mentioned. No; with Ruth the attention is wholly fixed on the moral qualities, and the sacred historian has thus assigned her a place beside the Christian women of the New Testament, where personal appearance is in no instance even alluded to. May we not, then, please ourselves with believing that Ruth was not beautiful; that she had merely one of those faces which come and go without being followed, except by the eyes that know and love them? Boaz no sooner learns who she is than he gives her a most kindly welcome: “Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field; neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn.” We are not told that Boaz was an old man, but it is implied in several places. He calls Ruth “My daughter,” and he is mentioned as a kinsman of Naomi's husband; he commends her for not following “young men, whether rich or poor,” and there is a certain calmness and dignity in his manner and conduct throughout the narrative, such as one would naturally connect with the idea of an elderly man. The generous kindness and the upright simplicity of his conduct toward Ruth are very beautiful. When the young widow, “falling on her face,” asks humbly, “Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” He answers, “It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law, since the death of thy husband;”—“a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Ruth was poor, and had doubtless met with neglect and harshness. She was generous and warm-hearted
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