Verse 17
17. There is a son born to Naomi The son of Ruth was called Naomi’s, and that aged and childless widow herself rejoiced over the birth just as Rachel and Leah, who built the house of Israel, (Ruth 4:11,) rejoiced over the children borne them by Bilhah and Zilpah. their maid-servants. Genesis 30:1-13. By the birth of this child she was assured that the name of her precious dead would not be cut off from among their brethren. Ruth 4:10.
They called his name Obed The name means, literally, one who serves; and, as the context seems to suggest, was given to the child of Ruth and Boaz because he served to gladden Naomi’s old age. From this it appears that the law of Deuteronomy 25:6, was not understood to mean that the firstborn child of the levirate marriage must be called after the very name of the dead. See note on Ruth 4:10.
He is the father of Jesse, the father of David Thus at last is brought out fully and significantly the author’s manifest object in writing this brief but deeply interesting history of Ruth. It throws a calm and peaceful light upon the ancestry of the greatest personage of Israelitish history.
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