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Photo portrait of "Ruth the Moabitess" (Library of Congress) |
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Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to leave you, to return from following you, for wherever you go, I will go... Your people shall be my people, your God my God" |
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And Naomi and Ruth both went on until they arrived at Bethlehem |
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Ruth came to a field that belonged to Boaz who was of the family of Naomi's deceased husband |
A central element of the story of Ruth is her going to the local fields where barley and wheat were being harvested so that she could collect charitable handouts. She gleans in the fields of Boaz, a judge and a relative of Ruth's dead husband (as such he had a levirate obligation to marry the widow). The union resulted in a child, Obed, the grandfather of King David.
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Boaz said to his servant, who stood over the reapers, "To whom does this maiden belong?" |
The members of the American Colony were religious Christians who established their community in the Holy Land. They were steeped in the Bible and photographed countryside scenes that referred to biblical incidents and prohibitions.
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Boaz said to Ruth, "Do not go to glean in another field...here you shall stay with my maidens" |
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Boaz said to her at mealtime, "Come here and partake of the bread..." He ordered his servants "Pretend to forget some of the bundles for her." |
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Ruth carried it to the city and Naomi saw what she had gleaned |
We have matched the pictures with corresponding verses from the Book of Ruth.
We present a few of the dozens of "Ruth" photographs found in the Library of Congress' American Colony collection. See more of the pictures here.
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Ruth came to the threshing floor and Boaz said, "Ready the shawl you are wearing and hold it," and she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley.... |
Unfortunately, we don't know when the "Ruth and Boaz series" was photographed, but we estimate approximately 100 years ago.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Click on the caption to view the original.
Pictures from late 1800s
ReplyDeletehttp://primo.getty.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=GRI&afterPDS=true&institution=01GRI&docId=GETTY_ROSETTAIE475146
Found via
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/flowers-and-pictures-of-the-holy-land/
Could I get your direct email. I'm the person who advised you of the Mitchell Library collections in Sydney Australia.
gary@feraltek.com.au
Wonderful to have unearthed these photos.- Thank you!
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