tells it to Boaz: "Thou hast consoled me, and spoken to the heart of thine handmaid."

What follows seems almost the natural course of events -natural, that Boaz should accord to her the

privileges of a kinswoman; natural also, that she should receive them almost unconscious of any distinction

bestowed on her - keep and bring home part even of her meal to her mother-in-law (2:18), and still work on in

the field till late in the evening (ver. 17). But Naomi saw and wondered at what Ruth's simplicity and modesty

could have never perceived. Astonished at such a return of a day's gleaning, she had asked for details, and

then, without even waiting to hear her daughter's reply, had invoked God's blessing on the yet unknown

dispenser of this kindness. And so Ruth the Moabitess has begun to teach the language of thanksgiving to

her formerly desponding Hebrew mother! But when she has told her story, as before to Boaz, so now to

Naomi its spiritual meaning becomes luminous. In her weakness, Naomi had murmured; in her unbelief, she

had complained; she had deemed herself forsaken of God and afflicted. All the while, however she and hers

might have erred and strayed, God had never le ft off His kindness either to the living or to the dead! 333 And

it is only after she has thus given thanks, that she explains to the astonished Ruth: "The man is near unto us

- he is one of our redeemers" (comp. Leviticus 25:25; Deuteronomy 25:5). Still even so, no further definite

thoughts seem to have shaped themselves in the mind of either of the women. And so Ruth continued in

quiet work in the fields of Boaz all the barley-harvest and unto the end of the wheat-harvest, a period of

certainly not less than two months.

But further thought and observation brought a new resolve to Naomi. The two months which had passed

had given abundant evidence of the utter absence of all self-consciousness on the part of Ruth, of her

delicacy and modesty in circumstances of no small difficulty. If these rare qualities must have been

observed by Naomi, they could not have remained unnoticed by Boaz, as he daily watched her bearing. Nor

yet could Ruth have been insensible to the worth, the piety, and the kindness of him wh o had been the first

in Israel to speak comfort to her heart. That, in such circumstances, Naomi, recognizing a true Israelitess in

her daughter-in-law, should have sought "rest" for her - and that rest in the house of Boaz, was alike to

follow the clear indications of Providence, and what might be called the natural course of events. Thus,

then, all the actors in what was to follow were prepared to take their parts. The manner in which it was

brought about must not be judged by our western notions, although we are prepared to defend its purity

and delicacy in every particular. Nor could Naomi have well done otherwise than counsel as she did. For the

law which fixed on the next -of-kin the duty of redeeming a piece of land (Leviticus 25:25), did not connect

with it the obligation of marrying the childless widow of the owner, which (strictly speaking) only devolved

upon a brother-in-law (Deuteronomy 25:5); although such seems to have been the law of custom in

Bethlehem, and this, as we believe, in strict accord ance with the spirit and object, if not with the letter of the

Divine commandment. Thus Naomi had no legal claim upon Boaz - not to speak of the fact, of which she

must have been aware, that there was a nearer kinsman than he of Elimelech in Bethlehem. Lastly, in

accordance with the law, it was not Naomi but Ruth who must lay claim to such marriage (Deuteronomy 25:7,

Yet we should miss the whole spirit of the narrative, if, while admitting the influence of other matters, we

were not to recognize that the law of redemption and of marriage with a childless widow, for the purpose of

"not putting out a name in Israel," had been the guiding principle in the conduct of all these three - Naomi,

Ruth, and Boaz. And, indeed, of the value and importance of this law there cannot be fuller proof than that

furnished by this story itself - bearing in mind that from this next -of-kin-union descended David, and,

"according to the flesh," the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David.

Keeping all this in view, we proceed to gather up the threads of our story. By the advice of her mother-in-

law, Ruth puts off alike her widow's and her working dress. Festively arrayed as a bride - though, assuredly,

not to be admired by Boaz, since the transaction was to take place at night - she goes to the threshing-floor,

where, as the wind sprang up at even, Boaz was to winnow his barley. Unobserved, she watcheth where he

lies down, and, softly lifting the coverlet, lays herself at his feet. At midnight, accidentally touching the form

at his feet, Boaz wakes with a start - and "bent down, and, behold a woman lying at his feet!" In reply to his

inquiry, the few words she speaks - exquisitely beautiful in their womanly and Scriptural simplicity - explain