and she reminded him of his kinship with the deceased.

And he praised what she had done, yet did not betray his chastity, but kept the marital union in accordance with the law.

'of the young men, whether poor or rich.'

'You have shown,' he says, 'by what you have done, that you did this not as a slave to desire.'

For otherwise you would have gone after those of a young age, reckoning neither wealth nor poverty, but only the enjoyment of pleasure.

But you have come to a man who fills the place of your father.

For this is what the word 'daughter' signifies.

And indeed, he called her thus twice.

'And now, daughter, do not fear;'

'whatever you say, I will do for you.'

'For all the tribe of my people knows that you are a woman of worth, and that I am indeed a near kinsman.'

'No one,' he says, 'will find fault with me;'

'for you are praised by all,'

'and I will make the marriage on account of kinship, not on account of licentiousness.'

'But since there is another kinsman who is nearer, I must first speak with him, so that, if he should choose, he may marry you according to the law;'

'but if he should not be willing to act according to the law, then I myself will place upon you the yoke of marriage.'

So great was the man's virtue, that although a beautiful young woman had come to him by night, he preserved his chastity, and kept the matter in accordance with the law, and did not rush into marriage contrary to the law, but first brought up the question of marriage with the nearer kinsman;

then, when that man declined the marriage, only then was he joined to the praiseworthy woman.

Admirable also were his words to that man.

For he did not first bring up with him the matter of marriage, but spoke first about the acquisition of the fields.

Then, when that man had gladly accepted the agreement, he added the matter of marriage, saying that it was right that the one who acquired the fields of the deceased should also marry the wife, and preserve the memory of the departed by having children.

But since, on account of the marriage, that man refused even the agreement concerning the fields, he loosed his sandal according to the law, and gave it;

and Boaz took Ruth as his wife.

And that he consented to marry not as a slave to pleasure, his praiseworthy words also make clear.

For, it says, Boaz said to the elders and to all the people:

'You are witnesses this day, that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Abimelech, and all that belonged to Mahlon and Chilion;'

'and also Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired for myself as wife, to raise up the name of the deceased upon his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from among his brothers and from his tribe.'

In these words it is worth admiring both the piety and the precision.

'For I am not transgressing the law,' he says, 'by taking a Moabite woman, but I am fulfilling the divine law, being zealous that the memory of the deceased should be kept unquenched.'

And the elders also confirmed the marriage with a blessing.

'May the Lord make your wife, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who both built up the house of Israel; and may he grant you power in Ephrathah,'

'and may there be a name for you in Bethlehem;'

'and may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, and from your seed may the Lord give you offspring by this young woman.'

The words of the blessing hint that he too had had another wife.

Therefore they mentioned Rachel and Leah together in the same breath, and added, 'who both built up the house of Israel.'

Bringing this infant to Naomi, the women said, 'Blessed is the Lord, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer, that his name might be called in Israel.'

'and he shall be to you one who restores the soul,'

This, according to the obvious sense, signifies her consolation and reviving of spirit;

but according to the truth, it signifies the conversion of the whole inhabited world.

For from there flourished the salvation of the world.