Ruth — Chapter 3

I will seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee — that is, Noemi will seek for Ruth an honourable and wealthy marriage, in which, free from the labours of poverty, Ruth may rest in a rich and gentle husband's care and live quietly and happily. Aben-Esra: \"Girls are not accustomed to rest until they are married.\" Plutarch calls marriage \"as it were the port of youth,\" lest by wandering lusts it make shipwreck of chastity.

Wash thyself therefore and anoint thee, and put on thy best garments. Lapide: Noemi counsels Ruth to anoint herself with simple oil (as the poor used for cleanliness and festivity), not with nard or other fragrant and seductive perfumes; and not to paint her face with stibium, ceruse, or other pigments and cosmetics, but to appear before Boaz with a clean and bright face and in better garments — modestly adorned — so as to invite him honestly to the marriage owed her. Modest ornament of garments, and still more of morals and virtues, becomes an honest and chaste matron, as St. Peter teaches (1 Pet. 3:4).

And thou shalt lay thee down at his feet. Not naked — which would have been immodest and alluring — but clothed in better garments as said in verse 3. Although Lyra, Dionysius, and even St. Ambrose (De Fide III.5) reprove the counsel of Noemi and the deed of Ruth as somewhat less than honest, yet Theodoretus, the Author of the Incomplete Work, Abulensis, Salianus, Serarius and others excuse both: first, because the entire arrangement was honest and modest; second, only lawful marriage was being sought; third, both Boaz and Ruth were elderly and of proven chaste life; fourth, the affair was directed by Noemi (a wise and pious matron) and above all by God, who willed this marriage so that David, and from him Christ, should be born. The Author of the Incomplete Work says Ruth in Hebrew means \"inspiration,\" because without God's inspiration she would neither have spoken nor done what she said and did.

I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. Lapide: this means \"take me as thy wife, for thou art bound as a kinsman to raise up seed to my dead husband.\" The Chaldean renders: \"Let thy name come over thine handmaid, that thou mayest take me as wife and have me as consort of thy bed.\" Lyra adds that the bridegroom was accustomed to place the edge of his cloak over the bride, signifying that he was taking her under his power and protection. Jerome (allegorically): \"Boaz... covering Ruth who lay at his feet with the wing of his cloak, and raising one lying at the foot of the Gospel to its head.\" The Blessed Virgin is foreshadowed: as Ruth sought the covering of Boaz's cloak, so the Church seeks the protection of Christ.

Thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men. The Hebrew: \"Thou hast made thy latter kindness better than the former.\" Lapide: she was pious toward her living husband, but more pious now toward him dead, labouring that seed might be raised to him who died without children. B. Peter Damian: \"Ruth showed worthy reverence to her mother-in-law, maintained a matron's chastity, kept faith with her dead husband, left her idolatrous country and parents, and transferred to the worship of the true God without any teacher's authority — a noble proselyte.\"

All the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. Hebrew: \"All the gate of my people know.\" Lapide: the gate stands for the Senate and judges, who sat at the gate to be easily accessible. \"Woman of virtue\" — Hebrew chail, meaning \"strength, fortitude, robustness,\" i.e., a vigorous, diligent, industrious woman. The Chaldean: \"It is manifest before all who sit in the great gate of the Sanhedrin of my people, that thou art a just woman, and that there is strength in thee to look upon the lamp of God's commandments.\"

As the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning. Lapide praises Boaz's outstanding charity and chastity: though Ruth lay at his feet, he would not touch her but promised marriage. The Author of the Incomplete Work: \"What is proclaimed in Boaz? Humility, chastity, and religion. Humility and chastity, because he did not touch her as a lascivious man would a girl; nor did he recoil from her as a chaste man from one lascivious: but as soon as he heard her word about the law of nearness of kin, he imputed nothing of all this to lasciviousness, but ascribed all to religion.\" The Talmudists compare Boaz with the chaste Joseph. Abulensis: \"Truly it is admirable, even if he were made of iron or adamant, and his bones were bronze and his flesh stone... He was held back by reverence for honesty alone and love of the law.\"

Boaz measures out six measures of barley for Ruth. R. Solomon (in Lyra) takes these six measures as the six gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are enumerated in Isaiah 11:1 seq. Aben-Esra takes the six measures to signify the six just men to be born from Ruth: David, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and the Messiah.