THE BOOK OF RUTH.

CHAPTER II. VERSES 8, 9, 14.

s Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: 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. 14 And Boaz said unto her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

V. 9. DRINK OF THAT WHICH THE YOUNG MEN HAVE DRAWN] The Hebrew for 'have drawn' is yishabun, from shahav, 'to draw water.' The LXX. has kai piesai othen ean hudreuōntai ta paidaria, and drink of that which the youths shall have drawn of water.' The V. is et bibe aquas de quibus et pueri bibunt, and drink the waters from which also the youths drink.' This wealthy Bethlehemite supplied his reapers with water, and probably found his harvest work despatched more quickly, and certainly more soberly, than the farmers of England get theirs executed on cider and beer.

V. 14. IN THE VINEGAR] Hebrew, ba-khometz, 'in the fermented drink '-probably sour wine (vin-aigre = vinegar), similar to the posca served out to the Roman legionaries. The Syriac adds she 'dipped the bread in milk,' and the Arabic has 'she poured milk upon it' (the bread). Dr Gill remarks, "Vinegar was used because of the heat of the season, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra remark, for cooling and refreshment; and such virtues Pliny ascribes to vinegar as being refreshing to the spirits, binding and bracing the nerves, and very corroborating and strengthen. ing; and it is at this day used in Italy, it is said, in harvest-time, when it is hot, where they also used wine mixed with vinegar and water, as Lavater says; and who from a learned physician observes, that reapers instead of wine use vinegar mixed with a great deal of water, which they call 'household wine,' allayed with water; to which if oil and bread be put it makes a cooling meal, good for workmen and travellers in the heat of the sun; and the Targum calls it pottage boiled in vinegar. The Romans had an embamma or sauce made of vinegar, in which they dipped their food, and Theocritus makes mention of vinegar as used by reapers."

CHAPTER III. VERSE 7.

And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

AND HIS HEART WAS MERRY] Hebrew, and he was good as to his heart.' [See Note on Judg. xvi. 25.] It is not said what Boaz ate and drank, but that he might be merry without partaking of intoxicants is well known to those who have made the experiment.

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

CHAPTER I. VERSES 9-17.

9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk: (now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD:) 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. II And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

V. 9. AFTER THEY HAD DRUNK] The LXX. has meta to phagein autous, ' after they had eaten,' adding the words, not in our Hebrew text, and she stood before the Lord.' Codex A and the Complutensian edition give also, 'and after they had drunk,' and the Complut. ed. omits and she stood before the Lord.' The V. has postquam comederat et biberat, 'after she had eaten and drunk.' So reads the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel.

V. II. I WILL GIVE HIM UNTO THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE] This was in effect a dedication of her wished-for son to a life-long Nazaritism. The Lxx. has a clause not found in the Hebrew text or V. version-kai oinon kai methusma ou pietai, and of wine and strong drink he shall not drink.' Philo quotes this clause, and pointedly refers to Samuel as 'chief of kings and prophets,' and as a Nazarite for life.

V. 13. THEREFORE ELI THOUGHT SHE HAD BEEN DRUNKEN] Hebrew, lěshikorah, 'for a drunken woman.' So the LXX., eis methuousan; and the V., temulentiam (from temetum, the old Latin word for intoxicating wine).

V. 14. How LONG WILT THOU BE DRUNKEN?] Hebrew, ad-mathi tishtakkahrin; Lxx., heōs pote methustheesee; V., usquequò ebria eris?

PUT AWAY THY WINE FROM THEE] Hebrew, hahsiri eth-yāynāk maahlaik; the LXX., perielou ton oinon sou [Codex A adds apo sou] kai poreuou ek prosōpou kuriou, 'put away thy wine and depart from the presence of the Lord;' the V. has digere paulisper vini quo mades, 'get rid quickly of the wine in which thou art steeped.' V. 15. I HAVE DRUNK NEITHER WINE NOR STRONG DRINK] Hebrew, vě-yayin vě-shakar lo shathithi, 'wine and strong drink I have not drunk ;' the Lxx., kai oinon kai methusma ou pepōka, 'and wine and strong drink I have not drunk'; the V., vinumque et omne quod inebriare potest non bibi, 'and wine and whatever is able to inebriate I have not drunk.' The Ts. read, 'new wine and old I have not drunk.'

A devout Hebrew matron, sorrowful from want of offspring and the exultation of a rival wife, goes up to the tabernacle to pour out her soul before God. Eli, the high priest, observing that her lips moved, and that she was under deep excitement, suspects her of intoxication, a suspicion which he bluntly expresses, jealous no doubt for the honour of the holy place. She respectfully repudiates the charge, and with so much evident sincerity that Eli not only credits her statement, but bestows on her his pontifical benediction. It may be noted,—

1. That the readiness with which Eli concludes as to Hannah's inebriation indicates a prevailing corruption of morals, which had taken this peculiar form, and had deeply infected even the female population.

2. That Hannah's disclaimer was associated with a conclusive proof of her innocence- 'I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink.' Where this statement can be truly made, drunkenness, in all its degrees, is impossible. The importance of being able to declare this is not small, for the speaker is then sure (as otherwise he may not be) that he is entirely free from alcoholic excitement, which, if short of intoxication, is injurious to body and soul. I am not excited by drink,' is a conviction only attainable by abstinence, and not a little consoling under reproach. Hannah, be it noted, did not resort to intoxicating liquor to drive out or drown her sorrows-a striking contrast to the supposed permission in Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. (See Note on that passage.) She sought comfort not in potations, but in prayer,—‘I have poured out my soul unto the Lord,'—and she received her reward. Would that all our women were like her!

3. When Hannah desired not to be counted 'a daughter of Belial'—i. e. a daughter of wickedness or destruction-she presented a vivid description of every female drunkard, who is so corrupted by drink as to lose all womanly virtue, and to be prepared for every shameful deed. Drunkenness in women is peculiarly odious and horrible, and when it becomes confirmed is well-nigh incurable, except by forcible deprivation of the raging liquor. In order to arrest the spread of this corrosive vice among the women of Christendom, should Christians esteem abstinence from its physical cause too great a sacrifice to be volunteered?

CHAPTER I. VERSE 24.

And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh : and the child was young.

AND A BOTTLE OF WINE] Hebrew, vě-navel yayin, 'and a bottle of wine.' This was as an offering, together with the flour and the three bullocks (or, as the Lxx. reads, one bullock of three years old'). The Lxx. retains the Hebrew word in kai nebel oinou, 'and a nebel of wine.' The V. has et amphora vini, ‘and an amphora of wine.' The Roman amphora was a two-handled jar commonly holding seven English gallons, but the word is here used without any intention of defining the size of the Hebrew nebel.

CHAPTER VIII. VERSES 14, 15.

15 And

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

YOUR VINEYARDS] Hebrew, karmaikem, 'your vineyards.'

CHAPTER X. VERSE 3.

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.

A BOTTLE OF WINE] Hebrew, navel yayin. The Lxx. gives askon oinou, 'skinbag of wine'; the V., lagenam vini, 'a flagon of wine.'

CHAPTER XIV. VERSE 2.

And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men.

A POMEGRANATE TREE] Hebrew, Rimmon. The LXX. has hupo teen rhoan, 'under the pomegranate'; the V., sub malogranato, 'under the malegranate.' But by Rimmon in this passage is probably meant a fortified place which had derived its name from the growth of the pomegranate. Concerning this tree the 'Treasury Bible' observes, "It is, according to the Linnæan system, a genus of the Icosandria Monogynia class of plants, and is a low tree growing very commonly in Palestine and other parts of the East. It has several small angular boughs, very thick and bushy, covered with a reddish bark, and some of them armed with sharp thorns. Its blossoms are large, of an elegant red colour inclining to purple, composed of several stalks resembling a rose, in the hollow of the cup; this cup is oblong, hard, purple, having a figure somewhat like that of a bell. It is chiefly valued for its fruit, which is exceedingly beautiful, of the form and size of a large apple, with a reddish rind, and red within; being full of small kernels, with red grains, replenished with a generous liquor, of which, Sir John Chardin informs us, they still make considerable quantities of wine in the East, particularly in Persia.' [See Note on Song of Sol. viii. 2.]

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