Ruth

It was a curse (Genesis 3:16): in sorrow you shall bring forth. Many things occasion sorrow; sickness, law-suits, treachery of friends, disappointment of hopes, loss of estate (Ruth 1:20). Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again e…

As there was but one ark to save the world from drowning, so there is but one Jesus to save sinners from damning. As Naomi said to her daughters-in-law (Ruth 1:11), Are there yet any more sons in my womb? So has God any other sons in the womb of his eternal decree, to be saviors…

2. If Israel be sometimes in the house of bondage, in an afflicted state, then think beforehand of affliction; say not as Job 29:18, I shall die in my nest. In the house of mirth, think of the house of bondage; you that are now Naomi, may be Marah (Ruth 1:20). How quickly may th…

[illegible], Menand. To have an estate boiled away almost to nothing, is hard to flesh and blood (Ruth 1:20): Call me not Naomi but Mara: I went out full and the Lord has brought me home again empty. This exposes to contempt.

In Abraham's family, his bond-men and servants were circumcised, and made members of the Church of GOD. And in Moses' days Jethro Moses' father in Law, a Priest of Midian, obtained this at Gods hands, to be joined unto Gods Church: and so was Ruth the Moabite, Ruth 1.16: and Naa…

Conclusion 1. We hold that Christian charity is to extend itself to the very dead, and it must show itself in their honest burial, in the preservation of their good names, and in the help and relief of their posterity as time and occasion shall be offered (Ruth 1:8; John 19:23).…

Sometimes he suggests hard thoughts of God. Ruth 1:20: The Lord has dealt very bitterly with me. Yes, that he has dealt more severely with us than with any other.

Ruth loued Naomi, and claue to her as to her own mother. Ruth 1:16. Christ was subiect to Ioseph who was but a reputed father.

Now we must diligently observe the words, because both Hebrews and Christians interpret this place amiss. Saint Jerome expounds it of Jesus Christ, because he descended from the Moabites, of whom Ruth came (Ruth 1:4; Matthew 1:5) and the most part of Christian expositors follow…

Ruth 1:16 — And Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. The things that we have the history of in this book of Ruth seem to be inser…

How many thousands have complained with Naomi, whose condition has been so strangely altered, that others have said as the people of Bethlehem did of her, Is this Naomi? Ruth 1. 19, 20, 21. These Vicissitudes of Providence commonly cause great disorders of spirit in the best men.

After great enjoyments, want is greatest: emptiness presses those most, who once were full. I went out full (says Naomi, Ruth 1:21.) and the Lord has brought me home empty, therefore call me not Naomi (which is pleasant,) but Marah which is bitter, for the Almighty has dealt ver…

Such was the state with Naomi; When from a full and plentiful condition, she went into a strange Countrey with an Husband and two Sons, where they all dyed, leaving her destitute and poor; Hence in her account of Gods dealing with her, she sayes, call me not Naomi (that is pleas…

Ruth's Resolution. RUTH 1:16. And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge; your People shall be my People and your God my God. THE Things that we have the History of in this Book…

God will allow none, I can bear none, no not the sting of the least sin, when God will let it in, nor you neither when once the Lord will pursue you with the least expression of his displeasure, I cannot have any sin seem it never so small, but I must [illegible] under the power…

We cannot promise ourselves always calm days; the cup which now runs over with wine may be filled with the waters of bitterness. Ruth 1:21: I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home empty. How many have we seen who were invested with great possessions, who have on a sudd…

He can make more worlds, but he has only one Son. As Naomi said to her daughters: are there any more sons in my womb? (Ruth 1:11) God cannot give a greater gift than Christ; for in giving Christ, he gives himself to us.

Are there any more Saviors to die for the soul? As Naomi said to her daughters: are there yet any more sons in my womb? (Ruth 1:11) Has God any more sons, or will he send his Son again into the world?

2 How do sinners persevere in their sins, they are settled on their lees, Zephaniah 1. 12. The judgments of God will not deter or remove them; they say to their sin, as Ruth to Naomi, Ruth 1. 16. Where you go, I will go, the Lord do so to me, and more, if anything but death part…

I wonder not at your judgment but at your long-suffering rather, that it is no worse with me, the least of saints and the greatest of sinners.' So we see it was with Naomi in Ruth 1:20-21: 'Do not call me by an honorable name, not Naomi, but Mara. I went out full, but I have com…

I have made you base and contemptible. Trading is brought low; many men's estates are boiled to nothing; their gourd is withered, their cruse of Oil fails, Ruth 1.21. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home empty.

But when Christ told him what was to be done, Go sell all, and give to the poor, etc., then he slunk and shrank back. For how many are there that, through this kind of deceitfulness, deal with God, as [reconstructed: Orpah] did with Naomi, making her believe that nothing should…

Thirdly, there is another bitterness caused by a man looking upon Christ, and that is by reason of the loss of Christ: we never either had attained to him, or else now we have lost him; now we see we have no portion in Christ, and that is bitter to our souls (Jeremiah 2:19). A m…

The form of swearing, I call God to witness to (or upon) my soul (2 Corinthians 1:23), expresses the third part, namely invocation. The words (Ruth 2:17): The Lord do thus and thus to me, is an Imprecation. The common form, The Lord help you through Jesus Christ, is partly praye…

Second, I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this resolution consists, namely, that it was for the sake of the God of Israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she was thus resolved to cleave to Naomi: Your people shall be my people, and your…

So that as its rise, its constant use also will admit of no other signification, but only that of an unspotted Virgin. Besides, the LXX. render it in this place [in non-Latin alphabet] a Virgin, and the Targum [in non-Latin alphabet] which the other Targums express a Virgin by (…

These are not contradictory, but confirmatory each of other; one speaks of the principal, the other of the instrumental cause. Diligence without God's blessing will not do it; and that blessing cannot be expected without diligence; therefore husbandmen ply their business with un…

The good mistress looks well to the ways of her household (Proverbs 31:27). This is noted of Boaz, that he went to his field to see what his reapers did (Ruth 2:4). The eye of a master is a great motive to make a servant diligent and faithful: for thus he knows that both his dil…

Interpreter: Your setting out is good, for you have given credit to the truth; you are a Ruth, who did, for the love she bore to Naomi and to the Lord her God, leave father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to come out and go with a people she knew not heretofore. "The L…

(Genesis 30:16) And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a thousand cicles of silver to your brother: behold, he is the covering of your eyes among all that are with you: Let it be known among all, and be you instructed. (Ruth 3:9) To whom he said: who are you? which said: I a…

Some would put another sense on that expression of the Targumists, as though it intended nothing but God himself; and instances of the use of it in that sense have been observed. As (Ecclesiastes 8:17), If a wise man say [in non-Latin alphabet] in his word, that is, say in himse…

I will not say, that he does not intend, the Book of Canticles, wherein under an allegory of trees, herbs, and spices, Solomon prophesieth of, and sets forth the grace and love of Christ towards his Church, and wherein many things are by the latter Targumist applied to the Messi…

Such an affection ought husbands to have to their wives: they ought more willingly and cheerfully to do any thing for their wives than for parents, children, friends or any other. Though this cheerfulness be an inward disposition of the heart, yet may it be manifested by a man's…

This direction was given in times of persecution, when by reason of the present necessity it was better not to marry: if then a parent ought to be careful (need requiring) to provide a marriage for his daughter, much more ought he in times of peace. Holy parents commended by the…

We desire many things, but we are soon put out of the humor; as children that seem passionately and pettishly to desire a thing, but by presenting other things to them, they are diverted and stilled; but 'tis not so with God's people. As Naomi said of Boaz, (Ruth 3:18) For the m…

In worldly matters, especially if they be of moment, men have so much wisdom as to dispatch them out of hand. It was said of Boaz when an affair that did greatly concern him was to be issued, The man will not be at rest until he has finished the thing this day (Ruth 3:18). And y…

In the Old Testament we have uprightness, integrity, righteousness, doing good and eschewing evil, fearing, trusting, obeying, believing in God, holiness and the like; but the name of virtue does not occur therein. It is true we have translated [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] a virt…

Christ's purchasing redemption for us, implies that our sins did mortgage and sell us: had there not been some kind of mortgaging, there had been no need of redemption: Redimere, q. rursus emere, Hierom. Now Christ when we were thus mortgaged and sold by sin, did purchase our re…

First, her returne out of captivity; as on the contrary, bare feet is a signe of going into captivity. Secondly, her challenging and recovery of her last inheritance in Israel (Ruth 4:7, 8). Thirdly, her walking in that peace of conscience which the Gospel prepareth: whereas he…

2. Give to those who may probably be most serviceable; Though we bestow cost and dressing upon a weak plant, yet not upon a dead plant. Breed up such as may help to build the house of Israel, Ruth 4. 11. That may be pillars in Church and State, not Caterpillars, making your Char…

When such a cause was to be judged, because it was very weighty, the Elders of the city did meet together with the judges thereof, for in such facts there is some place for conjecture, and the Elders who are the wiser sort, can herein be more attentive than others. So he notes u…

1 Peter 3:7. Likewise let the men dwell together, as becometh them that have knowledge, giving honor to the woman's vessel, as to the weaker, that when as you be heirs jointly, of the grace of life, your prayers be not interrupted. Ruth 4:11. To whom all the people that were in…

1. It may be he intended [⟨ in non-Latin alphabet ⟩], a participle from [⟨ in non-Latin alphabet ⟩], to sustain, to bear, to endure; as Malachi 3:2. It signifies also to feed, nourish and cherish; 1 Kings 4:7, Ruth 4:15, Zechariah 11:16. [⟨ in non-Latin alphabet ⟩], that is, [⟨…

So Job of his day, Let it be darkness, let not the light shine upon it, let darkness and the shadow of death stain it. The word which we render (stain,) signifies properly to redeem a thing, either by price or by power, to redeem a thing by paying for it, or to redeem a thing by…

It is said that Naomi became nurse to Ruth's child: now Naomi was old, long before this she was past child-bearing, without a husband for many years: how then was it possible that she should give suck? She was therefore a dry nurse, as other nurses mentioned in Scripture (Genesi…

He would have these good things at an easy rate without mortifying the flesh, or renouncing the world. But a godly man that sets down and counts the charges, all circumstances considered, resolves, it is good for me, as Boaz liking the woman as well as her inheritance, took them…

1. Give to those who are in most need; raise the hedge where it is lowest; feed the lamp which is going out. 2. Give to those who may probably be more serviceable; though we bestow cost and dressing upon a weak plant, yet not upon a dead plant; breed up such as may help to build…

Genesis 49:17. When you are about to commit sin, say to your soul, as Boaz said to his Kinsman, Ruth 4:4. What day thou buyest the Field, thou must have Ruth with it.