SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

Booz goes before the judges, and when the nearer kinsman yields his right, he takes over the property of the deceased Elimelech, marries his daughter-in-law, Ruth, and from her begets Obed, the father of Jesse, whose son was David the king.

[1] Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before, he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down. [2] And Booz taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here. [3] They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the country of Moab, will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. [4] I would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here, and before the ancients of my people. If thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it and possess it: but if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides thee, who art first, and me, who am second. But he answered: I will buy the field. [5] And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must take also Ruth the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.

[6] He answered: I yield up my right of next akin: for I must not cut off the posterity of my own family. Do thou make use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego. [7] Now this in former times was the manner in Israel between kinsmen, that if at any time one yielded his right to another: that the grant might be sure, the man put off his shoe, and gave it to his neighhour; this was a testimony of cession of right in Israel. [8] So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe. And immediately he took it off from his foot. [9] And he said to the ancients and to all the people: You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and Chelion's, and Mahalon's, of the hand of Noemi: [10] And have taken to wife Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, to raise up the name of the deceased in his inheritance lest his name be cut off, from among his family and his brethren and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing.

[11] Then all the people that were in the gate, and the ancients answered: We are witnesses: The Lord make this woman who cometh into thy house, like Rachel, and Lia, who built up the house of Israel: that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem: [12] And that the house may be, as the house of Phares, whom Thamar bore unto Juda, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. [13] Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive and to bear a son. [14] And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor, that his name should be preserved in Israel. [15] And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter in law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons. [16] And Noemi taking the child laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it. [17] And the women her neighbours, congratulating with her and saying: There is a son born to Noemi: called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David. [18] These are the generations of Phares: Phares begot Esron, [19] Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab, [20] Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon, [21] Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed, [22] Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David.

[246] 1. THEN BOOZ WENT UP TO THE GATE.-- The judges who were to hear this case of legal cession of the the right of kinship would sit in the gate.

CALLING HIM BY HIS NAME. -- In Hebrew, calling פלני אלמני, peloni almoni, which Cajetan renders sit here, so-and-so, i.e., kinsman of the widow Ruth; in the Seventy, come here, hidden one. The Chaldee has, the man who is a concealer of his way, i.e., who does not wish to be seen.

It is more correct to say that peloni almoni means such a one or a certain one, as if to say, You, so-and-so, come here and listen to me; for I have business to conduct with you. In this way we are accustomed to hail strangers whose names we do not know, or whom, if we know them, we would rather not name. Peloni appears to be the origin of the Spanish word faluno, which the Greeks call δεῖνα, the Italians, un tale, and the French, un quidam.

Moreover, it seems that Booz called him by name, but Scripture was unwilling to do so. He was not worthy of being named, since he was unwilling to raise up seed and the name of his deceased brother. So Abulensis; for with justice do we bury in everlasting oblivion the name of one who permitted the name of a brother and kinsman to suffer the same fate.

Lastly, אלמאי, almani, is derived from נאלמ, neelam, i.e., was mute, because that which is not named is not heard, as if mute, and, in a sense, becomes mute itself. Such a person, then, is called almoni. The same is called פלני, peloni, from פלא, pele, i.e., hidden and wonderful, because we wonder at things that are hidden. So Serarius.

3. NOEMI WILL SELL A PARCEL OF LAND THAT BELONGED TO OUR BROTHER ELIMELECH,--Noemi, his wife while he lived, but now the widow of the deceased, "will sell," that is, both for herself and for the upkeep of her daughter-in-law, Ruth, since both were paupers. Although wives did not, according to Jewish law, inherit the property of their deceased husbands or of other relatives and kinsmen, one can conclude from this passage that they had a claim to the use of their husbands' property for life, to the point that they could sell it, with the restriction that the right of buying fell first upon the kinsmen of the deceased husband, to whom the property would devolve after the death of the widow. Consequently, any relative who wished to buy this property (for example, some land) was obliged to marry the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up seed for the one whose property he inherited. Furthermore, it is likely that Elimelech, when he migrated to Moab, rented this land to someone who had to pay annual rent from its yield. So Abulensis, Lyranus, Fevardentius, and others.

I YIELD UP MY RIGHT OF NEXT AKIN; FOR I MUST NOT CUT OFF (in Hebrew, corrupt; so too the Seventy) THE POSTERITY OF MY OWN FAMILY. In other words, I have a wife, and sons and daughters; I must support them, so that they may propagate my name and family. Thus, I do not wish to take Ruth as a second wife, lest I be obliged to support her and her children as well, and so reduce and diminish the support I give to the children I have already begotten, and in the person of the sons of Ruth, or at least the first-born, raise up seed and name not for myself but for another, namely her husband, who was my kinsman. Hence the Chaldee has, I cannot make a claim myself for this reason or with this excuse: I have a wife, and I am not able to take another, lest a quarrel arise in my house and I should corrupt my birthright. Do you, then, claim my property, because you do not have a wife, and I cannot claim it for myself.

7. THE MAN PUT OFF HIS SHOE.-- The act of putting off one's shoe was a public ceremony; it was a sign that he was yielding his right, and was handing it over, like his shoe, to another to buy the land of his deceased kinsman and marry his widow. Furthermore, the act of putting off a shoe was of two kinds. One kind was for punishment, for if a full brother would not marry his brother's childless widow, and thus raise up seed for him, the law at Deuteronomy, chapter 25, verse 9, commanded that he be unshod even against his will and spat upon. This was a serious punishment and a grievous insult. The other kind was a sign of yielding one's right; for if one was not the full brother of the deceased, but only a kinsman of the second, third, or fourth degree, he was not bound by the law in Deuteronomy, chapter 25 (which only applied to full brothers) to marry the wife of the deceased person to raise up seed for him, but he was obliged to do so by custom and a sense of honor. If he would not or could not do this, he removed his shoe in the presence of judges and gave it to another kinsman, in order to signify that he was resigning to him his right, both to buy the deceased man's land and to take his widow to wife.

Allegorically, St. Ambrose explains in book 3 On Faith, chapter 5: "It was the foreshadowing of one who was to arise from Jewry — for such was Christ, after the flesh — who should, with the seed of heavenly teaching, revive the seed of his dead kinsman, that is to say, the people, and to whom the precepts of the Law, in their spiritual significance, assigned the sandal of marriage, for the espousals of the Church. Moses was not the Bridegroom, for to him comes the word, Loose your shoe from off your foot, Exodus 3, that he might give place to his Lord. Nor was Joshua, the son of Nun, the Bridegroom, for to him also it was told, saying, Loose your shoe from off your foot, Josue 5, lest, by reason of the likeness of his name, he should be thought the spouse of the Church. None other is the Bridegroom but Christ alone, of whom St. John said: He who has the bride is the Bridegroom. They, therefore, loose their shoes, but his shoe cannot be loosed, even as St. John said: I am not worthy to loose the latchet of his shoe. Christ alone, then, is the Bridegroom to whom the Church, his bride, comes from the nations, and gives herself in wedlock; aforetime poor and starving, but now rich with Christ's harvest; gathering in the hidden bosom of her mind handfuls of the rich crop and gleanings of the Word, that so she may nourish with fresh food her who is worn out, bereaved by the death of her son, and starving, even the mother of the dead people — leaving not the widow and destitute, while she seeks new children. Christ, then, alone is the Bridegroom, grudging not even to the synagogue the sheaves of His harvest." [tr. de Romestin]

[247] Furthermore, for his shoe the Chaldee has נרתקה, narteke, i.e., his sheath, or rather, his glove. Perhaps both gestures occurred, so that in yielding his right he took off his shoe and his glove at the same time and handed them to the other, signifying that he resigned his right to him. In some places, a right is surrendered in just this way, for the gesture is apposite and natural. Alternatively, the renunciation was formerly effected with a shoe, and afterwards with a glove. The Jews now make their contracts and renunciations by surrendering a linen cloth, which they call purchase of the sudar, i.e., handkerchief, according to R. Elia. These matters are discussed fully by Abulensis and Serarius; Christians, on the other hand, inherit a house by accepting the keys and a field by placing their feet on it.

11. WHO BUILT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, -- that is, they begat the descendants of the patriarch Jacob, whose other name was Israel, i.e., Overmastering the Lord, because he wrestled with the angel of the Lord and prevailed over him: Genesis, chapter 28. Rachel and Lia, the wives of Jacob, begat twelve sons, from whom the entire house, that is, the lineage and household, of Israel was propagated and wonderfully multiplied. Hence, the Chaldee adds, in twelve tribes, because these twelve sons of Jacob were the fathers, and thus the patriarchs, of the twelve tribes.

BOOZ THEREFORE TOOK RUTH AND MARRIED HER.-- He did so licitly, because she was already a proselyte and convert to Judaism. The law at Deuteronomy 23, which prohibited Moabites from entering into the Assembly of God, concerns only men, not women, according to Abulensis. A different answer is given by St. Augustine in Deuteronomy, Question 55: "The problem lies in how Ruth entered, who was a Moabite, from whom the Lord even proceeds by natural means. Perhaps it is necessary to understand that he mystically prophesied that she would enter, in saying: until the tenth generation. Because the generations are counted from Abraham, when Lot also lived, who fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites." Genesis 19 and 37. "The generations are these: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Phares, Esrom, Aram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon. Salmon fathered Booz." [tr. Anonymous]

This answer is ingenious, but not correct, for in Deuteronomy is added, "forever." For the moral sense, hear the Auctor Imperfecti, Homily 1 On Matthew: "Ruth, in accordance with her faith, married Booz, because she rejected her own people, land, and race, and chose Israel, and did not despise her mother-in-law, a widow and alien. Led by a desire for Noemi's people more than her own, she rejected the gods of her fathers and chose the living God. Booz likewise took her as his wife in accordance with his faith, so that from such a sanctified union a royal lineage might arise. Being an older man, he did not choose a wife for himself but for God, and not for the pleasure of his body, but for the justice of the law, that he might raise up seed for his relative. He was no more ardent for love than for duty; old in age, but young in faith; and so perhaps he was named 'in power' (in virtute), or rather the virtue prevailing in him. One who, according to his age, has the power to enter into the married state is worthy of the name and of praise because he has the power; but the one who, being outside of marriageable age, receives the power to marry from religious duty, such as this Booz, is praiseworthy and worthy of the name, because he both has the power, and the virtue of such a man is in him." St. Jerome says in Letter 25: "See how much merit there is in having given solace to a deserted woman. From his seed arises the Christ."

AND NOEMI TAKING THE CHILD LAID IT IN HER BOSOM, AND SHE CARRIED IT, AND WAS A NURSE UNTO IT,-- by teaching the boy to walk, to speak, to worship God, to obey his parents, to hear the law of God, to avoid what is shameful and to pursue what is honorable, to show kindness to all and to harm none, to desire heaven, etc.; for on boyhood depends youth, adulthood, and the whole life of a man. Thus the proper education of boys is of the highest importance for their salvation and the good of the Commonwealth. In his letter To Laeta concerning his daughter Paula, who was the grand-daughter of St. Paula, St. Jerome writes, "If you will only send Paula, I promise to be myself both a tutor and a foster father to her. Old as I am I will carry her on my shoulders and train her stammering lips; and my charge will be a far grander one than that of the worldly philosopher; for while he only taught a King of Macedon who was one day to die of Babylonian poison, I shall instruct the handmaid and spouse of Christ who must one day be offered to her Lord in heaven." [tr. Fremantle]

17. THEY CALLED HIS NAME OBED. Obed in Hebrew means serving, upholding, supporting, according to Pagninus. And so they named him Obed, as if hoping and anticipating that he would serve his parents when they were worn out with labor and years, and so comfort and support their old age. Hence, in verse 15, we read that he is 'to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age'. So Josephus, Serarius, and others. In the same way, the Roman name Scipio designated a young man who would serve his old and blind father in the manner of a staff, on which the latter might lean as he walked. Obed in Hebrew has the same meaning as scipio in Latin, i.e., a staff or support. The mother of Tobias, chapter 5, verse 23, calls her son "the staff our old age." Cornelius, who had the cognomen Scipio, and from whom the patrician family of the Scipios originated, supported his blind father like a staff, which Roman grammarians call a scipio, and so he received the cognomen which was attached thereafter to his descendants; so says Macrobius, book 1, chapter 4. Or again, Obed in Hebrew means cultivating or worshiping [colens], namely, God, as Fevardentius says, following the Chaldee. Obed was dutiful toward both God and his parents, like his son, Jesse, from whom David imbibed his virtue and piety.

You will say: this son should have been called Mahalon, since it was for him that seed was raised up. Abulensis replies in Question 85: 'The son who was the first-born of a latter marriage should have been given the name of the deceased father [248] if he had been a true and full brother, but not if he were only a relative.'

Allegorically, Booz represents Christ; Ruth, the Church that was called out from the gentiles. See the Auctor Imperfecti, Homily 1 On Matthew.

For the moral sense, see Hugh, Dionysius, Fevardentius, Serarius, and especially Ludovicus de Puente in the first part of his Spiritual Directory, where he elicits beautiful and singular moral teachings from the words and deeds of Ruth.

SALMON BEGOT BOOZ, BOOZ BEGOT OBED,-- Arias, in his Apparatus Biblicus on Kings, in an essay on Hebrew names, claims that Salmon is the same as Salomon [Solomon], but he is mistaken; for Salmon is written with the letter sin, while Salomon is written with a shin. Moreover, Salomon in Hebrew is שלמה, Selomoh, and its final letter is he; צלמון, Salmon, has a final nun. Finally, Salmon in Hebrew means clothed or clothing, while Salomon means peaceful. So Serarius.

OBED BEGOT ISAI (who is Jesse), ISAI BEGOT DAVID.-- Jesse is Hebrew for gift, existing, or debtor.

Note: Salmon was the husband of Rahab, who betrayed Jericho to the Hebrews; Josue 11. From Rahab and Salmon, i.e., from the entry of the Hebrews into Canaan to the fourth year of Salomon, there passed 440 years, as we gather from III Kings 6:2, for from the 80 years which are counted there we must subtract 40, which transpired during their pilgrimage in the desert until the entry into Canaan. And so, in these 440 years there were only five generations. Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse, Jesse begot David, and David begot Solomon. Consequently, some think that the first four, namely Salmon, Obed, Booz, and Jesse, begot children in their hundredth year, in order to make up the 440 years. This is the view of Abulensis, Serarius, Dionysius, and Cajetan in their comments on this passage, and Salmeron, Barradius, and Maldonatus on Matthew 1. But this is a drastic remedy, cobbled together from necessity. A simpler explanation is given by Lyranus, R. Salomon, Genebrardus, Catharinus, Jansenius, and Salianus, who posit that there were three men who had the name Booz, just as in Matthew 1 the name Jechonias applies both to Joakim the father and Joachim his son; about this we will say more shortly. The generations are distributed in the following way by Salianus in his second volume: Barac and Debbora, year 21. In the year of the entry into Canaan, when Salmon married Rahab, Salmon was about thirty years old; she was about 25. After having other children, he begot the first Booz in his 61st year; therefore, from the 440 years that are counted from the entry into Canaan to the laying of the temple foundations, we must subtract 26 years. The second Booz begot a son in his 65th year, and the third begat Obed in his 70th year, who also begot Isai in his 70th year. Add seventy years to the life of David and take four from the reign of Solomon, and you will have 440 years in total.

Using this plausible calculation, you will see that the first Booz was born in the tenth year of Othoniel; the second, in the 35th of Aodi; the third, in the 20th year of Barac, married Ruth, and begot Obed in the seventh year of Thola. Isai was born in the first year of Samson, and he begot David at the beginning of the eleventh year of Samuel.

Nevertheless, if one prefers to say that Salmon, Booz, Obed, and Jesse begot children in their hundredth year, rather than presume to add two Boozes to the one in Scripture, one can point out similar cases in that era, and indeed in later times, as well. St. Servatius, the bishop and patron of Utrecht, lived 373 years, according to Sigebert in his Chronicle. History books celebrate Jean d'Etemps, who lived 300 years. Maffeius, in book 11 of his History of India, likewise assigns three hundred years to a certain Indian. But these are portentous and almost miraculous events, which occurred in individual cases. Here we must assert that this kind of longevity fell to men over four continuous generations, which is unheard of--especially when David, their son, limits the life of man to 70 years: "The days of our years in them are threescore and ten years," Psalm 89. Moreover, it often happens in Scripture that some names and generations are passed over in silence, as in Matthew 1:3: "And Joram begot Ozias." In fact, Joram begot Ochozias, Ochozias begot Joas, Joas begot Amasias, and Amasias begot Ozias. Again in verse 11, "And Josias begot Jechonias," where Jechonias is is a place-holder for two people, namely Joakim or Jeconias, and Joachim or Jechonias. Thus, Josias begot Jeconias, and Jeconias begot Jechonias. There is also the matter of calculation: during the 440 years that passed from Salmon to Solomon, the other tribes had not three but many more generations.

Here is one outstanding example among many, found in 1 Paralipomenon, 6:33. From Hemam, who was Cantor at the time of David, up to Core who lived at time of Moses and was swallowed by the earth for rebelling against him, Numbers 16, eighteen generations are counted: "Hemam a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Sammuel, the son of Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, the son of Elcana, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, the son of Elcana, the son of Johel, the son of Azarias, the son of Sophonias, the son of Thahath, the son of Asir, the son or Abiasaph, the son of Core." Count the eighteen occurrences of son, and you will see that eighteen generations are recorded here.

Thus, it is likely that here also some persons are passed over, and that intermediate sons are omitted, as being less well-known, while only the more famous are named, such as Naasson, who was the chief of the tribe of Juda when they entered the holy land and who married Rahab; and Booz, since he was the husband of Ruth, whose story is told here; [249] likewise Obed, since he was the father of Obed, who was the father of king David. {footnote: It is likely that omitted generations should be placed between Obed and Isai, commonly styled Jesse.}

Finally, the Rabbis in Juchasin, page 10, say that Ruth, when she married Booz, was 40 years old and lived for some time after that; "for,", they say, "she was still alive at the time of Solomon and sat at his side with Bethsabee on the royal throne." They also say that her son Obed lived for 400 years. But these things are beyond belief, and so appear to have been made up.

In the tropological sense, St. Chrysostom says in Homily 1 On Matthew [sic] "What kind of son did Booz, being such a man, beget from such a wife as Ruth? Obed, whose name is translated, 'subject.' In these times, however, those whose choice is based on riches, not character, and on beauty, not faithfulness, and who desire in their wives what they look for in harlots, do not bear sons who are subject either to themselves or to God, but rather sons who are insolent both to themselves and to God, with the result that their sons are not the just reward of their union, but a fitting punishment for their irreligion. This Obed, who was called 'subject,' what did he beget? Jesse, that is, consolation, for Jesse in Latin is refrigerium. Indeed, whoever is subject to God and his parents, begets such children, God willing, as to console his parents; for whoever honors his father will be honored by his children, while those who are insolent towards their parents or to God will not beget consolation for themselves, but rather grief, as they receive from their children what they did to their parents."

Chrysostom adds that perchance Obed was so named because at the time of his birth the Hebrews were subject to the Philistines, from whom they were freed by Samuel, who judged in the lifetime of Jesse, the son of Obed. For this reason he was called Jesse, i.e., consolation.