Metaphysical meaning of Ruth (mbd)
Ruth, ruth (Heb.)--female friend; sympathetic companion; desirable; delightful; friendship; pleasing; beautiful.
A Moabitess who became the wife of Boaz, an Israelitish man of Beth-lehem-judah. David was descended from her. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and returned with her from Moab to Beth-lehem-judah (Ruth 1 to 4).
Meta. The love of the soul in its natural state, or the love of the natural soul for God and for the things of Spirit.
Ruth is a type of the beautiful, the pure, and the loving characteristics of the natural man (sympathetic companion, friendship, female friend, delightful, desirable, beautiful). She was the one and only good that Naomi took with her back to Beth-lehem-judah (divine substance, the real).
In Ruth's words in Ruth 1:16 is represented human love raised to divine love by its willingness to leave the love of the unreal, to follow after the real, to go wherever true love leads, to be steadfast in that love; in other words, to love in the highest and best degree and to acknowledge and worship always the God of love.
Ruth's loyalty to God and the spiritual life was rewarded, just as such loyalty always is. Boaz and Ruth were ancestors of King David and of David's greater son, Jesus the Christ. Here we have the progression of a thought from simple, loving obedience and devotion to a mighty ruler of worlds. Thus spiritual thought grows--very quietly and slowly at first, but gradually increasing--until it finally carries all before it.________________________
Preceding Entry: Rumah
