Ruth 4:21

4:13-22 Ruth bore a son, through whom thousands and myriads were born to God; and in being the lineal ancestor of Christ, she was instrumental in the happiness of all that shall be saved by him; even of us Gentiles, as well as those of Jewish descent. She was a witness for God to the Gentile world, that he had not utterly forsaken them, but that in due time they should become one with his chosen people, and partake of his salvation. Prayer to God attended the marriage, and praise to him attended the birth of the child. What a pity it is that pious language should not be more used among Christians, or that it should be let fall into formality! Here is the descent of David from Ruth. And the period came when Bethlehem-Judah displayed greater wonders than those in the history of Ruth, when the outcast babe of another forlorn female of the same race appeared, controlling the counsels of the Roman master of the world, and drawing princes and wise men from the east, with treasures of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh to his feet. His name shall endure for ever, and all nations shall call Him blessed. In that Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

Salmon begat Boaz - Matthew has preserved the additional interesting information that the mother of Boaz was Rahab Joshua 2 ; 6. It is possible that the circumstance that the mother of Boaz was a Canaanite may have made him less indisposed to marry Ruth the Moabitess. As regards the whole genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22 , it should be remarked that it occurs four times in Scripture, namely, here, 1 Chronicles 2:10-12 ; Matthew 1:3-6 ; and Luke 3:32-33 , and is of course of singular importance as being the genealogy of our Lord. One or two difficulties in it still remain unsolved.

18-22. these are the generations of Pharez—that is, his descendants. This appendix shows that the special object contemplated by the inspired author of this little book was to preserve the memory of an interesting domestic episode, and to trace the genealogy of David. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted; the leading personages only are named, and grandfathers are said, in Scripture language, to beget their grandchildren, without specifying the intermediate links.

"These are the generations of Perez," i.e., the families descended from Perez in their genealogical order (toledoth: see at Genesis 2:4 ). The genealogy only goes back as far as Perez, because he was the founder of the family of Judah which was named after him ( Numbers 26:20 ), and to which Elimelech and Boaz belonged. Perez, a son of Judah by Tamar ( Genesis 38:29 ), begat Hezrom, who is mentioned in Genesis 46:12 among the sons of Judah who emigrated with Jacob into Egypt, although (as we have shown in our comm. on the passage) he was really born in Egypt. Of this son Ram (called Aram in the Sept. Cod. Al., and from that in Matthew 1:3 ) nothing further is known, as he is only mentioned again in 1 Chronicles 2:9 . His son Amminidab was the father-in-law of Aaron, who had married his daughter ( Exodus 6:23 ), and the father of Nahesson (Nahshon), the tribe-prince of the house of Judah in the time of Moses ( Numbers 1:7 ; Numbers 2:3 ; Numbers 7:12 ). According to this there are only four or five generations to the 430 years spent by the Israelites in Egypt, if we include both Perez and Nahesson; evidently not enough for so long a time, so that some of the intermediate links must have been left out even here.

But the omission of unimportant members becomes still more apparent in the statement which follows, viz., that Nahshon begat Salmah, and Salmah Boaz, in which only two generations are given for a space of more than 250 years, which intervened between the death of Moses and the time of Gideon. Salmah (שׂלמה or שׂלמא, 1 Chronicles 2:11 ) is called Salmon in Ruth 4:21 ; a double form of the name, which is to be explained form the fact that Salmah grew out of Salmon through the elision of the n, and that the terminations an and on are used promiscuously, as we may see from the form שׁריה in Job 41:18 when compared with שׁרין in 1 Kings 22:34 , and שׁריון in 1 Samuel 17:5 , 1 Samuel 17:38 (see Ewald, 163-4). According to the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1:5 , Salmon married Rahab; consequently he was a son, or at any rate a grandson, of Nahshon, and therefore all the members between Salmon and Boaz have been passed over. Again, the generations from Boaz to David ( Ruth 4:21 , Ruth 4:22 ) may possibly be complete, although in all probability one generation has been passed over even here between Obed and Jesse. It is also worthy of notice that the whole chain from Perez to David consists of ten links, five of which (from Perez to Nahshon) belong to the 430 years of the sojourn in Egypt, and five (from Salmon to David) to the 476 years between the exodus from Egypt and the death of David.

10 . The prophet reverts to the subject of Amos 5:7 , which was interrupted by Amos 5:8-9 . They hate him that reproveth in the gate , &c.] They are heedless ( Amos 5:7 ) of the claims of justice: they will not listen either to the exposure of wrong-doing or to the defence of innocence, in the public place of judgement. The same phrase, ‘the reprover in the gate,’ in a similar connexion, recurs Isaiah 29:21 : it denotes the person, whether judge or advocate, who indicts, impeaches, seeks to convict, the wrong-doer; cf. Job 13:10 ; Job 22:4 , and the corresponding subst. ‘reproof,’ or ‘indictment’ (R.V. ‘reasoning’), Job 13:6 The ‘gate’—more exactly the ‘gate-way,’ with a depth corresponding to the thickness of the wall, in which it was constructed, and no doubt with seats along each side—is the Oriental forum: and it is often alluded to as the place in which the ‘elders’ sat, and justice was administered (e.g. Amos 5:12; Amos 5:15 ; Deuteronomy 21:19 ; Deuteronomy 22:15 ; Deuteronomy 25:7 ; Ruth 4:1-2 ; Ruth 4:11 ; Job 31:21 ; Psalm 127:5 ). him that speaketh uprightly ] sincerely or blamelessly ( Jdg 9:16 ; Psalm 15:2 ); any one who comes forward to speak honestly in defence of the innocent, is the object of their undisguised ‘abhorrence.’ Abhor forms a climax upon hate : cf. Psalm 5:5 b , 6 b .

I.—( 10-17) The descent of David from Amminadab, of the house of Ram. The royal line naturally takes precedence of the other two. Ruth 4:18-22 gives this line from Pharez to David. (Compare the genealogies of Christ, Matthew 1 and Luke 3) Nahshon is called chief of Judah in Num. ii 3 (comp. 1Chronicles 1:7 ; 1Chronicles 7:12 ), at the time of the Exodus. (11) Salma.—So in Ruth 4:20; but in 1Chronicles 2:21, Matthew 1:4, and Luke 3:32, Salmon. (13-17) The family of Jesse (Heb., Yishai in 1Chronicles 2:12, but ‘Ishai in 1Chronicles 2:13). Seven sons are here named. 1Samuel 17:12-13 states that Jesse had eight sons; and from 1Samuel 16:6-10 (Heb.) it appears that he had that number. In both passages, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimma (Heb., Shim‘â, here and at 1Chronicles 20:7) occur, the last under the form Shammah. He is called Shimei (2Samuel 21:21); but Shimeah == Shim’ah (2Samuel 13:3; 2Samuel 13:32); and this appears to have been his real name. (14, 15) Nethaneel . . . Raddai . . . Ozem.—Not named elsewhere in the Scriptures. The son of Jesse, omitted in our present Heb. text, is called Elihu in the Syriac version, which makes him seventh and David the eighth. The name Elihu occurs in 1Chronicles 27:18 for Eliab. (16) Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail.—Literally, And their sisters, &c. If the reading in 2Samuel 17:25 be correct, these two women were daughters of Nahash, who must therefore have been a wife of Jesse.

They hate him that rebuketh - "The gate" is the well-known place of concourse, where just or, in Israel now, unjust judgment was given Deuteronomy 25:7 ; Job 5:4 ; Job 31:21 ; 2 Samuel 15:2 ; Proverbs 22:22 ; Isaiah 29:21 , where all was done which was to be done publicly Ruth 4:1 , Ruth 4:11 . Samaria had a large area by its chief gate, where two kings could hold court, and the 400 false prophets and the people, in great numbers, could gather 1 Kings 22:10 ; 2 Chronicles 18:9 , and a market could be held 2 Kings 7:1 . Josiah brake down an idol-shrine, which was in one of the gates of Jerusalem 2 Kings 23:8 . The prophets seized the opportunity of finding the people together, and preached to them there. So it was even in the days of Solomon. "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she uttereth her words, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?..." Proverbs 1:20-22 , and again, "She standeth in the top of high places, by the way, in the meeting of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors; Unto you, O men, I call, "Pro 8:2-4. Jeremiah mentions two occasions, upon which God bade him reprove the king and people in the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 17:19 ; Jeremiah 19:2 .