Rth 2:1

If Elimelech and Naomi had a wealthy kinsman all along, then why did they go to Moab in the first place, instead of going to him for help? What foolishness it is in the hour of weakness and need to forget the “near kinsman” who is strong and able to help! And when we need help, to whom do we turn? to everything and everyone EXCEPT the One who has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We have a “near kinsman” who holds the key to the universe and all of its treasure! Let us go to his fields, and humbly work there, and ask for and wait for his blessing! It will surely come.

RELATIVE: Heb “yada”, familiar friend, not “gaal” of Rth 2:20, etc.

MAN: Ish, great man, in ct adam, fleshly. Boaz typ Christ, in both greatness and humility.

STANDING: Heb “gibbor”, mighty (AV), strong, or valiant: cp Isa 9:6. Used of David in 1Sa 16:8, and his 30 men in 2Sa 23:8.

BOAZ: Sig “in him is strength”. The pillar of 1Ki 7:21. In ct Ruth’s first husband Mahlon (sickly: Rth 1:2).

Rth 2:2

There was poverty in the household — two widows with no visible means of support. Ruth, the daughter of a hated race, and only a proselyte at best, shows a wonderful knowledge of and dependence upon the Law — which allows special privileges for widows: ie, to glean in the fields during harvest. She represents the anxious person in search of truth; forsaking her old companions and her “gods”, she leaves all, and is not ashamed to put on the apron of the “gleaner”.

Ruth did not need to keep her poverty a secret; and it is her poverty which brings her to the rich kinsman!

And what about us? When we are weak (and when we know it!), THEN we may begin to find strength in the Lord — whose strength is perfected, and finds fulfillment, in our weakness. Frail vessels of clay we may be, but we can take our vessels to the place where the riches and glory of our Father are dispensed, and there we can ask for our share!

“Our Master’s field is very rich; behold the handfuls. See, there they lie before thee, poor timid believer! Gather them up, make them thine own, for Jesus bids thee take them. Be not afraid, only believe! Grasp these sweet promises, thresh them out by meditation and feed on them with joy” (CHS).

IN WHOSE EYES I FIND FAVOR: Ruth must find an Israelite who is charitable and will not evade his responsibilities.

NAOMI SAID TO HER, “GO AHEAD, MY DAUGHTER”: The fact that Ruth went alone implies that Naomi was too old, or was worn out with recently experienced privations.

Rth 2:3

AS IT TURNED OUT: Here is God’s hand of providence, seen also in Ruth 2:12,19,20. Nothing really happens to the elect of God by blind chance; God is always working — even if we don’t really know how and when: Mat 10:29,30; Rom 8:28; Pro 3:5,6; Jer 10:23.

“Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident, but how divinely was it overruled! Ruth had gone forth with her mother’s [mother-in-law’s] blessing, under the care of her mother’s God, to humble but honourable toil, and the providence of God was guiding her every step. Little did she know that amid the sheaves she would find a husband, that he should make her the joint owner of all those broad acres, and that she a poor foreigner should become one of the progenitors of the great Messiah. God is very good to those who trust in Him, and often surprises them with unlooked for blessings. Little do we know what may happen to us tomorrow, but this sweet fact may cheer us, that no good thing shall be withheld. Chance is banished from the faith of Christians, for they see the hand of God in everything. The trivial events of today or tomorrow may involve consequences of the highest importance… How blessed would it be, if, in wandering in the field of meditation tonight, our ‘chance’ should be to light upon the place where our near Kinsman will reveal Himself to us!” (CHS).

TO GLEAN IN THE FIELDS: Gleaning was a privilege of poor and widows (Lev 23:22; Deu 24:19), and also of strangers, or aliens (Lev 19:9,10). (Ruth was all these wrapped up in one: poor, a widow, and a stranger!) Gentiles today, as did Ruth then, may “glean” in fields of Boaz — who represents Christ. Compare the Canaanite woman (the “little dog”) in Mar 7:24-30 — engaged in another form of gleaning! ‘Yes, Master, I know I’m an unclean Gentile woman [not a “righteous” Jewish man!]… but if it’s alright with you I’ll just hide here under the table like a little puppy, and be happy to eat a few of the crumbs that the “children” carelessly drop.’ The delicious irony of that is… the few crumbs are more than enough. The man who turned a few little loaves into a meal for thousands can turn our few little crumbs into a banquet to last a lifetime!

AS IT TURNED OUT: “Her hap was to light upon” (KJV). “Light upon” is sw as “happen” in Eccl 9:11 (time and chance). Suggests divine guidance.

Rth 2:4

Boaz takes his God with him every day, even to the workplace. Bre dwell together in unity: Psa 133:1. Typ: Christ, the master, notices every humble worker in field.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU: That is, to strengthen you in your labor: cp Jdg 6:12; Psa 129:7,8. May mean, in this context: ‘The Lord give you a good harvest.’ The words come with that meaning in Psa 129:7,8; Jdg 6:12; and also in a more subtle sense in 2Th 3:16; Luk 1:28.

THE LORD BLESS YOU: Happy fellowship, prosperous cooperation — even in a wicked and chaotic land (Jdg 17:6; 18:1).

Rth 2:5

What set Ruth apart from other gleaners? Physical appearance? Mode of dress? Conduct? Diligence in labor (v 7)? Boaz notices a new worker, and learns that she is Naomi’s companion (Rth 2:11). Cp Joh 11:28.

Rth 2:6

Perh Boaz had desired to help Naomi’s family years earlier, but had been unable. Now he sees another opportunity.

Rth 2:7

EXCEPT FOR A SHORT REST: Diligence, hardly tarrying at all. RSV has: “without resting even for a moment”.

SHELTER: A small tent or shelter in field, where workers might rest during the day.

Rth 2:8

MY DAUGHTER: Boaz was much older: Rth 3:10.

STAY HERE WITH MY SERVANT GIRLS: A privileged position in gleaning. “Abide” here with me: cp Joh 14:17,18,20,23; 15:4. “Do not be moved away”: cp Act 27:31; Col 1:23; 2:6,7; 1Jo 2:28; Jud 1:20,21.

Rth 2:10

BOWED DOWN WITH HER FACE: Ruth showed respect and even obeisance to a superior. Do we show thankfulness, meekness, and humility, at being called to truth and grace in Christ?

WHY HAVE I FOUND SUCH FAVOR?: Nowhere is Ruth described as physically beautiful — and she may or may not have been “beautiful” in the conventional sense. But there is plainly a “beauty” of a spiritual order, which has nothing to do with hair stylists and make-up kits and fashion catalogs, and Ruth has that kind of “beauty” in abundance. And, whatever else she is, she is genuinely modest. That is perhaps her greatest grace: she is unaffected — she honestly does not realize how attractive she is… how noble is her devotion to an older woman… how exalted is her choice of an unseen God… how impressive is her diligence in gleaning… how touching is her intelligent meekness and her sincere thankfulness. There is no false pride in Ruth; she is the “real thing”.

FOREIGNER: Strangers had rights (Rth 2:2n), but Boaz had gone beyond requirements of the LM. From Boaz’s point of view: consider Heb 13:2: Boaz “entertained” the “stranger” (Ruth), who turns out to be an “angel” (messenger from God)… the means by which Boaz’s line (also) is preserved.

Rth 2:11

HOW YOU LEFT…: A sustained allusion to God’s promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

CAME TO LIVE WITH A PEOPLE: Ruth was a Jew indeed: Rom 2:27-29.

YOU DID NOT KNOW BEFORE: Lit, “yesterday and the day before.”

Rth 2:12

MAY THE LORD REPAY YOU: Ruth’s work: (1) Leaving Moab (obeying truth in baptism), and (2) care for Naomi (sym hope of Israel).

RICHLY REWARDED: As promised: 1Co 3:8,14; 2Jo 1:8; Rev 11:8; 22:12.

UNDER WHOSE WINGS: Cp Rth 3:9. Also Psa 17:8,9; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4; Mat 23:37.

TO TAKE REFUGE: Cp Christ’s wishes for Jerusalem: Mat 23:37; Psa 91:4.

Rth 2:13

“In her response to all this kindness Ruth showed neither false pride nor cringing self-pity. She could have misinterpreted Boaz’s motive, and have acknowledged his generosity coldly. On the other hand, in an attempt to make the most of the situation, she could have told a maudlin tale of adversity and poverty. Instead, marvelling quietly that a man of Boaz’s station should take notice of her at all, she thanked him frankly for his help to one so needy: ‘Thou hast comforted me… thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid — though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens,’ she added lest the wrong construction be put on the ambiguous term she used” (WJR).

Rth 2:14

The strong one invites the Gentile woman to dine at his “table”, where he produces bread and wine!

WINE VINEGAR: Sour, but cooling and refreshing.

ROASTED CORN: Very common in East (LB 648).

ALL SHE WANTED: God tends to our daily needs: Mat 6:11,25; Joh 6:35. This is what Naomi the Jewess had forgotten; but what Ruth the Moabitess knew by faith!

AND HAD SOME LEFT OVER: Or, “reserved” as in Rth 2:18. That is, Ruth kept something back for Naomi. See Rom 15:27: Gentiles aid Jews in material things.

“Whenever we are privileged to eat of the bread which Jesus gives, we are, like Ruth, satisfied with the full and sweet repast. When Jesus is the host no guest goes empty from the table. Our head is satisfied with the precious truth which Christ reveals; our heart is content with Jesus, as the altogether lovely object of affection; our hope is satisfied, for whom have we in heaven but Jesus? and our desire is satiated, for what can we wish for more than ‘to know Christ and to be found in Him’? Jesus fills our conscience till it is at perfect peace; our judgment with persuasion of the certainty of His teachings; our memory with recollections of what He has done, and our imagination with the prospects of what He is yet to do. As Ruth was ‘sufficed, and left,’ so is it with us. We have had deep draughts; we have thought that we could take in all of Christ; but when we have done our best we have had to leave a vast remainder… There are certain sweet things in the Word of God which we have not enjoyed yet, and which we are obliged to leave for awhile; for we are like the disciples to whom Jesus said, ‘I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.’ Yes, there are graces to which we have not attained; places of fellowship nearer to Christ which we have not reached; and heights of communion which our feet have not climbed. At every banquet of love there are many baskets of fragments left. Let us magnify the liberality of our glorious Boaz” (CHS).

Rth 2:15

EVEN… AMONG THE SHEAVES: Another special privilege. Normally, no one may glean until sheaves are bound and set in stocks.

DON’T EMBARRASS HER: “Reproach her not” (KJV), or “shame her not” (KJV mg).

Rth 2:16

Ample reward: cp Luk 11:9-13; 6:38.

Rth 2:17

Cp LB 647. Ruth had to labor for her living. This was a woman who did not mind working — who sought out work to do. What she could do for herself she did, willingly and eagerly and diligently. Not only did she gather the grain; she also prepared it! The servant of God must “beat out” the grains of truth — which are often concealed (Pro 25:2; Mat 13:13,34); she must harvest and press out the olives to make the olive oil (Lev 24:2). And what about us? Do we remember that “faith without works is dead”… that we are called, not just to take up space, but to DO something of service to our God?

“Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears of corn, so must I go forth into the fields of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the word to gather spiritual food. The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: so must I be content to search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty of them. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise unto salvation. The gleaner keeps her eyes open: if she stumbled among the stubble in a dream, she would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at eventide. I must be watchful in religious exercises lest they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have lost much already — O that I may rightly estimate my opportunities, and glean with greater diligence. The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and so must I. High spirits criticize and object, but lowly minds glean and receive benefit. A humble heart is a great help towards profitably hearing the gospel. The engrafted soul-saving word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes a bad gleaner; down, master pride, thou art a vile robber, not to be endured for a moment. What the gleaner gathers she holds: if she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day’s work would be but scant; she is as careful to retain as to obtain, and so at last her gains are great. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I feel duly the importance of storing up the truth? A hungry belly makes the gleaner wise; if there be no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table; she labours under the sense of necessity, and hence her tread is nimble and her grasp is firm; I have even a greater necessity, Lord, help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields which yield so plenteous a reward to diligence” (CHS).

EPHAH: Almost one bushel. Enough for both for approx 5 days.

Rth 2:18

Naomi sees that Ruth has received special treatment.

Rth 2:20

Naomi had not asked favors from the rich Boaz. She had faith in God’s ways, and thus she had waited.

LIVING AND DEAD: To provide one to raise up seed to the dead husband.

KINSMAN-REDEEMERS: Gaal: see Rth 4:7-9. See Lesson, Gaal: redeemer.

Rth 2:21

WORKERS: Masc or fem. Esp fem here: vv 22,23.

MY: Very emphatic: my harvest, and no one else’s.

Rth 2:22

…MIGHT BE HARMED: KJV has: “that they meet thee not” — or, as KJV mg: “that they fall not upon thee”! Ruth must stay in Boaz’s field (Song 1:6). Misfortune may be found in fields of others.

Rth 2:23

Barley harvest was at Passover (Rth 1:22). Wheat harvest was at Pentecost, 50 days later (Lev 23:16). This is the time when Book of Ruth is traditionally read. Deliverance at Passover, then full reward of ingathering at Pentecost.

Rth 3:1

Boaz is delayed in fulfilling role of redeemer, poss becs of another kinsman (Rth 3:12,13), and thus Naomi presses the matter. Lesson: We must go to Christ, not wait for him to come to us.

A HOME: “Rest”: cp Rth 1:9; 2:9. “Menucha” = safe shelter, rest, in husband’s house. Cp Psa 132:8; Gen 49:15; 1Ki 8:56. Typ Christ: Mat 11:29. Christ gives peace (Joh 14:27) in his “house” (Heb 3:6n). Cp “rest” in Heb 4.

Rth 3:2

IS NOT BOAZ… A KINSMAN OF YOURS?: Naomi is thinking of a Levirate marriage: Rth 1:11; Deu 25:5-10.

TONIGHT: Time of ideal breeze in Palestine, generally in early morning, coming in from sea.

THRESHINGFLOOR: An open, exposed spot on a hill near Bethlehem. Sym judgment, as in parables: Mat 3:12; 13:24-30. Using a large shovel called a fan, or winnowing fork, the winnower tosses the (already) threshed mixture of grain and chaff up into the wind, so that the heavier grain falls near his feet and the lighter chaff is blown away into a separate pile (to be burned).

Rth 3:3

WASH: Typ: Isa 1:18. Cleansed in blood of Lamb (Rev 7:14). Made holy and righteous (Rev 19:8; Isa 61:10).

PERFUME: “Anoint”: to make self ready, purification (Est 2:12). The preparation of a bride: Psa 45:10-14. The purification of a Gentile woman: Deu 21:10-14. Sts are bride also: 2Co 11:2; Rev 19:7.

PUT ON YOUR BEST CLOTHES: “Put on new man” (Eph 4:22-24).

Rth 3:4

Nothing indecent here, but rather an appeal based on the Law. Levirate marriage was to raise up seed: cp 1Ti 2:15: Ecclesia is saved in childbearing. Or, perh, a “carefully measured indiscretion”: ‘Here is how far I am willing to go, to humiliate myself!’ “Eastern peoples often sleep in regular clothes. By custom, a servant will sleep at his master’s feet, using a portion of his mantle” (JFB). Lesson: We must make first move toward our redeemer, Christ.

Rth 3:5

An echo of Exo 19:8; 24:3,7: the vows spoken by Israel to Moses. Where the whole nation of Israel had promised to do, but did not… Ruth, the one Moabite woman, promised to do, and did!

Rth 3:6

Ruth realizes the situation (Rth 3:9). She risked the poss scorn of ignorant neighbors, to follow the proper course.

Rth 3:7

IN GOOD SPIRITS: Not an excess (cp Pro 15:13).

HIS FEET: Cp the woman who was a sinner, anointing the feet of Christ (Luk 7:36-38,46-50).

Rth 3:9

Figurative: in the time of separation of the grain from the chaff (v 2: judgment!), the faithful Gentile asks the strong Jew for protection under the hem of his garment (cp Zec 8:23; Mal 4:2: healing in the hem of his garment: Mar 5:25-34).

SPREAD… OVER ME: “Marry your servant” (NET). In the metaphorical account in Eze 16:8, God spreads his skirt over naked Jerusalem as an act of protection and as a precursor to marriage. Thus Ruth’s words can be taken as a marriage proposal. (This explains the customary act at eastern weddings.) Showing willingness to give shelter, or “menucha”.

CORNER OF YOUR GARMENT: Sw “wings” in Rth 2:12. Here prob singular; altho evidence is uncertain.

KINSMAN-REDEEMER: See Lesson, Gaal: redeemer.

Rth 3:10

THE LORD BLESS YOU, MY DAUGHTER: “Once again Boaz gave her the cordial harvest greeting… this time with the implied assurance that ‘God will give you a good harvest, for I intend to marry you’ ” (WJR).

THIS KINDNESS: Ruth’s desire to raise seed to dead and to fulfill the Law.

MY DAUGHTER: Boaz was not young at all! Boaz shows great dignity and restraint.

Rth 3:11

ALL MY FELLOW TOWNSMEN: Lit “the gate” (as AV mg). The gate, where elders make important decisions (Deu 16:18; 21:19). Also, the place where women might typically pass along gossip: ie, ‘Even the gossiping women of the town have nothing against you!’

A WOMAN OF NOBLE CHARACTER: “A virtuous woman” (AV). Virtuous women may sometimes be found in situations — through no fault of their own — which might naturally expose them to suspicion (like Ruth with Boaz on the threshing floor). But if their former behavior has been uniformly virtuous, then they have every right to be absolved of any suspicion. It is true: all sins may be forgiven. But this blessing (freedom from suspicion) is one continuing value of an exemplary and virtuous life.

NOBLE: The word “virtuous” (or “noble”) implies force of character, and strength of mind: it describes the ideal wife in Pro 31 (cp vv 31:10,29). In the OT, elsewhere, the phrase is applied only to Ruth. Notice that the virtuous woman of Pro 31 is very wealthy, as was Boaz (this is implicit in Pro 31:13-18,27-31). Is it farfetched to suppose that Ruth was the prototype of the “virtuous woman” in Pro 31? That her descendants David and Solomon had her in mind when these words were spoken, and written? Perhaps in this lovely cameo of Pro 31 we get a glimpse of the remainder of Ruth’s life with Boaz: continuing to show diligence (and faith!) in nurturing and encouraging her husband, in rearing her children, in providing for her household, in managing and instructing her servant girls, in running an estate and a business. A woman of means, who uses those means to help others and to glorify God! Notice also: if Ruth IS the prototype of the “virtuous woman”, then the same diligence she showed as a destitute gleaner, she also shows as a rich wife!

Wealth didn’t turn Ruth into a member of the “leisure class”; she doesn’t spend her remaining days sitting on soft cushions and munching dainty cookies and checking her bank balance! Whether poor or rich, one could never tell by her level of activity, and her diligence in doing her duty — whatever that might prove to be! And the reason for that diligence? the best reason of all: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Pro 31:30,31).

Rth 3:12

A KINSMAN-REDEEMER NEARER THAN I: Perh the reason Boaz had not volunteered. See Rth 4:6-8. Lesson: Christ’s love is greater; obstacles may be overcome.

Rth 3:13

STAY HERE FOR THE NIGHT: As a precaution only. (Boaz himself risks gossip, etc.) Also, it might have been unwise for a single woman to make her way home very late at night, esp at harvest, when many farm workers were out and about.

MORNING: When “redemption” comes: Psa 30:5; 110:3.

Rth 3:14

Many a faithful Gentile “Ruth” lies asleep at the feet of Jesus (the “Boaz”, or “mighty man” of the Jews), awaiting the “morning” of resurrection — when he will stand in the “gate” of the great city and proclaim her for his very own.

Rth 3:15

SHAWL: Or vail, sym fleshly nature in Heb 10:20.

HE POURED INTO IT SIX MEASURES OF BARLEY AND PUT IT ON HER: There was a double purpose in this. First, to disarm the suspicion of anyone who might see Ruth coming away from the threshing floor. He sought to shield her from the gossip of slanderous tongues. And, secondly, the six measures were to indicate both to Ruth and Naomi that this generous man had every intention to fulfill his promise to Ruth, and Naomi, in the most honorable fashion.

THEN HE WENT BACK TO TOWN: “She went” (KJV) should read: “he went”. Here is resolution. He meant to lose no time.

Rth 3:17

The large quantity of grain for Naomi is Boaz’s way of assuring his kinswoman that he understands the request, and that he will do his best to see that she and Ruth are protected.

Rth 4:1

Christ has redeemed us from curse of Law: Gal 3:13.

BOAZ WENT UP TO THE TOWN GATE: That is, to make public his intentions. (Cp Christ, “evidently set forth”: Gal 3:1; “not done in a corner”: Act 26:26.) Cp Pro 31:23: her husband was respected at the city gate!

Rth 4:2

TEN: 1Ki 21:8: a traditional quorum.

Rth 4:3

The next of kin might purchase this land, and thus keep it in family (Lev 25:24). Otherwise, it might be sold until Jubilee.

Rth 4:4

“I WILL REDEEM IT,’ HE SAID: “Yes, he would redeem the land’ he was willing enough to buy it, and add it to his own inheritance until the year of jubilee restored it to the family which originally owned it. He was the more willing to do this since there was no immediate prospect that there would be any other heir upon whom the property might devolve; so there was a fair chance that it might become his for good” (WJR).

The nearest kinsman — like the Law of Moses — had first claim to redeem, but — as v 6 shows — lacked the ability (cp Rom 8:3; Gal 3:10,13; Heb 9:15; Rom 3:25).

Rth 4:5

Notice how the redemption of the Land is linked to the redemption of the people who live on the Land!

LAND: Ruth was the real “treasure in the field” (Mat 13:44). Boaz buys the field (concealing the true value of the “treasure” Ruth).

THE MOABITESS: Since Naomi was past childbearing age (Rth 1:11), thus Ruth would be the Levirate wife. But marrying a Moabitess would be abhorrent to a “strict” Jew, who rested on letter of Law rather than the spirit.

YOU ACQUIRE THE DEAD MAN’S WIDOW: No picking and choosing which duties to take over and which not (and so also in the ecclesia). Even if Ruth had been married to the younger brother, the rights of the family would come through because Orpah stayed in Moab a Moabitess, whereas Ruth was here in Bethlehem as Israelite.

Rth 4:6

The nameless gaal refuses to redeem. Typ LM, with no power to forgive (Gal 3:10). But Christ, as gaal, became a curse for us (Gal 3:13), and also redeemed those under first covenant (Heb 9:15; Rom 3:25).

BECAUSE I MIGHT ENDANGER MY OWN ESTATE: How? (1) By impoverishing his own children (the Law lacked power to grant salvation); (2) By marrying Moabitess (cp Peter’s fears of Gentile associations: Acts 10).

“But by his feebleness he DID mar his own inheritance, for the fact that the Messianic line came through Boaz and Ruth fairly plainly implies that this kinsman’s line ceased. In deciding selfishly he decided badly” (WJR).

Rth 4:7

Not an act of contempt, but a simple custom of transferring property. Taking off shoe is giving up right to walk on land (ct Gen 13:17!). Shoe sym taking possession of (cp Psa 60:8; Deu 25:7-10).

Why no spitting, as in Deu 25:9? Becs Ruth was not there, in city gate! Did Boaz not take her to gate, so as to avoid this embarrassing aspect of Law, and make it easier for the kinsman to say “No” in the first place?

Rth 4:8

Cp Deu 25:7-10. Thus, he became “the unsandaled one”.

Rth 4:9

If such an act is witnessed by 10 men (a quorum), it becomes as legally binding as the finest document drawn up by the best NY lawyers!

THE PROPERTY OF… KILION: Orpah, by remaining in Moab, had given up any claims to inheritance.

Rth 4:10

So why is Ruth, even now (though she plainly worships the God of Israel), still called a “Moabitess”? Perhaps… what had been her condemnation at first (the “unclean” Moabitess! the “idolatress”) has now become a “badge of honor”… the former Moabitess who freely chose to come to Israel! The former worshiper of false gods who freely and gladly sought out and chose the God of Israel. (Like the “scarlet letter” of Hester Prynne, her shame had become her honor: see Lesson, Scarlet letter, the.) [And if that ISN’T the point, well then, it SHOULD be!]

Rth 4:11

RACHEL AND LEAH: Who left their home in a strange land to go to the Land of Promise! (Rachel later died in childbirth at Bethlehem: Gen 35:16,19.)

BUILT: Play on words: the word for “build” and the word for “son” are practically identical. Cp 2Sa 7:13.

Rth 4:12

TAMAR: Another Gentile bride. Tamar (a Canaanite woman) had invoked the Levirate Law to insure her inheritance in Israel (Gen 38). Another ancestor of Boaz (Mat 1). “The allusion to Pharez whom Tamar bare unto Judah is also highly appropriate, for not only was this the only other levirate union mentioned in the Bible, but the grudging acknowledgement by Judah that Gentile Tamar had such a right of marriage is closely paralleled by the attitude of the unnamed kinsman in this Book of Ruth” (WJR).

PEREZ: Sig “to break out, expand”.

Rth 4:13

Ruth, childless for (almost) 10 years (Rth 1:4), is now married to Boaz (a much older man), and conceives a child (almost immediately). The child becomes Boaz’s legal son also (since he has no other children?), and thus the heir of both inheritances (Mahlon/Kilion’s and Boaz’s). Thus two people who had no children (cp Abraham and Sarah) are enabled by God to conceive, and now have a special child — a link in the royal line of Judah that leads (ultimately) to the Lord Jesus Christ. Typical of the ecclesia saved in the childbearing (1Ti 2:15). The new son sym new walk in Christ (Rom 7:4).

Rth 4:14

KINSMAN-REDEEMER: How can a mere baby be the gaal? Because, in faith, Naomi sees the true gaal, who will be Obed’s descendant! Cp idea, Joh 8:56 with Gen 22:18: Abr rejoiced to see my day.

Rth 4:17

OBED: Sig “servant, worshiper”. Thus sym the true sons of ecclesia, who love Israel.

According to the levirate law, Obed should have reckoned as the son of Chilion; yet there is no hint of this. Perhaps this is because there was no other child born to Boaz, and therefore Obed reckoned as his.

Rth 4:19

RAM: Aram in Mat 1:3.

Rth 4:20

NAHSHON: Prince of Judah in wilderness: Num 1:7.

SALMON: Married Rahab the harlot of Jericho (Mat 1:5). At least 300 years before David’s birth — covered here by only 3 generations. Poss some generations omitted.

Rth 4:21

Boaz: In Mat 1, Boaz is reckoned as the tenth generation from Abraham (cp Deu 23:3).

Rth 4:22

DAVID: “This is the first mention of David. If, as seems probable, the author of Judges and Ruth was Samuel, then the last word he wrote was an expression of faith that the youth he had anointed would one day be King of Israel” (WJR).

Jdg 16:1

“Emboldened by these exploits, and by others, doubtless, Samson on a later occasion ventured right into Gaza, the great stronghold of the enemy, simply that he might indulge himself with the seductive pleasures of a harlot there. It has been distressing to the faithful of many generations since that day to read of the way in which Samson’s zeal for the deliverance of his people was so vitiated by this weak streak in his character. To be sure, all men of God, whose lives and doings are recorded in Scripture, are revealed as men of weakness in some respect or another. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David — the giants of Old Testament faith — all had their periods of faithlessness. Moses came near to open blasphemy, Hezekiah indulged in the vainglory of politics, Noah shamed himself in drunkenness, and Lot in incest. The catalogue is almost endless. Only Joseph — wonderful type of Christ — has no blot against his name. Yet all these names are in the Book of Life. And so, too, is Samson (Heb 11:32), though not because of these sins of his, but in spite of them and by the grace of God. Those who wrestle despairingly against similar odds might take courage from the force of his example and so renew faith in their own ultimate victory” (WJR).

Jdg 16:3

DOORS OF THE CITY GATE: Christ has power over “gates” of death. He possesses the gate of his enemies (Gen 22:17; Rev 1:18; 20:6). From a Canaanite theological text: “Surely he (ie Dagon) will take the doors of the gate and the posts of your residence…” (Tes 49:134). The god’s own words (as it were) are used to judge him.

HEBRON: Burial site of Abraham, whose seed would possess the gates of its enemies (Gen 22:17). Cp Isa 9:6: the government to be upon his shoulders.

Jdg 16:4

SOREK: Sig “choice vine”. Samson breaks his Nazarite vow (Xd 117:412).

DELILAH: “Languishing”, “coquette”, “dainty one”.

Jdg 16:5

1,100 SHEKELS OF SILVER: How different from the earlier threats to Samson’s wife (Jdg 14:15). This suggests Delilah was not Philistine, but Jewish.

Jdg 16:6

These three tests would have taken several days or weeks to carry out.

Jdg 16:7

Samson had learned his lesson: cp Jdg 14:15,16.

Jdg 16:15

More literally, as AV: “How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?” “The usual reproaches of a spoilt woman” (Xd 117:414). “The worst exhibition of the female temperament.” Or, in a different context, it might be the most profound question in the Bible — consider it as a question from God to man!

Jdg 16:16

“Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom” (Mic 7:5).

NAGGING: See Pro 19:13; 27:15.

Jdg 16:17

Samson expected her (a Jewess?) to understand this.

Jdg 16:19

HAVING PUT HIM TO SLEEP: It was a ticklish operation and full of risk. So, most probably, she doped him, for cutting his hair in normal sleep would be the biggest of risks.

Jdg 16:20

Poor Samson! ‘I will do as before.’ He did not yet realize that God was no longer with him. Now his strength was gone, not because his strength was in his hair but because the life-long covenant with the God of his fathers which he had so many times abused and disgraced was now utterly broken. “The Lord was departed from him”, and he was become “as one man” (Jdg 16:7 mg; what a contrast with Jdg 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14).

Jdg 16:21

Samson had offended with his eyes, desiring women (Mat 5:28,29), and he is punished in his eyes. Seeing with a clarity he had never before possessed, his eyes were now put out.

“It is possible that Peter makes reference to this enticement and capture of Samson: ‘They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness… While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world… they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning’ (2Pe 2:18-20). If the allusion is to Samson these phrases take on a good deal more force; cp also 2Ti 2:4,5” (WJR).

Cp the fate of king Zedekiah (2Ki 25:7), another example and type of the folly of Israel. Now they could safely have secured Samson with small twine.

Jdg 16:22

“But why were the Philistines such fools as to allow him his hair again? One can only assume that Delilah had explained to them the spiritual significance of his unshorn locks, and thus they reasoned: ‘His God cast him off, and will now have no more use for him.’ They little knew the graciousness of the God of Israel!” (WJR).

Jdg 16:23

OUR GOD: Their fatal mistake! Now they have escalated the war. No longer Samson vs Philistines, but Yahweh vs gods of Philistines. And they must surely lose.

Jdg 16:24

OUR GOD HAS DELIVERED…: This seems to suggest that this method of taking Samson, through a woman, had been counseled by an astute priest of Dagon.

Jdg 16:25

BRING OUT SAMSON TO ENTERTAIN US… AND HE PERFORMED FOR THEM: The Heb “sachaq” definitely means “dance”; but “shachaq” (one letter difference) means “beat small”! LXX evidently read the Hebrew with one letter different: “They smote him with the palms of their hands” — sw Mat 26:67 (cp Psa 69:12; Isa 50:6).

Jdg 16:26

SERVANT: “Lad” in AV. Cp Joh 6:9: a boy with bread and fish, participant in another great miracle.

PUT ME WHERE I CAN FEEL THE PILLARS THAT SUPPORT THE TEMPLE: “Then, the show over, they led Samson into the temple itself that there he might be inspected at closer quarters by the nobility: ‘And they set him between the pillars’, the twin pillars (their Jachin and Boaz) in the middle of the building which bore the main load of the roof and fulfilled the function of the keystone of an arch. Macalister’s excavations at Gezer, not many miles away, revealed that there was some such plan about the heathen temple there. Other digs at Gaza and Tel-en-Nasbeh have shown chiefs’ houses built to a similar pattern.

“Samson had evidently been in that temple in the days of his sight, and there he had noted the structural weakness. Now, at last, here was an opportunity to work for the deliverance of his people the like of which would never come his way again. In his day he had wasted many an opportunity of using his great strength to a good end. The lesson had now been learned. He would not waste this one. But, now, if there was to be achievement, it must not be for vainglory but by strength from God and to the glory of God” (WJR).

Jdg 16:28

FOR MY TWO EYES: Lit “for one of my two eyes” (RSV). Samson could not be avenged completely until all Philistines were defeated.

Jdg 16:30

He that was dead was at last freed from sin!

“The Israelite captive boy whose duty it was to be eyes to Samson realised now what his revered fellow-countryman sought to achieve, and darting nimbly through the throng, he was out to the open sky and safety before any could hinder him. To him, surely — under God — is owed the record of the Nazarite’s prayer of faith. Samson’s effort caught the attention of some who at first laughed uproariously at what he attempted, and spat on him with contempt. But Samson strained again, the muscles bulging stiff and hard in every part of his body. One of the pillars shifted slightly. A woman screamed and pointed in terror. Two young braves swore vigorously and threw themselves frantically on the naked straining Israelite, but in vain; as he made his final effort they might just as well have tried to bend a block of granite.

“Another muttered prayer escaped from Samson’s lips: ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ The pillars shifted again, and yet again. Then, with a resounding crash, that overloaded roof came thundering down bringing with it more pillars, masses of masonry and a dense crowd of Philistines whose holiday was now ended. Screams of fright and yells of pain rent the air, but from most there was just — silence. And a great cloud of dust ascended up to heaven. Samson’s God had avenged him of one of his two eyes.

“News of this last and greatest exploit was carried by Samson’s faithful, fleet-footed friend to the villages of Dan, and, mustering in a body, they marched fearlessly into Gaza. Unmolested by the Philistines (busy looking for fragments of Dagon), they disinterred his body from the mighty heap of rubble and carried it reverently back for interment in the tomb of his parents who had lived only long enough to be bitterly disappointed in the hopes they centred in their child of promise. Yet, one day, they will have rejoicing in him” (WJR).

Jdg 17:1

Date of last section: see Jdg 20:28. Prob during Joshua’s days, since Aaron’s grandson was ministering (cp Jdg 18:12n). Notice Joshua’s counsel in Jos 24: Put away the strange gods!

“The story of Samson is the proper end of the Book of Judges. With that the reader is brought almost, if not quite, to the time of Samuel. There are, actually, three appendices to the book:

• the story of Micah and the Danite apostasy (Jdg 17; 18);
• the frank account of the great crime of the Gibeathites and its consequences (Jdg 19-21);
• in sharp contrast with these, the charming idyll of Ruth the Moabitess.

The indications are that all these three appendices belong to the early days of the judges, but in none is there any mention of a ‘judge’. From that point of view they are not part of the original purpose and plan of the book at all.

‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ This expression, which comes four times altogether (Jdg 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25), implies that the Judges narrative was compiled during the reign of one of the kings. It might be read, also, as indicating a state of anarchy in Israel, when the national organization had gone to pieces. But this was far from being the case, for there are various allusions to a system of ordered government (eg Jdg 18:2,8; 20:1,2,12,13,18; 21:10,16).

“It is often overlooked that identical words are applied to Israel in the wilderness: ‘(When ye are come into the Land) ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes’ (Deu 12:8). When those words were spoken Israel did not lack cohesion or orderly government, but there are indications enough that at that time men served God or disregarded His law as they chose. It is in this sense that the words must be read concerning the period of the judges” (WJR).

MICAH: “Who is like Yah”. The man who should have had the answer to Isa 46:5: “To whom will ye liken me?”

Jdg 17:2

1,100 SHEKELS: The price of Samson’s betrayal (Jdg 16:5).

“There was a woman in mount Ephraim who had lost eleven hundred shekels — more than sixty thousand pounds (1989 inflation). The rabbis, seizing on the coincidence of this sum of money with that paid to Delilah (Jdg 16:5), supposed that the woman was none other than Delilah herself. This is hardly likely, for wasn’t that amiable lady paid her eleven hundred shekels five times over? In any case, the allusion to Mahaneh-Dan (Jdg 18:12) implies that this strange episode takes place before the time of Samson (Jdg 13:25)” (WJR).

Jdg 17:3

The psychology of apostasy: a blending of false and true, prob to pacify conscience.

Jdg 17:5

“A SHRINE”: “A house of GODS” (KJV), or “a house of GOD” (RV mg). Micah was too lazy to go to Shiloh, which was very nearby — but very industrious to build his own house of gods.

“It is appropriate to consider here one of the main problems of this incident, namely, the nature of the worship which Micah instituted in his own home. Several times over, there are mentioned four articles of devotion: a graven image, a molten image, an ephod and teraphim (17:4,5; 18:14,17,20).

“These accoutrements of Micah’s home-made religion present a strange mixture of the true and the false, the hallmark of apostasy from time immemorial.

“It is not unlikely that the graven image and the molten image [ie KJV text] are the same, one in apposition to the other. The golden calf made by Aaron is described in both ways (Exo 32:4).

“The ephod was, of course, a normal priestly garment. There is some evidence that the high-priest’s ephod was a kind of corselet — linen stiffened by gold wire — made vivid with the divine colours.

“Archaeologists have established, by comparison with similar features in contemporary religion, that the teraphim were small objects like children’s dolls. It would appear that in some way they were associated with right of inheritance to the family property; hence the great fuss made by Laban and his sons over Rebekah’s theft of her father’s teraphim (Gen 31:19-55).

“There is little difficulty in harmonizing Micah’s home-made system of approach to God with his evident belief in Jehovah as the covenant God of Israel. The fault lay in the blithe assumption that God would be well-pleased with a self-consecrated priest ministering in a sanctuary which the man himself had fashioned and located in a site convenient for himself, rather than in a place which the Lord his God had chosen. The service and worship in Micah’s private tabernacle might be — doubtless was — both sincere and devout, and in many of its features correct, but in certain big essentials, there was gross departure from the Law given through Moses. ‘I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me’ (Lev 10:3). ‘It shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, HE shall be holy’ (Num 16:7)” (WJR).

Jdg 17:8.

Vv 8,9: “He was the grandson of Moses [Jdg 18:30]. He was a leader in Israel — leading the people into idol worship and away from God. How did it happen? This young Levite had left Bethlehem in Judah in search of some other place to stay. It seems he had nothing to do, he was idle and needed a job. So when Micah offered him something to do, a job as a priest to Micah’s idols, he leapt at the chance — after all, it was better than wandering around bored.

“It was the priests and Levites who were supposed to be keeping Israel on track to serve and obey the LORD. They should have been busy teaching the people, serving at the tabernacle and helping with the offerings to the LORD. But this Levite had gone wandering, having nothing to do. I believe that his idleness was what turned him to idols. If he had been doing what he was supposed to be doing he would not have had the time nor inclination to commit such a great sin. It is just the same with us. When we have nothing to do and we are idle we can find ourselves turning to other gods: television, entertainment, gossip, etc. The solution? Keep busy at all times doing the work of the LORD” (RP).

Jdg 17:10

The first record of a hired priest: a so-called “father” who is treated as a “son” — completely supported by his congregation.

TEN SHEKELS: Out of 1,100? A bit “frugal”!

Jdg 17:13

A superstitious reliance on the outward religious forms. A right form is no insurance of one’s ultimate success.

Jdg 18:1

Spiritual laxity in any nation is soon followed by lawlessness and violence, and so it proved.

Vv 1,2: “Micah’s consecration of Jonathan proved to be the prelude to an episode unique in the history of Israel. The tribe of Dan, although apparently one of the largest tribes at the time of the entering of the Land, had not proved strong enough for the task of both winning and holding its inheritance from the indigenous races. ‘And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley’ (Jdg 1:34). The reference here to Amorites where one would expect the word Philistines is interesting. Can it have been between the time of Joshua and Samson that the Philistines first migrated to Canaan from their original home in Crete? On the other hand, it may have been Philistine pressure from the west on the Amorites which caused them to expand eastwards at the expense of the tribe of Dan.

“Whatever the explanation, it became a matter of urgent necessity that the portion of the Danite inheritance already occupied by speedily enlarged. So, after solemn conference, they proceeded to do the wrong thing. Instead of asking counsel of the Lord, instead of rallying their brethren of the other tribes of Israel to their aid, instead of strengthening themselves in the unfailing promises that had been made to their fathers, instead of going forth against both Amorite and Philistine in faith that God would give them the territory assigned to them under His leader Joshua — instead of any of these good alternatives, the men of Dan coveted another inheritance in a region where the divine lot had not fallen to them, and which was, indeed, outside the borders of the Promised Land as it had been measured off by Joshua. And there they planned to blot out a peaceful unsuspecting people rather than turn their weapons against legitimate and detestable foes on their own doorstep.

“In pursuance of this aim they first sent out five spies to find new land for settlement. In the course of their journey, these men came to the house of Micah” (WJR).

Jdg 18:3

Vv 3-6: “In the course of their journey, these men came to the house of Micah where they recognized the young Levite from Bethlehem. ‘They knew his voice’ (Jdg 18:3). There seems to be an implication here that the wanderings of this worthless Levite had taken him into Zorah and Eshtaol. Perhaps they readily recognized his voice because he was singing psalms in the ‘sanctuary’ at the time they came to the place.

“The men used this opportunity to ask counsel (somewhat belatedly!) of the Lord. How like human nature, to decide on the course to be followed, and then as an afterthought, when fully committed to it, to ask divine blessing on it!

“The Levite was, of course, unable to give them any genuine communication from the Lord. That was only to be had through the high priest. Nevertheless his ready wit was fully equal to the occasion and he gave them a message in the best Delphic tradition of ambiguity: ‘Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.’ What better than this most platitudinous of all truisms? It would apply perfectly to any circumstance that might befall them. But the men of Dan, with the naivete of so many who enquire of God in the wrong way, read into the words an assurance that their project would prosper, and they went off highly satisfied. Whatever bloody deeds they might plan hereafter, they were sure of divine approval — or so they thought” (WJR).

THEY RECOGNIZED THE VOICE…: Poss a different accent (cp Jdg 12:6). But note Jdg 18:30: this was a well-known young man, the grandson of Moses himself!

Jdg 18:7

Vv 7-10: “In due time they came to the extreme border of the Land, at the very edge of the northern territory assigned to Naphtali. Exploring there the fertile, remote valleys of the Anti-Lebanon, they lighted upon the quiet prosperous city of Laish. The people were Zidonians by race but out of touch with the main body of their people, being cut off from them by difficult mountain ranges: ‘They were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man (or — probable reading — with Syria).’

“The description of that quiet life of these people, as given either in the AV or RV, is not at all according to the original, and indeed scarcely makes sense. Yet it requires only the alteration of one letter to give the much more coherent reading: ‘There was no one to restrain (ie, to exercise political control over) any in the land.’ In the eyes of these spies from Dan, this would be a factor of some considerable importance.

“They hastened back home to report to a conclave of elders of their tribe. Their enthusiastic urgent story reads as though it had been their early intention to make an onslaught on this particular locality. It may be that from the first, this Danite migration was a deliberate move to rejoin Naphtali. Dan and Naphtali were both sons of Bilhah, and the two tribes shared the same encampment in the wilderness and were both in the rearguard when on the march. The returned spies reinforced their own favourable impression with Jonathan’s oracular utterance — or rather their interpretation of it: ‘God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth’ ” (WJR).

UNSUSPECTING AND SECURE: It would have been more to Dan’s credit had they stayed south and tackled the warlike Philistines. They applied Deu 20:10-18 where it should not have been applied, because outside their specified boundaries.

NO RELATIONS WITH ANYONE ELSE: That is, “with any MAN”. “Since the distinction between ADaM and ARaM (Syria) is so very slight, the change is quite likely. There are plenty of examples of this accidental switch between D and R” (WJR).

Jdg 18:11

Vv 11-21: “Immediate action was taken. A body of six hundred well-equipped men set out accompanied by their families. En route the additional scheme was hatched of persuading Jonathan the Levite to accompany them, to be their spiritual guide and helper in their new land of promise.

“This plan was expeditiously carried into effect. Whilst Jonathan was kept talking at the gate, others of the party boldly entered the “sanctuary” and brought forth the ephod and all the other appurtenances of priestly office. Jonathan felt bound to remonstrate, but there was little he could do about it, and when his own self-interest was coolly expounded to him, he speedily threw all scruples to the winds. Forgetting his commitment to Micah, and quite oblivious of the moral principles associated with the service of Jehovah, to whom he claimed to minister, he readily threw in his lot with these marauders.

“It was only to be expected that there would be pursuit by Micah, so the women and children were put in front, out of harm’s way. But Jonathan, immediately assuming the authority due to his new office, insisted on the observance of the religious proprieties and arranged for the holy equipment to be carried ‘in the midst of the people’, that is, in the centre of the long caravan, just as the furniture of the Tabernacle had travelled during the wilderness journey (Num 10; esp v 21)” (WJR).

Jdg 18:12

MAHANEH DAN: Was mentioned in Samson’s day (Jdg 13:25). Thus Jdg 17; 18 predates Samson, and prob most if not all of book of Judges (Jdg 17:1n).

Jdg 18:22

Vv 22-26: “Micah and the neighbours who rallied to help him made immediate pursuit and soon came up with the slow-moving host. At first the men of Dan feigned innocence and surprise: ‘What aileth thee that thou comest with such a company?’ Micah made bitter and reproachful reply (there is a superb realism about the narrative here): ‘Ye have taken away my gods which I made (see how the man confesses here his own folly!)… and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee?’ There was little strength of character behind these words. Why did he not insist that these men had earlier accepted his hospitality (v 2) and therefore should now maintain the covenant of peace by returning his property?

“As it was, the men of Dan speedily recognized that here was no formidable enemy. They knew now that they could bluff their way out of this situation without difficulty: ‘Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household’; as who would say: ‘These men are desperate; you would be wise to cut your losses, or worse things might befall.’ Which thing Micah did, for he loved his life more than his religion and its appurtenances.

“Moses had made a prophecy about this strange change of policy by the tribe of Dan: ‘Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan’ (Deu 33:22). From this it may be inferred that from Ephraim the migrants crossed Jordan and travelled north round the east side of Galilee. Their target Laish means ‘a lion’, so there is fair likelihood that it was an understanding of Moses’ prophecy which led them to this remote place in the north” (WJR).

Jdg 18:24

Micah had robbed his mother. Now he is robbed of very objects on which money was spent, by those who had used his hospitality.

THE GODS I MADE: The quintessence of spiritual stupidity: “They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, ‘Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?’ He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’ ” (Isa 44:18-20).

Jdg 18:30

THE SON OF MOSES: Definitely not “the son of Manasseh”, as KJV has it. The name of the Levite is finally revealed: he is the grandson of Moses himself!

“[This] verse makes Gershom to be the son of Manasseh. But Gershom was certainly the son of Moses (Exo 2:22). The explanation of this discordance, fully accepted by all scholars, is not without interest. In an effort to safeguard the reputation of their revered Moses, the scribes wrote into the manuscripts an additional letter nun above the line, thus: MnSH. In this way it was intimated to the synagogue reader that he was to substitute the name Manasseh for the name Mosheh. That alteration persists in every Hebrew Bible right up to the present day” (WJR).

LAND: Or poss “ark”, as in 1Sa 4:2,3,10,11.

JONATHAN SON OF GERSHOM, THE SON OF MOSES, AND HIS SONS WERE PRIESTS FOR THE TRIBE OF DAN UNTIL THE TIME OF THE CAPTIVITY OF THE LAND: “This statement about their priesthood is usually taken to mean that this Danite sanctuary continued right up to the time when Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria, took the northern tribes into captivity. And to this is often added the inference that therefore the Book of Judges must have been written after that date and probably after the Babylonian captivity.

“Both of these conclusions must be rejected because of two fairly plain indications that this unofficial priesthood ceased before the end of the reign of David — as indeed might be expected from a knowledge of David’s zeal for the sanctuary of the Lord in Zion. There was a Shebuel, a contemporary of David in the line of Moses-Gershom-Jonathan who was NOT a false priest in Dan but a faithful treasurer in Jerusalem (1Ch 26:24). Also, the words of the wise woman of Abel to Joab were, according to the Septuagint version: ‘They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel in Abel AND IN DAN’ (2Sa 20:18). The allusion is clearly to Jdg 18, and she spoke as though of a custom now discontinued. So it may be safely inferred that by the end of David’s reign the worship at Dan had ceased.

“A further detail in Jdg 18 suggests a different ‘captivity’ than the Assyrian or Babylonian: ‘And they set up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh’, ie, until the days of Samuel. This time indication is precisely what would be expected, for it is difficult to believe that Samuel, with his stern sense of duty, would tolerate even in remote Dan the existence of an apostate priesthood. The true ‘house of God was in Shiloh’.

“The Hebrew words for ‘land’ and ‘ark’ are very easily confused in Hebrew script. This alternative removes all difficulty: ‘Jonathan and his sons were priests until the day of the captivity of the ark’ (that is, until the time of Samuel: 1Sa 4:17,22); and Micah’s oracle continued its vogue all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.

“The first secession from true religious loyalty left its mark. In the days of Rehoboam, when upstart Jeroboam was seeking to wean the northern tribes from service to the House of David, he revived in Dan and Bethel the ancient worship of the golden calf. Dan was hardly a good centre to choose, because of its remoteness. Some site immediately north or south of Jezreel would surely have been better. But Dan already had a reputation as a place of worship. The memory of the sanctuary there still lingered.

“Further, it is interesting to observe that whereas at Bethel ‘he made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi’, the same is not written concerning Dan, for Dan already had its own tradition of priests descended from Moses.

“Thus it can be seen that the doom of the Northern Kingdom is to be dated from the day that Jonathan, the restless Levite, joined forces with the men of Dan. From that time also there began to be fulfilled the prophecy: ‘Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path’ (Gen 49:17).

“In Dan, apostasy was first fully organized. For this reason, probably, the name of Dan has been omitted from the roll of the tribes of Israel in Chronicles, and from the catalogue of the spiritual Israel who are sealed in their foreheads as the servants of God (Rev 7). ‘Without are… idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie’ ” (WJR).

Jdg 18:31

Competition with cousin, Phinehas, true priest in Shiloh (Jdg 20:28). Cp rivalry of Korah, etc against Moses and Aaron (Num 16).

Jdg 19:1

Jdg 19.

Jdg 19-21: See Lesson, Gibeah, sin (Jdg 19-21).

Jdg 19:2

WAS UNFAITHFUL TO HIM: Or “was angry with him” (LXX; RSV). “Josephus has a different version of the story here [ie, as cpd with KJV] — that ‘they quarrelled one with another perpetually; and at last the woman was so disgusted at these quarrels, that she left her husband and went to her parents.’ The Septuagint tends to support this. And it requires but the interchange of two letters in the Hebrew text to read the same idea here” (WJR).

Jdg 19:5

REFRESH YOURSELF: Euphemistic for another day of feasting.

Jdg 19:9

THE DAY IS NEARLY OVER: Lit, “the sun is going to pitch its tent.”

Jdg 19:15

What a ct with Jdg 19:5-9. Boorish behavior by men of Gibeah.

Jdg 19:16

LIVING: Or “sojourning”; not a permanent resident.

Jdg 19:17

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?: ‘Don’t you know better than to stop in a place like this?’

Jdg 19:19

WE HAVE BOTH…: That is, the traveling party would require little from anyone with whom they might lodge.

Jdg 19:22

MEN OF THE CITY: “City leaders”. The society of Gibeah was rotten from top to bottom.

BRING OUT THE MAN…: Cp Lot’s situation. But here there were no angels to help.

Jdg 19:23

A religious practice? Deu 23:17,18. It is treated as such: cp Jdg 20 with Deu 13:12-16.

DISGRACEFUL THING: “Folly” in AV. Sw Jdg 20:6,10: used of sexual sin.

Jdg 19:24

CONCUBINE: Not having the natural status of a wife.

Jdg 19:25

The memory of this night lasted a long time: Hos 9:9; 10:9.

Did they hope that these men would experience the same fate as Sodom? “Expositors may talk as plausibly as they may about the shockingly low status of women in those countries and those days; it still remains a grievous difficulty that the Levite should behave so callously to the woman whom he had just coaxed into returning with him. It has been argued that, after all, righteous Lot was prepared to make a similar offer to the vile men of Sodom (Gen 19:8). But in this respect are the two cases really parallel? Lot probably had good reason already to suspect the identity of his guests, and he certainly knew something of the character of his daughters (!) and would realise that having grown up in the place it would not be beyond their powers to cope with that vicious mob, most of whom they knew personally.

“Even so, this resemblance to the experience of Lot and the angels in Sodom is remarkably close in certain details. There can be little doubt that the narrative is designed to stress the similarities:

1. The wickedness of each city is general. 2. The one offering hospitality is a stranger, and aged. 3. The house is attacked, 4. the door is assaulted; 5. and the surrender of visitors is demanded, 6. for the same vile purpose. 7. Women are offered, that hospitality might not be abused, 8. and ultimately each city is utterly destroyed.

“Can it be that in this resemblance between Gibeah and Sodom lies the explanation of the two men’s strange readiness to sacrifice their womenfolk to the animal appetite of the gang outside? When they did so, was it because they had already recognized the similarity with Lot’s experience, and were even then devoutly hoping that the outcome would be the same — blindness on the perverts howling outside the door, and speedy judgment from heaven on their incurable wickedness? Certainly there would then be added reason for the Levite’s precipitate departure next morning” (WJR).

Notice: no appeal was made to the God of Israel. And this man was a Levite!

Jdg 19:27

Jdg 19:27.

“My concubine they have forced, so that she is dead” (Jdg 20:5).

Jdg 19:29

CUT UP… LIMB BY LIMB: As though she were a sacrifice. See Lesson, Covenant-victim, the.

SENT THEM INTO ALL THE AREAS OF ISRAEL: “A grisly form of mail solicitation.”

Jdg 20:1

FROM DAN: Impl the Danite migration of Jdg 18 had already taken place.

AS ONE MAN: Cp vv 8,11. And see 1Sa 11:7: Israel did not act in unison until time of Samuel, approx 300 years later.

Jdg 20:2

ASSEMBLY: “Ekklesia” in LXX.

Jdg 20:5

MEN: “Baaleh”: the lords of Gibeah, not the low fellows.

Jdg 20:10

They made plans without asking God — always a fatal mistake. (It was assumed that only 10% of available men would be sufficient for job.)

WE’LL TAKE TEN MEN OUT OF EVERY HUNDRED… [TO] GIVE THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE FOR ALL THIS VILENESS DONE IN ISRAEL: “It was anticipated that one tenth of the nation would suffice to bring home to the men of Benjamin, and Gibeah especially, the seriousness of their crime. This is the proper meaning of v 10 which should probably read: ‘And we will take ten men of an hundred… for the pursuit on behalf of the people, they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.’

“It is worthwhile, here, to observe the close connection between this narrative in Jdg 20 and Deu 13, the chapter which sets out the stringent measures to be taken against any Israelitish city encouraging idolatry. It is true that idolatry was not Gibeah’s sin, but the difference in degree from such apostasy was negligible, for the Gibeathite practices were closely akin to Amorite religious customs (Deu 23:17,18). There can be little doubt that the leaders of Israel were consciously following the very policy prescribed in these words of Moses: ‘If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again’ (Deu 13:12-16).

“It is therefore hardly wise to make sweeping denunciations of the men of Israel here in what was, after all, a sincere attempt to apply the difficult and unpalatable (v 23) requirements of their divine law” (WJR).

Jdg 20:18

Vv 18-25: 40,000 Israelites die, no doubt because all the nation shares responsibility for the act of Benjamin.

Jdg 20:21

THOUSAND: Heb “aleph”, or captains. See Lesson, Large numbers in the OT.

Jdg 20:25

THOUSAND: Heb “aleph”, or captains. See Lesson, Large numbers in the OT.

Jdg 20:40

“The archaeologists have concluded that Gibeah was destroyed by fire somewhere about 1100 BC (this date is a bit late by Bible chronology)” (WJR).

Jdg 20:45

RIMMON: Three miles east of Bethel.

AS FAR AS GIDOM: Or, “until they had cut them off” (sw Jdg 21:6).

Jdg 20:47

ROCK OF RIMMON: An impregnable natural fortress.

Jdg 14:2

Ct Deu 7:2-4; Jos 23:12.

Jdg 14:4

THIS WAS FROM THE LORD: Samson went “in his simplicity”, but Yahweh was overriding (or overruling) all this for His own purposes.

Jdg 14:8

Touching an unclean animal: Lev 5:2.

Jdg 14:10

FEAST: “Mishteh”, a drinking feast: an affront to his vow to Yahweh.

Jdg 14:11

HE WAS GIVEN THIRTY COMPANIONS: “Since Samson brought no guests of his own, thirty young Philistines were hastily added to the party. It was the kind of situation that this boisterous self-confident Israelite revelled in. He twitted these last-minute guests with having brought no wedding gifts (a deliberate snub, doubtless), and with mock joviality scarcely masking his dislike, he jokingly propounded a solution to their embarrassment” (WJR).

Jdg 14:14

“The riddle of lion and honey takes on special point when it is realised that ‘the mouth of the lion’ is a neat play on the name Philistine. And the word used for a “swarm” of bees in precisely that which is used scores of times for the congregation of Israel” (WJR).

Death and Sheol — the grave — this is the “strong lion” which “devours” all men. As with Samson’s riddle, so with the reality of Jesus’ death and burial: for three full days its meaning was not understood. But after those three days, with the resurrection of God’s Son, there came from the tomb “food” for all men, and the “sweetness” of a renewed life. “Out of weakness… made strong” (Heb 11:34) is one of the identification marks of the men and women of faith.

Compare also Jdg 16:30: Christ, being typical of Samson, destroyed more in his death than in his life — for he destroyed “him that had the power of death” (Heb 2:14), and thereby brought life out of death.

Jdg 14:15

OR WE WILL BURN YOU: She relented, and she and her father were burnt anyway (Jdg 15:6).

Jdg 14:18

Eternal life is sweeter than honey. And the resurrected Christ is stronger than a lion, for he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

IF YOU HAD NOT PLOWED WITH MY HEIFER, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE SOLVED MY RIDDLE: “This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s” (NET notes).

Jdg 15:4

FOXES: A place called Shaalabbin (= the foxes of the cunning one) was located close by (Josh 19:42). Did it take its name from this incident, or did it supply the idea for Samson’s weird prank?

Jdg 15:9

“After this he was no longer welcome amongst his own tribe. Philistine retribution which was powerless to harm Samson was doubtless savage against his brethren of the tribe of Dan. So, for some time he lived an outlaw life in a cave near Bethlehem. But the Philistines were not content to let the matter lie. Sooner or later this wild Israelite would burst forth again and do them further serious damage. Prudence indicated the need for prompt and drastic action against him. So they invaded the territory of Judah in force.

“The weakness of the men of Judah in face of this trouble is a sorry commentary on the miserable decline of morale in the Israelites at this period. Instead of rallying round Samson, and gladly following his confident lead, they immediately were willing to barter his life for some easement from Philistine oppression. Reflection on this shameful fact will make more apparent the magnitude of the task confronting Samson. The people had no will for freedom. Yet without Samson could there have been a Samuel, and without Samuel a Saul, or a David?” (WJR).

Jdg 15:11

“We have no king but Caesar.”

Jdg 15:13

The deliverer of Israel now worked alone, and was bound with cords, and led away.

Jdg 15:14

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM: Here, of course, and not in his long hair, was the true source of his amazing strength. True all the time.

Jdg 15:15

Psa 3:6,7 seems to allude to this. David in a feeble strait, and with his own people turning against him, gains comfort and strength from Samson’s success in a bad situation.

Jdg 15:16

THOUSAND: “Aleph” = company, or squad.

Jdg 15:18

Samson is no “mindless lout”. Step by step, he is made more aware of Yahweh’s deliverance.

BECAUSE HE WAS VERY THIRSTY, HE CRIED OUT TO THE LORD, “YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR SERVANT THIS GREAT VICTORY. MUST I NOW DIE OF THIRST AND FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE UNCIRCUMCISED?”: “Samson was thirsty and ready to die. The difficulty was totally different from any which the hero had met before. Merely to get thirst assuaged is nothing like so great a matter as to be delivered from a thousand Philistines! but when the thirst was upon him, Samson felt that little present difficulty more weighty than the great past difficulty out of which he had so specially been delivered. It is very usual for God’s people, when they have enjoyed a great deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them. Samson slays a thousand Philistines, and piles them up in heaps, and then faints for a little water!

“Jacob wrestles with God at Peniel, and overcomes Omnipotence itself, and then goes ‘halting on his thigh!

“Strange that there must be a shrinking of the sinew whenever we win the day. As if the Lord must teach us our littleness, our nothingness, in order to keep us within bounds.

“Samson boasted right loudly when he said, ‘I have slain a thousand men.’ His boastful throat soon grew hoarse with thirst, and he betook himself to prayer. God has many ways of humbling His people.

“Dear child of God, if after great mercy you are laid very low, your case is not an unusual one. When David had mounted the throne of Israel, he said, ‘I am this day weak, though anointed king.’ You must expect to feel weakest when you are enjoying your greatest triumph. If God has wrought for you great deliverances in the past, your present difficulty is only like Samson’s thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint, nor suffer the daughter of the uncircumcised to triumph over you. The road of sorrow is the road to [the kingdom], but there are wells of refreshing water all along the route. So, tried brother, cheer your heart with Samson’s words, and rest assured that God will deliver you ere long” (CHS).