site: migne

title: Liber Ruth

author: Anselm of Laon and his school

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 113, coll. 531D–540A

source_text:
## CAPUT PRIMUM.

[0531D]

VERS. 1.-- *Facta est.* Propter paucitatem spiritualium doctorum quibus judicandi datur auctoritas, facta est fames verbi Dei, quando lex etiam per Judaicas traditiones corrupta est.

*Abiitque homo,* [n: (RAB.)] Christus, scilicet, in Bethleem [0532D] Juda natus peregrinationem hujus mundi visitavit, cum uxore sua, id est, Ecclesia, et cum duobus liberis, duobus scilicet ordinibus prophetarum et apostolorum qui sanguine Christi a peccati servitute sunt liberati.

*Abiit homo.* [n: (RAB.)] Quem quidam Decalogum legis [0533A] intelligunt, et uxorem ejus synagogam, et duos filios, regalem honorem et sacerdotalem: qui non solum in gente Judaeorum, sed et proselytorum copulam sibi acquirebant, sicut in tempore David, et Salomonis et aliorum factum est.

VERS. 2.-- *Mahalon.* Qui de fenestra vel a principio. Hic est chorus prophetarum per quos de fenestra primum fidei lumen in orbem processit: qui etiam veri luminis, id est Christi, primi praedicatores fuerunt.

*Chelion,* consummatio. Hi sunt apostoli qui aenigmata prophetarum ad consummationem pleni intellectus perduxerunt. Hi merito Ephrathaei et de Bethlehem Juda orti sunt: qui coelesti pane satiati per praedicationem Evangelii fructum praedicationis [0533B] collegerunt. Ephrathaeus enim frugifer, Bethlehem domus panis, Juda confessio interpretatur, unde: *Vos date illis manum.* Item, *Euntes praedicate Evangelium regni Dei.* Et alibi: *Elegi vos de mundo ut eatis, et fructum faciatis [n: (Marc. VI, XVI; Joan. XVI)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *Ruth.* Videns vel festinans, vel deficiens interpretatur: in qua obedientia et credulitas gentium designatur, de quibus dicitur: *Populus quem non cognovi, servivit mihi,* etc. Et alibi: *Aethiopia praeveniet manus ejus Deo [n: (Psal. LXVI)]*. Vocabantur ergo duo populi per sanctos praedicatores ad consortium fidei et electorum Dei, ut ex diversis gregibus fieret unum ovile.

VERS. 5.-- *Mortui sunt.* Post perfectionem pii laboris, [0533C] scilicet de exsilio hujus mundi ad coelestia regna migraverunt, ut expleto mandato Decalogi acciperent denarium beatitudinis.

VERS. 7.-- *Egressa est,* etc., *utraque.* Studiose satagit Ecclesia, ut plebes quas Apostoli et prophetae tempore suo instruxerunt, perducat ad unitatem fidei et societatem Christianae religionis: quae Scriptura referente didicit, quia justus non derelinquetur, nec semen ejus quaerens panem, qui de coelo descendit [n: (Psal. XXXVI)].

VERS. 8.-- *Ite in domum.* Ecclesia non indiscrete agit, nec indiscrete quemquam recipit, unde: *Nolite omni spiritui credere, sed probate spiritus, si ex Deo sunt [n: (I Joan. IV)]*. Possunt haec synagogae convenire, quae retrahit ad fidem Christi venientes, et maxime [0533D] illud, ut superata a veritate infirmam se cognoscit effoetandi: *Revertimini, filiae meae.*

VERS. 11.-- *Num ultra.* [n: (RAB.)] Vox synagogae veritatem confitentis et supervenientem culpam non tacentis quae a viro, id est, David relicta: et a filiis, id est, regibus et principibus privata, sterilem se esse et infirmam ad concipiendum filios Deo confitetur post adventum Christi.

VERS. 14.-- *Elevata.* Per has mulieres, quarum una dolens et lugens a socru recedit, altera obstinato animo adhaeret, credentes significantur: quorum alii percepta gratia baptismi et societate fieri, ad errores pristinos relabuntur, quos significat Orpha: quae ad Deos suos reversa est; alii vero definito consilio, [0534A] perceptam gratiam consequuntur, quos significat Ruth.

VERS. 16.-- *Quocunque.* Sic Ecclesia de gentibus vocata, relicta patria, id est idololatria omissa, carnali conversatione et desideriis, profitetur Deum suum esse in quem crediderunt sancti, et ituram quo caro Christi ascendit, et pro ejus nomine in hoc saeculo pati usque ad mortem, et cum populo sanctorum et prophetarum et patriarcharum; unde: *Laetamini gentes cum plebe ejus [n: (Rom. XV)]*.

VERS. 18.-- *Videns.* Gentilis populus obstinato animo praedicatores sequitur in terram sanctam, et in civitatem Dei Bethlehem, ubi praeparatur ad suscipiendum sponsum de stirpe Abrahae natum, in quo benedicentur omnes gentes vel tribus terrae.

[0534B]VERS. 20.-- *Ne vocetis.* Agnoscit synagoga calamitatem suam, quam post adventum Christi merito patitur: et refugit pulchra vocari, quia tempora prosperitatis suae finiri conspicit.

*Quando primum.* Id est quando lex incarnationis suae ordinem ad mysterium passionis Christi convertit. Messis enim hordeacea tempus Dominicae passionis exprimit, quae mense novorum, id est, primo mense contigit. Bene ergo tempore illo ad Bethlehem veniunt, quando lex Christum quem docet in Bethlehem natum, in pascha, id est in mense novorum, praedicat occisum. Sancta quoque Ecclesia toto conatu laborat, ut quas ad fidem convocat, incarnationis, passionis, resurrectionis merito imbuat. [0534C] Messis hordeacea Judaeorum exprimit credulitatem: qui peracto sacramento passionis, praedicantibus apostolis, primum ad fidem veniunt. Qui alibi quinque panibus hordeaceis pasti a Domino leguntur.

## CAPUT II.

VERS. 3.-- *Accidit.* Quia sancta Ecclesia ad Christum pertinet, cujus sponsa et corpus est. De quo dicitur: *Fortitudo mea et laus mea Dominus [n: (Psal. CXVII)]*. Et alibi- *Dominus fortis et potens. Dominus potens in praelio [n: (Psal. XXIII)]*. Ipse est cognatus Elimelech, qui de Bethlehem et de stirpe David natus, testimonium habet a lege et prophetis. Hic verba salutis et pacis familiae suae attulit, in cujus nativitate cecinerunt angeli, *Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in [0534D] terra,* etc. [n: (Luc. II)]. Cui venienti in Jerusalem obvia turba clamavit, dicens: *Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini [n: (Matth. XXI)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *Et rogavit.* Quia sancta Ecclesia perseverat in agro divinae lectionis post messores et praedicatores, mysteria Scripturarum colligens, ut in sinu mentis suae testimonia et exempla virtutum recordat. Vel ager ille est coelestis studii disciplina messis intelligentia spiritualis; messores, praedicatores; spicae remanentes, sententiae Scripturarum, quae multum per mysterium occultatae, quasi pleniores remanent ad exercitium meditantis. Plebs ergo gentilis ecclesiasticam disciplinam ardenter appetit, ut ad meditationem divinae legis et sanctorum [0535A] societatem admittatur, et sanctorum documentis vel exemplis reficiatur.

VERS. 8.-- *Ne vadas.* Quasi dicat: Ne recedas a statu fidei, ne sequaris errores haereticorum vel schismaticorum: sed magis jungere animabus sanctis, ut metas Scripturas sanctas, meditando, et opere implendo; et haustum divinae sapientiae de libris duorum Testamentorum (unde pueri, id est, sancti bibunt), et ipsa bibas.

VERS. 10.-- *Quae cadens in faciem.* Gratias refert Ecclesia gentium Salvatori, qui eam respicere dignatus est. Cui ille respondit: placere sibi, quod mortuo viro suo, id est, diabolo, parentes idololatras reliquit, et terram nativitatis, id est, carnalia desideria, et populo sanctorum se sociavit, qui sibi antea [0535B] ignotus fuit cum sequeretur cupiditatem veteris hominis.

VERS. 13.-- *Inveniam,* etc. Nota humilitatem gentilis Ecclesiae, quae se cognoscit imparem tantae gratiae, nec audet se aequiparare primitivae Ecclesiae; unde dicit: *Nam et catelli edunt de micis,* etc. Et alibi: *Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur puer meus [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Quando hora.* Hora vescendi fuit quando dictum est apostolis: *Ite, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti [n: (Matth. XVI)]*. A Domino enim dictum est: *In viam gentium ne abieritis [n: (Matth. X)]*.

[0535C] *Intinge buccellam.* Lege, scilicet quae diu meditata perseverans in priorem populum Pharisaeorum conditionibus vel traditionibus corrupta nativum saporem perdidit. In hac tingit Ecclesia buccellam, id est, mysterium incarnationis Christi dicit esse in Testamento Veteri, et ideo firmius credit, quia ante longe praefiguratum cognoscit.

VERS. 16.-- *De vestris.* Nota humilitatem patrisfamilias, qui non solum spicas relictas testimoniorum colligi permittit, sed etiam manipulos scientiae ultronea largitate impertitur.

*De vestris manibus projicite,* etc. Quia gentilis populi infirmitatem non despicit, nec pristinos errores improperat, sed studii sagacitate ad aedificationem perducit.

[0535D]VERS. 17.-- *Quasi ephi.* Cum in lectione per sanctae Trinitatis confessionem discit catholicam fidem. In ephi mensura, quae tres modios continet, signatur una divinitatis substantia, et trium personarum proprietas.

VERS. 18.-- *Quos portans.* Quia fidem suam matri Ecclesiae ostendit. Vel Ecclesia synagogae gratiam quam sponsi sui munere percepit, ostendit, ut eam provocaret ad fidem.

*Dedit ei.* Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum, scilicet de plenitudine cordis cibum praedicationis.

*Benedictus.* Synagoga, praedicante Ecclesia gentium, bonitatem et potentiam Domini cognoscit, et fortitudinem sui protectoris: et tandem veritate cogente [0536A] nomen Domini benedicit, quod servavit gratiam mortuis quam praebuit vivis.

VERS. 20.-- *Propinquus.* Cognoscit propinquum mater Ecclesia per gratuita beneficia populo gentium collata, et audito nomine recordatur beneficiorum antiquorum; unde: *Memor fui dierum antiquorum, meditatus sum in omnibus operibus tuis [n: (Psal. CXLII)]*.

VERS. 21.-- *Praecepit mihi.* Quia Christus omnibus ad se venientibus praecipit, ut magis cum fidelibus suis jungantur ad messem spiritualis segetis, quam cum alienis, cui persuasioni consentit socrus, dicens: *Melius est filia;* hoc ut bonum et utile non potest negare Synagoga.

VERS. 23.-- *Donec triticum.* Hoc est, tandiu adhaeret doctoribus in meditatione Scripturarum, donec [0536B] Veteris et Novi Testamenti notitiam in cella cordis reconderet: unde pastum animae sufficientem haberet.

## CAPUT III.

VERS. 2.-- *Aream.* Synagogam Judaeorum ubi legis hordeum conditum est: hanc Christus ventilat, quando in area Evangelium praedicans, singulorum consilia et voluntates erga se triturat; unde: *Jesus autem non credebat semetipsum eis, eo quod ipse nosset omnes, et non erat opus ei ut quis testimonium perhiberet de homine [n: (Joan. II)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Non te.* Quia fides gentium Ecclesiae non ante apparuit, quam Christus mysterium incarnationis suae implevit, quando corporaliter inter homines vivens cibo ac potu usus est, et tandem coenans [0536C] cum discipulis suis corporis et sanguinis sui sacramenta communicavit eis. Impleto autem mysterio dispensationis, Christi Ecclesia de gentibus ad fidem fiducialiter accessit.

VERS. 4.-- *Discooperies,* etc. Quod dicit: Agnosce Christum pro te passum, et veni devota mente, discute operimentum litterae Veteris Testamenti in quo tegitur sacramentum incarnationis Christi; et cum cognoveris inde tibi salutem promissam, humiliter ad auxilium ejus confuge, ut ibi permaneas omni tempore.

VERS. 7.-- *Acervum.* Testimonia Scripturarum; unde: *Filius hominis vadit sicut scriptum est de illo [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*. Vel juxta turmas fidelium animarum [0536D] quas morte sua ab inferis revocavit. Ad hunc lectum properavit Ecclesia et discooperto pallio, etc.

VERS. 12.-- *Sed est alius me propinquior.* Joannes Baptista qui Christus putabatur, sed sponsi nomen non usurpavit, sed Christo reservavit, dicens: *Qui habet sponsam sponsus est,* etc. Hic propinquior, quia in mundo prior natus. Vel iste propinquus, est legis decalogus qui propinquior Synagogae quam Evangelium videbatur, quia specialiter illi populo datus et tempore prior est.

VERS. 14.-- *Surrexit itaque antequam.* Quia antequam Judaei doctrina legis imbuti naturae suae jura cognoscerent, Ecclesia gentium inertiae suae somnium excutiens diluculo nascentis fidei resurrexit, et ad Christi gratiam properavit.

## CAPUT IV.

[0537A]

VERS. 1.-- *Declina.* Quia Christus Judaeis vidit legem constitutam temporaliter: et ad se declinare jussit: quia eam ad dispensationis suae mysterium testificandum inclinavit. Aliter: vidit propinquum praeterire, cum praecursoris sui adventum quem more humanae vitae properare conspexit, et ad officium praecursoris misericorditer convertit.

*Locutus.* Convenienter legisperitis partem agri Noemi ad emendum obtulit, cum partem plebis quae apparente jam gratia remansit, ad salvandum, magistris Synagogae ostendit, ut infirmitatem suam agnoscerent, et quod ipsi nequirent, vero medico faciendum committerent, unde leprosis dicitur: *Ite, ostendite vos sacerdotibus [n: (Luc. XVII)]*, et cum irent [0537B] mundati sunt.

VERS. 5.-- *Ut suscites.* Significat non aliam possessionem plebis quam copulationem Ecclesiae in conjugium Christi, qui suscitavit antiquum nomen filii Dei quod in initio habuerunt sancti; unde: *Videntes filii Dei,* etc., et Lucas dicit: Adam filium Dei, quem etiam in Ecclesia gentium per gratiam Dei suscitavit; unde: *Dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri,* etc. Hoc nomen in nationibus, legis decalogus suscitare non potuit. Si autem hoc ad Joannem Baptistam retuleris, invenies eum cedentem juri propinquitatis, et dicentem: *Ego baptizo in aqua: medius autem vestrum stetit quem vos nescitis: cujus non sum dignus solvere corrigia calceamenti ejus.* [0537C] Et alibi: *Ego non sum Christus: sed missus sum ante eum. Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est.* Cedit quoque lex Evangelio: *Lex enim subintravit ut abundaret delictum. Ubi autem abundavit delictum, superabundavit et gratia.* Reprobatio quidem fit praecedentis mandati propter infirmitatem ejus: introductio vero melioris spei per quam proximamus ad Deum fit per Jesum Christum.

VERS. 8.-- *Solvere.* Calceamentum velamen est mysteriorum. Lex vero de pede suo calceamentum solvit, et Christo dedit, quia sacramenta per magistros populi manifestare non potuit, sed Christo hoc faciendum reservavit. Joannes ergo non sibi, sed Christo calceamentum vindicavit, quia soli Christo sponsam competere intellexit; unde ait: *Non sum [0537D] dignus solvere corrigiam calceamenti ejus*

VERS. 9.-- *Testes.* Sic Christus ex utroque Testamento testes habet sufficientes, quod populum gentium quem decalogus jam finitus spiritualiter fecundare non potuit, ipse semine verbi Dei fecundavit omnia possidens, quae priores et posteriores habuerunt sancti.

VERS. 11.-- *Et majores.* [n: (ISID.)] Decem majorum natu benedictio ostendit in nomine Jesu omnes gentes esse benedicendas. Iota enim apud Graecos decem significat, quae in nomine Jesu prima littera est.

*Faciat Dominus hanc.* Imprecatur prospera Ecclesiae [0538A] gentium, ut gratiam fecunditatis, quam habuerunt Israelitarum primi parentes, percipiat.

*Rachel.* Spe internae contemplationis habens internam intelligentiam veritatis. Unde, Rachel bona facie, et pulchra specie, quam amat omnis pie studiosus, et propter hanc servit Laban, qui interpretatur dealbatio, quam comparat gratiae Dei qui dicit: *Quod si fuerunt peccata vestra sicut Phoenicium, tanquam nix dealbabuntur [n: (Isa. I)]*.

*Liam.* Actio hujus vitae in qua vivimus laboriosa est ex fide, et incerta, quo exitu perveniat ad utilitatem eorum quibus consulere volumus. Ipsa est Lia prior uxor Jacob, quae infirmis oculis fuisse memoratur.

VERS. 12.-- *Phares,* etc. Qui gentilis populi gratiam [0538B] tenuit, et in partu fratrem qui prior manum emiserat praecessit, Israel enim in opere legis prius manum emisit, et eam prophetarum et ipsius Christi cruore pollutam retraxit. Postea vero populus gentium prorupit, ut essent *primi novissimi, et novissimi primi [n: (Matth. XX)]*. Thamar quoque commutans vel amaritudo interpretatur. Ecclesia enim gentium et nomine et habitu, quae fuit in idololatria foeda et amara, in poenitentia fit dulcis et pulchra

VERS. 13.-- *Ut conciperet et pareret.* Semper Ecclesia Spiritus sancti munere fecundatur, et aliis ad lucem perpetuam decedentibus alii succedent, ut Christianum nomen in aeternum maneat et mater sanctissima de nova progenie in senectute sua consolationem habeat. Decedentibus quoque patriarchis [0538C] et prophetis successerunt evangelistae et apostoli, unde: *Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii.*

VERS. 15.-- *De nuru enim.* Nurus synagogae gentilis Ecclesia est quae nupsit Christo de synagoga nato. Quem scilicet per legem gignere non potuit per prophetiae mysterium susceptum, sub velamine figuratum portabat occultum, et nutricis fungebatur officio, quia matris carebat privilegio.

*Multo tibi melior,* etc. Multitudinem scilicet eorum qui in veteri testamento legis doctrinam nutriebant, qui scilicet non crediderunt verbo Domini et immolaverunt filios suos et filias suas daemoniis, et tandem Christum occiderunt et apostolos persecuti sunt.

VERS. 16.-- *Et nutricis.* Spiritualis prosapia generationis demonstratur. Obed enim Servilis interpretatur. [0538D] Isai, in sole sacrificium vel incensum; David, manu fortis vel desiderabilis. Qui enim strenue Deo servit, sacrificium illi gratum et suavissimum odoris incensum per opera virtutum et orationis studium impendit. Sicque roboratus fide et devotione desiderabilis est, et Deo placet.

VERS. 17.-- *Vicinae.* Coelorum virtutes, qui gaudent in fecunditate Ecclesiae, et vocant nomen ejus Obed, id est, serviens, quem superno regi secum servire desiderant.

VERS. 18.-- *Hae sunt.* Decem sunt generationes filii Judae usque ad David. Unde cognoscis quia totius divinae legis intentio ad Christum tendit, qui natus est de semine David, ut illius adventum praedicet [0539A] et legis perfectionem in eo manifestet: *Finis enim legis Christus ad justitiam omni credenti [n: (Rom. X)]*. Ante legem ergo Jacob de incarnatione Christi ait: *Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda, et dux de femore ejus, donec veniat qui mittendus est.* Ad David [0540A] autem, quia Christus de semine Juda, dictum est: *De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam.* Patet ergo etiam prophetarum et patriarcharum oraculum pertinere ad dispensationem Domini nostri Jesu Christi.

english:
## CHAPTER ONE.

[0531D]

VERS. 1.-- *It came to pass.* Because of the scarcity of spiritual teachers to whom the authority of judging is given, there came a famine of the word of God, when the law also had been corrupted through Jewish traditions.

*And the man went away,* [n: (RAB.)] Christ, that is, born in Bethlehem [0532D] of Juda, visited the pilgrimage of this world with his wife, that is, the Church, and with two children, that is, with the two orders of prophets and apostles, who by the blood of Christ were freed from the servitude of sin.

*The man went away.* [n: (RAB.)] Whom certain men understand to be the Decalogue of the law, [0533A] and his wife the synagogue, and his two sons the royal honour and the priestly: which acquired to themselves a bond not only among the people of the Jews, but of the proselytes also, as was done in the time of David and of Solomon and of others.

VERS. 2.-- *Mahalon.* He who is from the window, or from the beginning. This is the choir of the prophets, through whom the light of faith first went forth into the world from the window: who were also the first preachers of the true light, that is, of Christ.

*Chelion,* consummation. These are the apostles, who brought the riddles of the prophets to the consummation of full understanding. These are rightly Ephrathites, sprung from Bethlehem of Juda: who, filled with the bread of heaven, gathered [0533B] the fruit of their preaching through the preaching of the Gospel. For Ephrathite is interpreted fruitful, Bethlehem the house of bread, Juda confession; whence: *Give ye them the hand.* [var: Vulg. *date illis vos manducare*, "give ye them to eat"] Likewise, *Going, preach ye the Gospel of the kingdom of God.* And elsewhere: *I have chosen you out of the world, that you should go and bring forth fruit [n: (Marc. VI, XVI; Joan. XVI)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *Ruth.* She is interpreted seeing, or hastening, or failing: in whom the obedience and the belief of the Gentiles is designated, of whom it is said: *A people which I knew not hath served me,* etc. And elsewhere: *Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God [n: (Psal. LXVI)]*. Two peoples therefore were called through the holy preachers to the fellowship of the faith and of the elect of God, that out of diverse flocks there might be made one fold.

VERS. 5.-- *They died.* After the completion of their holy labour, [0533C] that is, they passed over from the exile of this world to the heavenly kingdoms, so that, the commandment of the Decalogue being fulfilled, they might receive the penny of blessedness.

VERS. 7.-- *She went out,* etc., *both of them.* The Church busily takes pains to lead the peoples, whom the Apostles and the prophets instructed in their own time, to the unity of faith and to the fellowship of the Christian religion: she who has learned, on the report of Scripture, that the just man shall not be forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread — the bread which came down from heaven [n: (Psal. XXXVI)].

VERS. 8.-- *Go into the house.* The Church does not act without discernment, nor receive anyone without discernment, whence: *Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God [n: (I Joan. IV)]*. These things can also fit the synagogue, which draws back those who are coming to the faith of Christ, and most of all [0533D] this: that, overcome by the truth, she acknowledges herself too weak for child-bearing: *Return, my daughters.*

VERS. 11.-- *Shall I have any more.* [n: (RAB.)] The voice of the synagogue confessing the truth and not keeping silence about the guilt that has come upon her: who, forsaken by her husband, that is, by David, and deprived of her sons, that is, of kings and princes, confesses after the coming of Christ that she is barren and too weak to conceive sons for God.

VERS. 14.-- *She lifted up.* By these women — of whom the one, grieving and mourning, goes back from her mother-in-law, while the other clings to her with obstinate mind — believers are signified: of whom some, when the grace of baptism and its fellowship has been received, slip back into their former errors, whom Orpha signifies, who returned to her own gods; but others, with settled purpose, [0534A] take possession of the grace they have received, whom Ruth signifies.

VERS. 16.-- *Whithersoever.* So the Church, called out of the Gentiles, her country left behind — that is, idolatry given up, and the fleshly manner of life and its desires — professes that God is her own, in whom the saints have believed, and that she will go where the flesh of Christ ascended, and for his name will suffer in this world even unto death, and be with the people of the saints and of the prophets and of the patriarchs; whence: *Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people [n: (Rom. XV)]*.

VERS. 18.-- *Seeing.* The Gentile people follows the preachers with obstinate mind into the holy land, and into the city of God, Bethlehem, where it is made ready to receive the bridegroom born of the stock of Abraham, in whom all the nations, or tribes, of the earth shall be blessed.

[0534B]VERS. 20.-- *Call me not.* The synagogue acknowledges her own calamity, which after the coming of Christ she deservedly suffers: and she shrinks from being called fair, because she sees the times of her prosperity coming to an end.

*When first.* That is, when the law turned the order of his incarnation to the mystery of the passion of Christ. For the barley harvest expresses the time of the Lord's passion, which fell in the month of new things, that is, in the first month. Rightly therefore do they come to Bethlehem at that time, when the law preaches Christ slain at the pasch, that is, in the month of new things — Christ whom it teaches to have been born in Bethlehem. Holy Church too labours with all her effort that those whom she calls together to the faith she may steep in the merit of the incarnation, of the passion, of the resurrection. [0534C] The barley harvest expresses the belief of the Jews: who, when the sacrament of the passion had been accomplished, come first to the faith at the preaching of the apostles. Who elsewhere are read to have been fed by the Lord with five barley loaves.

## CHAPTER II.

VERS. 3.-- *It happened.* Because the holy Church belongs to Christ, whose bride and body she is. Of whom it is said: *The Lord is my strength and my praise [n: (Psal. CXVII)]*. And elsewhere: *The Lord who is strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle [n: (Psal. XXIII)]*. He himself is the kinsman of Elimelech, who, born of Bethlehem and of the stock of David, has testimony from the law and the prophets. He brought words of salvation and of peace to his own household, at whose nativity the angels sang, *Glory to God in the highest, and on [0534D] earth,* etc. [n: (Luc. II)]. To whom, as he came into Jerusalem, the crowd that met him cried out, saying: *Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord [n: (Matth. XXI)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *And she asked.* Because the holy Church perseveres in the field of divine reading, after the reapers and preachers, gathering the mysteries of the Scriptures, that she may recall within the bosom of her mind the testimonies and examples of the virtues. Or that field is the discipline of heavenly study; the harvest, spiritual understanding; the reapers, the preachers; the ears left behind, the sentences of the Scriptures, which, being much hidden by mystery, remain as it were fuller for the exercise of one who meditates. The Gentile people therefore ardently desires the discipline of the Church, that it may be admitted to the meditation of the divine law and to the fellowship of the saints, [0535A] and be refreshed by the documents and the examples of the saints.

VERS. 8.-- *Go not.* As if he said: Withdraw not from the state of faith, follow not the errors of heretics or of schismatics: but rather join thyself to holy souls, that thou mayest reap the holy Scriptures by meditating and by fulfilling them in work; and that thou too mayest drink the draught of divine wisdom out of the books of the two Testaments (whence the servants, that is, the saints, drink).

VERS. 10.-- *And she, falling on her face.* The Church of the Gentiles gives thanks to the Saviour, who deigned to look upon her. To whom he answered: that it pleased him that, her husband being dead — that is, the devil — she left her idolatrous parents and the land of her birth, that is, fleshly desires, and joined herself to the people of the saints, who beforetime [0535B] was unknown to her, while she followed the covetousness of the old man.

VERS. 13.-- *May I find,* etc. Note the humility of the Gentile Church, who knows herself unequal to so great a grace, and does not dare to set herself level with the primitive Church; whence she says: *For the whelps also eat of the crumbs,* etc. And elsewhere: *Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed [n: (Matth. VIII)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *When the hour.* The hour of eating was when it was said to the apostles: *Go, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost [n: (Matth. XVI)]*. For it had been said by the Lord: *Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles [n: (Matth. X)]*.

[0535C] *Dip thy morsel.* The law, that is, which, long meditated on and abiding in the former people, was corrupted by the conditions or the traditions of the Pharisees and lost its native savour. In this the Church dips her morsel, that is, she says that the mystery of Christ's incarnation is in the Old Testament, and therefore believes it the more firmly, because she knows it was prefigured long before.

VERS. 16.-- *Of your own.* Note the humility of the father of the household, who not only allows the ears of the testimonies that are left to be gathered, but even bestows handfuls of knowledge with unasked generosity.

*Cast forth of your own hands,* etc. [var: Vulg. *de vestris quoque manipulis proicite*, "cast forth of your handfuls also"] Because he does not despise the weakness of the Gentile people, nor cast up to it its former errors, but by the shrewdness of his zeal leads it on to edification.

[0535D]VERS. 17.-- *About an ephi.* When in her reading she learns the catholic faith through the confession of the holy Trinity. In the measure of the ephi, which holds three pecks, is signified the one substance of the Godhead and the propriety of the three persons.

VERS. 18.-- *Carrying which.* Because she shows her faith to her mother the Church. Or the Church shows to the synagogue the grace which she received by the gift of her bridegroom, that she might provoke her to the faith.

*He gave her.* My heart hath uttered a good word, that is, out of the fulness of the heart the food of preaching.

*Blessed be he.* The synagogue, at the preaching of the Church of the Gentiles, comes to know the goodness and the power of the Lord, and the strength of her own protector: and at length, the truth compelling her, [0536A] she blesses the name of the Lord, because he kept for the dead the grace which he showed to the living.

VERS. 20.-- *A kinsman.* Our mother the Church knows her kinsman through the free benefits bestowed upon the people of the Gentiles, and at the hearing of his name she remembers the benefits of old; whence: *I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all thy works [n: (Psal. CXLII)]*.

VERS. 21.-- *He charged me.* Because Christ charges all who come to him that they be joined rather with his faithful to the harvest of the spiritual crop than with strangers; to which persuasion the mother-in-law consents, saying: *It is better, my daughter;* this, as good and useful, the Synagogue cannot deny.

VERS. 23.-- *Until the wheat.* That is, she cleaves to the teachers in the meditation of the Scriptures so long, until [0536B] she has laid up the knowledge of the Old and the New Testament in the storeroom of her heart: whence she might have food enough for her soul.

## CHAPTER III.

VERS. 2.-- *The threshing-floor.* The synagogue of the Jews, where the barley of the law was stored: this Christ winnows, when, preaching the Gospel on the floor, he threshes out the counsels and the wills of each man toward himself; whence: *But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, and because he needed not that any should give testimony of man [n: (Joan. II)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Let no man see thee.* Because the faith of the Church of the Gentiles did not appear before Christ had fulfilled the mystery of his incarnation, when, living bodily among men, he used food and drink, and at last, supping [0536C] with his disciples, he shared with them the sacraments of his body and his blood. But when the mystery of the dispensation was fulfilled, the Church of Christ from the Gentiles came to the faith with confidence.

VERS. 4.-- *Thou shalt uncover,* etc. What he says is: Acknowledge Christ as having suffered for thee, and come with a devout mind; shake off the covering of the letter of the Old Testament, in which the sacrament of Christ's incarnation is hidden; and when thou hast known that salvation was promised thee therein, flee humbly to his help, that thou mayest abide there at all times.

VERS. 7.-- *The heap.* The testimonies of the Scriptures; whence: *The Son of man goeth, as it is written of him [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*. Or, beside the throngs of faithful souls [0536D] which by his death he called back from hell. To this bed the Church hastened, and, the mantle being uncovered, etc.

VERS. 12.-- *But there is another nearer than I.* John the Baptist, who was thought to be the Christ, but did not usurp the name of the bridegroom, and kept it for Christ, saying: *He that hath the bride is the bridegroom,* etc. He is nearer, because he was born first in the world. Or this kinsman is the decalogue of the law, which seemed nearer to the Synagogue than the Gospel, because it was given especially to that people and is prior in time.

VERS. 14.-- *She arose therefore before.* Because, before the Jews, steeped in the teaching of the law, could come to know the rights of their own nature, the Church of the Gentiles, shaking off the sleep of her own sloth, rose again in the dawn of a faith just being born, and hastened to the grace of Christ.

## CHAPTER IV.

[0537A]

VERS. 1.-- *Turn aside.* Because Christ saw that the law had been appointed for the Jews for a time: and he bade it turn aside to himself, because he bent it to the bearing of witness to the mystery of his own dispensation. Otherwise: he saw the kinsman pass by, when he beheld the coming of his own forerunner, who was hastening after the manner of human life, and mercifully turned him to the office of a forerunner.

*He spoke.* Fittingly did he offer the lawyers Noemi's portion of the field to buy, when he showed to the masters of the Synagogue that part of the people which remained when grace had already appeared, to be saved; that they might acknowledge their own weakness, and commit to the true physician the doing of what they themselves could not do; whence it is said to the lepers: *Go, show yourselves to the priests [n: (Luc. XVII)]*, and as they went [0537B] they were made clean.

VERS. 5.-- *That thou mayest raise up.* It signifies no other possession of the people than the joining of the Church in marriage to Christ, who raised up again the ancient name of sons of God, which the saints had in the beginning; whence: *The sons of God seeing,* etc., and Luke says: Adam the son of God — which name he also raised up in the Church of the Gentiles through the grace of God; whence: *He gave them power to be made the sons of God,* etc. This name the decalogue of the law could not raise up among the nations. But if thou refer this to John the Baptist, thou wilt find him yielding the right of kinship, and saying: *I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you whom you know not: whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to loose.* [0537C] And elsewhere: *I am not the Christ: but am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.* The law also yields to the Gospel: *For the law entered in that sin might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did more abound.* There is indeed a setting aside of the former commandment because of the weakness thereof: but the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God, is made through Jesus Christ.

VERS. 8.-- *To loose.* The shoe is the covering of the mysteries. But the law loosed the shoe from its own foot and gave it to Christ, because it could not make the sacraments plain through the teachers of the people, but reserved this to be done by Christ. John therefore claimed the shoe not for himself but for Christ, because he understood that the bride belonged to Christ alone; whence he says: *I am not [0537D] worthy to loose the latchet of his shoe*

VERS. 9.-- *Witnesses.* So Christ has sufficient witnesses out of both Testaments, that the Gentile people, which the decalogue, now ended, could not make fruitful in spirit, he himself made fruitful by the seed of the word of God, possessing all things which the saints, both the former and the later, had.

VERS. 11.-- *And the elders.* [n: (ISID.)] The blessing of the ten elders shows that in the name of Jesus all nations are to be blessed. For iota among the Greeks signifies ten, and it is the first letter in the name of Jesus.

*May the Lord make this woman.* He prays for prosperity for the Church [0538A] of the Gentiles, that she may receive the grace of fruitfulness which the first parents of the Israelites had.

*Rachel.* Having, in the hope of inward contemplation, the inward understanding of truth. Whence Rachel was of a goodly countenance and of a beautiful form, whom every godly and earnest man loves, and for her sake serves Laban, who is interpreted a whitening, which he compares to the grace of God, who says: *If your sins have been as the Phoenician dye, they shall be made white as snow [n: (Isa. I)]* [var: Vulg. *si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum*, "as scarlet"].

*Lia.* The action of this life in which we live is laborious out of faith, and uncertain by what issue it may come to the profit of those for whom we mean to take counsel. She is Lia, the first wife of Jacob, who is recorded to have been weak-eyed.

VERS. 12.-- *Phares,* etc. Who held the grace of the Gentile people, [0538B] and in the birth went before his brother, who had first put forth his hand; for Israel first put forth his hand in the work of the law, and drew it back stained with the blood of the prophets and of Christ himself. But afterwards the people of the Gentiles broke forth, that the *first might be last, and the last first [n: (Matth. XX)]*. Thamar too is interpreted changing, or bitterness. For the Church of the Gentiles, both in name and in habit, which was foul and bitter in idolatry, becomes sweet and fair in penance.

VERS. 13.-- *That she might conceive and bear.* The Church is always made fruitful by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and as some depart to the perpetual light others come after them, that the Christian name may abide for ever and our most holy mother may have consolation in her old age from a new offspring. When the patriarchs [0538C] and the prophets departed, the evangelists and the apostles succeeded them; whence: *Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee.*

VERS. 15.-- *For of thy daughter-in-law.* The daughter-in-law of the synagogue is the Gentile Church, who was married to Christ, born of the synagogue. Whom indeed the synagogue could not beget through the law: him, received through the mystery of prophecy and figured under a veil, she carried hidden, and she discharged the office of a nurse, because she lacked the privilege of a mother.

*Much better to thee,* etc. That is, than the multitude of those who in the old testament were nourishing the teaching of the law, who indeed did not believe the word of the Lord, and sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and at last killed Christ and persecuted the apostles.

VERS. 16.-- *And of the nurse.* A spiritual lineage of generation is shown. For Obed is interpreted servile. [0538D] Isai, a sacrifice in the sun, or incense; David, strong of hand, or desirable. For he who serves God strenuously offers him a pleasing sacrifice and incense of the sweetest odour through works of virtue and the pursuit of prayer. And so, made strong by faith and devotion, he is desirable, and pleases God.

VERS. 17.-- *The neighbours.* The powers of the heavens, who rejoice in the fruitfulness of the Church, and call her name Obed, that is, serving, whom they desire to serve the supreme King together with themselves.

VERS. 18.-- *These are.* There are ten generations of the son of Juda down to David. Whence thou knowest that the whole intent of the divine law tends toward Christ, who was born of the seed of David, that it may proclaim his coming [0539A] and make manifest in him the perfection of the law: *For the end of the law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth [n: (Rom. X)]*. Before the law, therefore, Jacob says of the incarnation of Christ: *The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent.* And to David [0540A] it was said, because Christ is of the seed of Juda: *Of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne.* It is plain, therefore, that the oracle of the prophets also and of the patriarchs pertains to the dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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