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IV

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.

5 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 15 will redeem it."

Then said Boaz, "What day thou buyest the field of the land 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."

20 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 25 things; A man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor and this was a testimony in Israel.

Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, "Buy it for thee." So he drew off his shoe.

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 5 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 said, "We are witnesses. The Lord 10 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 Bethlehem."

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, and she bare 15 him 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.

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And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a 20 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 neighbors 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."

From the Bible.

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HELPS TO STUDY

The Book of Ruth in the Old Testament is a beautiful example of the form of literature called the prose idyl. An idyl is a story of simple country life, and Ruth tells of the life of the country folk in the harvest field and of the love which overcomes national hostilities. We have glimpses of the life of the Hebrews as intimate and homelike as those of the early Greeks in the story of Nausicaa. Ruth has won the hearts of readers for twenty-five centuries because it tells a story always as true to life as to the time which it describes.

4. Moab often

CHAPTER I. 1. Where is Bethlehem? 2. Who went from Judah to Moab? 3. What happened to the family in Moab? appears in the Bible as the enemy of Judah; is there any of this hostility in this story? 5. Why did Naomi return to Judah? 6. What signs of affection do you find between Naomi and her two daughters-inlaw? 7. What two verses express Ruth's love for Naomi?

8. Naomi means pleasant, Mara bitter; explain Naomi's words at end of page 70. CHAPTER II. 1. Who was Boaz?

2. What qualities does he show 3. What do you find attractive

on his first appearance in the story? in the harvesting scene? 4. Can you see any reasons why this scene has appealed to poets and painters? 5. What beautiful figure does Boaz use in speaking to Ruth?

CHAPTER III. 1. What counsel does Naomi give to Ruth? 2. Ruth went to the winnowing floor dressed as a bride; what did she do there? 3. To spread the skirt over a woman as Ruth asks was a token of marriage. For what reason does she ask marriage of Boaz? 4. What was Boaz's reply? 5. What signs have you found so far in the story of the strength of family ties among the Hebrews? 6. How did Boaz's reception of Ruth show that she was accepted in the family?

CHAPTER IV. This chapter illustrates curious customs of the transference of property. The nearest kinsman of Naomi might buy back the land that had descended to Naomi, and at the same time marry the widow of the last male owner of the land by inheritance. 1. What does

2. Was he willing to redeem the

Boaz propose to the nearest kinsman? land? 3. Was he willing to marry Ruth? In this case the land would have gone to Ruth's children. 4. For what was the shoe used? The shoe among the Hebrews was the sign of possession. 5. How was

Naomi blessed?

6. What great king was the great-grandson of Ruth? Proper Names: Bethlehem (beth'le-hem), Moab (mō'ab), Elimelech (ē-lim'ē-lek), Naomi (nā-ō'mī), Mahlon (mä'lon), Chilion (chil'i-on), Ephrathites (ef-rā-thī'tēz), Boaz (bō'az), Ephratah (ē-frā'tä), Jesse (jěs'se).

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path

Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;

The same that oft-times hath

Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam

Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

JOHN KEATS: Ode to a Nightingale.

HOMER

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Twenty-five hundred years or more ago, the people of a little city somewhere on the shore of the Ægean Sea were gathered in festal array to celebrate the gods of their native land. Their place of meeting was in the open air and the sun shone full on rocky cliffs and the blue water of the 15 bay and on the glistening marble of temple and palace. The king and queen sat on thrones before the portico of

the temple surrounded by the elders and priests. The crowd below was clothed in gay colors, and some of the youths wore the laurel wreaths which they had won in the games and races of the morning. Now in the quiet of the after5 noon all were waiting eagerly to hear a poet tell the stories of the great deeds of their ancestors. Famous as this Greek town may have been for its wise ruler and brave warriors and for its fine weaving and building and its stanch ships, it was prouder still of its poet. For years he had been gath10 ering old songs and stories and making them over into a poem which now on this festal day he was to recite to king and people.

A man full of years, grave and noble in bearing, has come forth from the temple, bearing a lyre in his hand. He 15 kneels before the king, then rises and touches the strings of his lyre.

Sing, goddess, the wrath of Achilles, Peleus' son.

In the full voice of his chant the words rise over the marketplace; and a deeper silence falls over the expectant people 20 as the great story sweeps forth in the beautiful verses.

Races, festival, city, their very homes and hearths are forgotten as they journey with the poet across the shining sea to fight with mighty Achilles on the wind-swept plains of many towered Troy. Launched forth on the surge of 25 the ringing verses, they see the present receding dim behind them and the deeds and loves and glories of the past grow bright and living. For the first time men were voyaging under the magic spell of Homer's Iliad.