Lit., he.

Lit., such a one, so and so.

Following some ancient versions (cf. v. 10); the Hebrew text reads, you acquire it also of Ruth the Moabitess.

See Matt. 1:3a and notes.

By gaining a husband and a home for a resting place, Ruth received a reward, a gain, for God’s economy. First, she gained a redeeming husband, who typifies Christ as the redeeming Husband of the believers (Rom. 7:4). Second, Ruth was redeemed by the capable Boaz from the indebtedness of her dead husband (vv. 1-9), typifying the believers being redeemed by Christ, the almighty, omnipotent Redeemer, from the sin of their old man, their old husband. Third, Ruth became a crucial ancestor in the genealogy that brought in the royal house of David for the producing of Christ (vv. 13-22; Matt. 1:5-16). This indicates that Ruth had an all-inclusive and all-extensive gain with the position and capacity to bring Christ into the human race. She is thus a great link in the chain that is bringing Christ to every corner of the earth. Finally, Ruth also continued the line of the God-created humanity for the incarnation of Christ (Matt. 1:17). Through Boaz and Ruth the line of humanity that was for Christ’s incarnation was prolonged.

Ruth, a Gentile and even a Moabitess, was joined to God’s holy elect and became an heir to partake of the holy inheritance through her union with the one of the holy elect who redeemed her. This is not merely a type but a complete prefigure of the Gentile sinners’ being brought, with Israel, God’s elect, into the divine inheritance through the redemption of Christ in their union with Him (Acts 26:16-18; Eph. 3:6).

The books of Joshua and Judges show us God’s move in His economical Spirit, the Spirit of power (Acts 1:8), whereas the book of Ruth portrays God’s move in His essential Spirit, the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). As illustrated by Samson, the judges moved in God’s Spirit of power but not in His Spirit of life. God’s Spirit came upon Samson (Judg. 13:25; 14:6, 19), but Samson and many of the judges had no control over their indulgence in lust (see note Judg. 8:16¹, note Judg. 9:5¹, and note Judg. 14:1¹). In contrast, the book of Ruth is a book not of power but of life. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz were persons in life to the uttermost. Not one judge was a forefather of Christ. It was Ruth and Boaz who participated in keeping the line in humanity to bring Christ forth out of eternity into time, to bring Christ forth with His divinity into humanity. This shows that only life can bring Christ forth. Only life can keep the lineage, maintaining the thin line to bring God into humanity, to produce Christ, to minister Christ, and to supply the entire human race with Christ. This was done not by the judges but by Ruth and Boaz, who took the way of life.

The succeeding books of the Old Testament are a long record of the generations for the prolonged line of humanity for the incarnation of Christ (Matt. 1:17).