to the slab, till the grain is not only forced out of the ears, but the very straw ground up into chaff. It is a very joyous time: children delight to ride upon the slab; and the kindness of the law of Moses had provided that the oxen should never be muzzled, but should feed plentifully of the good things around them.

Afterwards the corn is winnowed, or cleared of chaff, generally only by stirring the mass about with a fork, so that the wind, which is nearly sure to blow in a mountain land so near the sea, carries away the chaff and leaves the grain; but sometimes this is assisted by a fan or canvas sail being waved up and down to blow away the dust. The winnowing is generally carried on in the evening, when a breeze is nearly sure to spring up, and the master and his harvestmen often sleep among the store of sheaves piled up, both to be ready for the morning's work and to secure their corn from robbers. They lie down in all their clothes, but with a wrapper of coarse cloth over their feet.

Just so it was with Boaz, when Naomi devised that her daughterin-law should take this opportunity of speaking to him alone, and claiming his protection as representative of her dead husband Mahlon. No doubt, as Boaz was a rich and stately man, it was very difficult for the destitute young widow to obtain access to him, and it was needful that her appeal should be made in private. Therefore she was to venture into the midst of the sleeping reapers, and speak to him by night, and this purpose she carried out, calling on Boaz, when he awoke and discovered her, to take her under his protection as the goal or next of kin to her husband, whose duty it was to redeem his name from being lost, his land from being alienated.

Boaz was much touched, and praised her for her faithfulness to her husband's name and honour, in not turning to men of her own age, but appealing to him, already an elderly man ; but he explained that he was not the real goel, for there was another kinsman, nearer than he, whose claims must not be set aside, which was probably the reason he had not come forward sooner. Then bidding Ruth spread her veil, a great wrapping mantle that enveloped head and figure alike, he filled it with six measures of the winnowed corn, and she went home to her mother-in-law in the grey dawn of morning, ere one face could be known from another. VOL. II.

H

LESSON XXXV.

THE MARRIAGE OF BOAZ AND RUTH.

RUTH iv. I—17.

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.

And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's.

And I thought to advertise* thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.

Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar+ mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee.

off his shoe.

So he drew

And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.

Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; and do thou worthily in Ephratah,‡ and be famous in Beth-lehem :

And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young

woman.

* Inform.

+ Hurt.

The fruitful; the older name of Bethlehem.

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife and she bare a son.

And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him.

And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi ; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

COMMENT.-Every town or village in the East had walls of stone or mud, thick and high, to preserve the inhabitants from the sudden robberies of the desert wanderers. Deep gateways were made through these walls, and in the broad shady space in front of them was the great place of meeting for public or private affairs. Justice was dispensed by the elders sitting in the gate, and whatever a man wished to proclaim to his neighbours he carried to the gate. So there Boaz seated himself to watch for the man who was nearer of kin than himself.

To understand what follows, we must go back to the law as laid down in the Book of Leviticus and further defined in Deuteronomy The parcels of land allotted to the Israelites were to continue in their families for ever. If a man chose to sell his property, he could only do so till the ensuing jubilee, when it went back to him or to his children, and the price of the estate of course varied according to the length of time before the jubilee. Moreover, if a man left no son, but only a daughter, she might not marry a man who did not belong to her own tribe, so as to bring strangers in. If there were no child at all, it was the custom that the nearest of kin should take the widow to wife, and that the firstborn son should be counted as standing in the place of the dead man and have his inheritance, while the second might stand in the place of his own father. This was held as a sacred duty to the deceased, and neither the goal nor the widow was free to marry clsewhere till the offer had been made. If the goel would not take the widow, and accept the obligation towards his dead relation, the rule was that the woman should come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his

shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and say, “So shall it be done unto him that will not build up his brother's house" (Deut. xxv. 9).* He had failed in respect to the dead, so he was to suffer indignity, and be as one who walked barefoot.

Now the estate of Elimelech had been sold at the time of his going to Moab, and at the time of the jubilee it would come back to Elimelech's representative. What Naomi had to sell was the right to redeem or buy it back till the year of jubilee, and of her desire to do this Boaz informed his kinsman, who was willing to do so at first, Naomi being an old woman whom there was no question of marrying. But then Boaz went on to say that besides Naomi there was Mahlon's widow, Ruth the Moabitess, and that whoever bought the field must also marry her, and then that her eldest son would inherit the field and be counted as the son of Mahlon. When the kinsman heard this, he refused the purchase, saying it would mar his own inheritance: he would not spend money on what would not be his own but belong to Ruth's son, who would not be counted like his, nor would he take the despised stranger widow who went gleaning in the fields with the poor.

The rough insulting old form was spared to the gentle Ruth; it was enough that before all the elders in the gate the kinsman (whose name is concealed) took off his sandal and handed it to Boaz, who thus stood next to Mahlon and was free to wed Ruth. Boaz himself, and most likely Elimelech the kinsman too, was descended from Rahab of Jericho, so that he could well believe in the faithfulness of one gathered in from the heathen; and the mar- ́ riage blessing sung by the elders rehearsed the most prosperous persons among his fathers--dwelling on Rachel before Leah, in honour of her tomb at Ephratah. Observe: that little bit of land which the kinsman thought would mar his inheritance was that which was to belong to the kingly line-nay, it was in right of that portion of ground that the Blessed Virgin came with Joseph to

This Levirate marriage, so called from the Latin levir, a brother-in-law, was an old custom all over the East. This rule was intended to limit it to cases where the former marriage was childless. Otherwise to marry a brother's wife was expressly forbidden, and so the roughness of the form is not to be looked on as first enjoined by Moses under Divine inspiration, but as an existing custom, which was thus regulated and brought into form, and recorded for us, because there are spiritual meanings connected with it.

Bethlehem for the enrolment ; it was the most honoured inheritance in all the earth. And so it was that, by shrinking from a duty in a sort of selfish contempt, this son of Judah lost the honour and blessing of being a forefather of the Christ, and Boaz gained the honour he lost and the birthright he neglected. [By not shrinking from his duty to the forlorn stranger widow, he rose not only into an ancestor, but into a type, of the great Lord of the Harvest, who regardeth the stranger and the widow, and who espouseth to Himself His Church, a widow and desolate ?

LESSON XXXVI.

JEPHTHAH'S VOW.

JUDGES X. 10-18; xi. 1, 5—14, 28–31.

Two Fudges, named Ibzan and Abdon, are next mentioned; but corruption was making way among the Israelites, and they betook themselves to all the idols of the surrounding nations, till great misery fell on them through the invasions of the Ammonites, who dwelt on the further side of Jordan, and not only vexed the tribes there, but crossed over to attack Ephraim and Judah. There was then a cry unto the Lord, but a stern answer came back.

And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned; do thou unto us whatever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us, we pray thee, this day.

And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

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