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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 254. Ruth
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Literature
Banks, L. A., The Great Saints of the Bible (1901), 184.
Beecher, H. W., Bible Studies (1893), 420.
Black, A., Ruth: A Hebrew Idyl (1906).
Briggs, H., Sermons on the Book of Ruth (1901).
Clegg, A., The Throne and the Voice (1904), 12.
Cox, S., The Book of Ruth.
Dawson, J. E. le S., Lenten Readings on the Book of Ruth (1910).
Farningham, M., Women and their Work (1906), 56.
Horton, R. F., Women of the Old Testament (1898), 104.
Lewis, A., Sermons Preached in England (1906), 192.
Macgregor, G. H. C., Messages of the Old Testament (1901), 99.
Mackay, W. M., Bible Types of Modern Women (1912), 229.
Maclaren, A., Expositions: Deuteronomy, etc. (1906), 259.
Macnaughtan, G. D., Two Hebrew Idylls (1901).
McNeill, J., Regent Square Pulpit, iii. (1891) 185.
Matheson, G., The Representative Women of the Bible (1907), 181.
Miller, T. E., Portraits of Women of the Bible (1910), 94.
Nash, L. L., Early Morning Scenes in the Bible (1910), 112.
Neale, J. M., Sermons Preached in a Religious House, ii. (1874) 346.
Rankin, J., Character Studies in the Old Testament (1875), 85.
Rees, J. S., Sermons from a Little-Known Pulpit (1901), 20.
Simeon, J., Some Women of the Old Testament (1905), 281.
Smith, J. D., The Brides of Scripture (1913), 78.
Watson, R. A., Judges and Ruth (Expositor's Bible) (1889).
Whyte, A., Bible Characters: Gideon to Absalom (1898), 44.
Williams, I., Female Characters of Holy Scripture (1890), 92.
Christian Age, xlii. (1892) 274 (L. Abbott).
Christian World Pulpit, viii. (1875) 381 (G. B. Ryley); ix. (1876) 241 (T. de W. Talmage); xxiv. (1883) 213 (W. Hubbard); xxx. (1886) 196 (H. D. Rawnsley); xxxii. (1887) 91 (C. T. Price); lv. (1899) 42 (E. G. Jones).
Churchman's Pulpit: Fourth Sunday after Trinity, x. 181 (J. W. Shepard), 183 (A. Lewis), 186 (C. M. Southgate), 188 (W. Moister); Pt. xcvii. (Harvest Thanksgiving, i.) 37, 40 (H. Macmillan).
Literary Churchman, xxxiii. (1887) 337 (J. E. Vernon).
Ruth clave unto her.- Rth_1:14.
2. The question has often been raised, what the purpose of the Book of Ruth is, and various answers have been given. The genealogical table at the end, showing David's descent from her, the example which it supplies of the reception of a Gentile into Israel, and other reasons for its presence in Scripture, have been alleged, and, no doubt, correctly. But the Bible is a very human book, just because it is a Divine one; and surely it would be no unworthy object to enshrine in its pages a picture of the noble working of that human love which makes so much of human life. The hallowing of the family is a distinct purpose of the Old Testament, and the beautiful example which this narrative gives of the elevating influence of domestic affection entitles it to a place in the Canon.
3. No literature contains a lovelier picture of womanhood in its various aspects than this brief Book of Ruth. There are three heroines, set in such a position as to bring out the portrait of Ruth herself to perfection. In the Church of St. Peter's at Rome there are three domes. Standing under one of the lesser domes that flank the transept, the spectator obtains a sense of dignity and size; this is increased when he passes under the dome of the transept itself; and it becomes a wonder bordering on ecstasy when at last he stands under the sublime central dome, which appears like the vault of heaven itself. So it might seem as if there were an artistic design to bring out the character of Ruth by first engaging our affection and admiration of the lesser figures. For Orpah is a sweet and attractive creature, clinging with daughterly affection to the mother of her husband, and clinging with an even greater affection to the land of her birth; and Naomi, the elder woman, is more beautiful still. Her life and character are sketched in a few masterstrokes, but from them the world has learned to love her. But, after all, she is only a foil to her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess. Ruth is the kind of woman that draws the world after her, not by a baleful gift of beauty-there is no hint that she was fair to look upon-but by the lasting qualities of unselfish devotion, of lowly serviceableness, of maidenly modesty. She is one of the characters that humanity loves to remember. Not only does the preacher turn to her story with enthusiasm, but the poet, when the passion and purity of the nightingale are captivating his heart, thinks instinctively of her, and fancies that the bewitching strain is-
Perhaps the selfsame song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn.
Men love to study the story because it touches them with the mystery and charm of early love; women love to study it because they recognize here the best type of womanhood.
4. The story itself is a simple one, made up of the ordinary elements of human life, and the actors in it are ordinary people. But, as it proceeds, the beauty of Ruth's character is unfolded; and, from the moment of her affectionate determination to accompany Naomi, she becomes the central figure of the tale. From that point right on to the end it is emphatically the Book of Ruth.