“Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter; thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end, than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.  And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest; for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.  And now it is true that I am a near kinsman:  howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part; but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth:  lie down until the morning.”

And she lay at his feet until the morning:  and she rose up before one could discern another.  For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor.”  Then he gave her six measures of barley and went into the city.  He sat at the gate until the other kinsman he had spoken of came by, and Boaz said to him,

“Naomi selleth the parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech’s.  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.  What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.”

And the near kinsman said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; take then my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.  Buy it for thyself.”  And he drew off his shoe.  And Boaz called the elders to witness, saying,

“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.”

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife.

How anyone can read this charmingly told, frank, and realistic tale of ancient Hebrew life and call it a love-story, passeth all understanding.  There is not the slightest suggestion of love, either sensual or sentimental, on the part of either Ruth or Boaz.  Ruth, at the suggestion of her mother-in-law, spends a night in a way which would convict a Christian widow, to say the least, of an utter lack of that modesty and coy reserve which are a woman’s great charm, and which, even among the pastoral Hebrews, cannot have been approved, inasmuch as Boaz did not want it to be known that she had come to the threshing-floor.  He praises Ruth for following “not young men, whether rich or poor.”  She followed him, a wealthy old man.  Would love have acted thus?  What she wanted was not a lover but a protector ("rest for thee that it may be well for thee,” as Naomi said frankly), and above all a son in order that her husband’s name might not perish.  Boaz understands