5 offerings and peace-offerings. And the children of Israel said: Who is there that came not up in the congregation of all the tribes of Israel unto Jehovah? For they had taken the great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah 6 at Mizpeh, saying: He shall surely be put to death. And

the children of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother, and said: There is one tribe cut off from Israel this 7 day. What shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing that we have sworn by Jehovah, that we will not give them of our daughters for wives?

8

And they said: What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Jehovah at Mizpeh? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 For the people were mustered, and, behold, none of the in10 habitants of Jabesh-gilead were there. And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men, valiant men, and commanded them, saying: Go, and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women. 11 and the children. And this is the thing that ye shall do; ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that has 12 lain with man. And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not lain with man. And they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, 13 which is in the land of Canaan. And the whole congregation sent, and spoke to the children of Benjamin that were in 14 the rock Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them wives whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; and yet so they sufficed them not. And the people had compassion for Benjamin, because Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

15

16

And the elders of the congregation said: What shall we do for wives for them that are left, seeing that the women are 17 destroyed out of Benjamin? And they said: The inheritance of the escaped [pertains] to Benjamin, and a tribe shall not

V. 17. The escaped had not forfeited their own inheritance; and as that pertained to Benjamin as a tribe, the perpetuity of their families prevented the extinction of the tribe.

18 be blotted out of Israel. But we may not give them wives of our daughters; for the children of Israel have sworn, 19 saying: Cursed be he that gives a wife to Benjamin. And they said: Behold, there is yearly a feast of Jehovah in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east of the highway that goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the 20 south of Lebonah. And they commanded the children of 21 Benjamin, saying: Go, and lie in wait in the vineyards, and see; and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch for you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, 22 and go to the land of Benjamin. And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them: Kindly grant them to us; because we took not for each man his wife in the war. For ye did not give to 23 them; at this time ye would be guilty. And the children of Benjamin did so; and they bore away wives according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, 24 and dwelt in them. And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, each to his tribe and to his family; and 25 they went out thence every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The necessity of exterminating every vestige of idolatry, and all its contaminating influences in domestic and social life (see the remarks on Josh. 6: 17), is clearly shown in the records of the Judges. It is further illustrated in the five appended chapters, recording some of the more eventful occurrences of that period.

101

1

THE BOOK OF RUTH.

AND it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and 2 his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehemjudah. And they came to the country of Moab, and continued there.

3

And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, 4 and her two sons. And they took to them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten 5 years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them;

6

and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. And she arose with her daughters-in-law, and returned from the country of Moab. For she heard in the country of Moab that Jehovah had visited his people to give them 7 bread. And she went forth from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on 8 the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law: Go, return each to her mother's house. Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with 9 the dead, and with me. Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each in the house of her husband. And she kissed 10 them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they

The book of Ruth is an interesting and instructive picture of domestic and social life, and of local manners, at a period of national prosperity under the rule of the Judges. Nothing more definite is known of the date of the occurrences narrated. That the book was written long after those occurrences is shown by the statement in ch. 4: 7. The name of a converted gentile among the ancestors of our Lord (Mat. 1:5), shows that he was born, not of a single people, but of our race.

12

said to her: Surely we will return with thee to thy people. 11 And Naomi said: Return, my daughters. Why will ye go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should If I should say, I have hope, yea if I should have a husband this night, should even bear sons; 13 would ye then wait till they were grown? Would ye then withhold yourselves from having husbands? Nay, my daughters; for to me it is far more bitter than to you; for the hand 14 of Jehovah is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in15 law; but Ruth clave to her. And she said: Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and to her gods; re16 turn thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said: Entreat me not to leave thee, to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my 17 God; where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part 18 thee and me. And she saw that she steadfastly purposed to go with her, and she left off speaking to her.

19

And they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And so it was, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them; and they said: Is this Naomi? 20 And she said to them: Call me not Naomi; call me Mara. 21 For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went

out full, and Jehovah has brought me back empty. Why call ye me Naomi, seeing that Jehovah has testified against 22 me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? And Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. And they came to Beth-lehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

1 AND Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man in wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name

V. 20. Naomi. Meaning, pleasantness; one who is delighted in.——-Mara, bitterness; one whose lot is bitter.

2 was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi: Let me go now to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her : 3 Go, my daughter. And she went, and came and gleaned in the field, after the reapers. And she chanced to light on the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem. And he said. to the reapers: Jehovah be with you. And they answered 5 him Jehovah bless thee. And Boaz said to his servant that 6 was set over the reapers: Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said: It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of 7 the country of Moab. And she said: I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves, after the reapers. And she came, and has remained even from the morning until now, that she sat a little while in the house.

8 And Boaz said to Ruth: Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field; and go not away from here, 9 but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the field which they reap, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go to the vessels, and drink of 10 that which the young men draw. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him: Why have I found favor in thine eyes, that thou shouldest care 11 for me, seeing that I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said to her: It has been fully shown to me, all that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and art come to a people which thou knewest 12 not heretofore. Jehovah recompense thy work; and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, God of Israel, under 13 whose wings thou art come to trust. And she said: Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, though I be 14 not as one of thy handmaidens. And Boaz said to her: At