פְּנוּ־אֵלַ֥י וְהִוָּשְׁע֖וּ כָּל־אַפְסֵי־אָ֑רֶץ כִּ֥י אֲנִי־אֵ֖ל וְאֵ֥ין עֽוֹד׃
Berpalinglah kepada-Ku dan biarlah kamu diselamatkan, hai segala ujung bumi! Sebab Akulah Allah, dan tidak ada yang lain.
Ruth Rabbah
Regarding that which the verse states: “Shaḥarayim begot children in the field of Moav [after he had sent them away, Ḥushim and Baara his wives]” (I Chronicles 8:8), Elijah, of blessed memory, asked Rabbi Nehorai, he said to him: ‘What is this that is written: “Shaḥarayim begot in the field of Moav”?’ [Rabbi Nehorai] said to him: ‘A great man begot in the field of Moav.’ “After he had sent them away” (I Chronicles 8:8) – as they were from the tribe of Benjamin, as it is written: “The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying” (Judges 20:12).143Just as the term “sent” appears in Judges regarding the tribe of Benjamin, the verse in Chronicles is hinting to the fact that the man’s wives were from the tribe of Benjamin.
Another interpretation, “Shaḥarayim,” this is Boaz. Why was his name called Shaḥarayim? It is because he was free [meshuḥrar] of iniquities. “Begot in the field of Moav,” as he begot from Ruth the Moavite. “After he had sent them away,” as he was from the tribe of Judah, as it is stated: “And he sent Judah before him to Joseph” (Genesis 46:28). “Ḥushim and Baara his wives,” does a man beget his wives? Rather, he was swift like a leopard and articulated the halakha:144He expounded the verse: “An Amonite and a Moavite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4). An Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite but not a Moavite woman. “He begot from Ḥodesh his wife” (I Chronicles 8:9) – it should have stated only, “from Baara his wife.” Rather, in his days, the halakha of an Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite and not a Moavite woman, was introduced [nitḥadsha].
One verse says: “Yitra the Ishmaelite” (see I Chronicles 2:17), and one verse says: “Yitra the Israelite” (II Samuel 17:25). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He is Yitra the Ishmaelite, he is Yitra the Israelite.145Both verses refer to the same person. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman and the Rabbis: Rabbi Shmuel said: He was an Ishmaelite, and you say Israelite? Rather, he was an Ishmaelite. He entered the study hall and found Yishai sitting and expounding thus: “Look to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth…” (Isaiah 45:22).146Anyone from all the ends of the earth can look to God and be saved. He converted, and [Yishai] gave him his daughter. The Rabbis say: He was an Israelite, and you say Ishmaelite? Rather, he was an Israelite and he girded his sword like an Ishmaelite. He stuck his sword in the middle of the study hall and said: I will either kill or be killed until I establish the halakha for the multitudes, so that anyone who abrogates this halakha, I will behead him with this sword: An Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite and not a Moavite woman.
Another interpretation, “Shaḥarayim,” this is Boaz. Why was his name called Shaḥarayim? It is because he was free [meshuḥrar] of iniquities. “Begot in the field of Moav,” as he begot from Ruth the Moavite. “After he had sent them away,” as he was from the tribe of Judah, as it is stated: “And he sent Judah before him to Joseph” (Genesis 46:28). “Ḥushim and Baara his wives,” does a man beget his wives? Rather, he was swift like a leopard and articulated the halakha:144He expounded the verse: “An Amonite and a Moavite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4). An Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite but not a Moavite woman. “He begot from Ḥodesh his wife” (I Chronicles 8:9) – it should have stated only, “from Baara his wife.” Rather, in his days, the halakha of an Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite and not a Moavite woman, was introduced [nitḥadsha].
One verse says: “Yitra the Ishmaelite” (see I Chronicles 2:17), and one verse says: “Yitra the Israelite” (II Samuel 17:25). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He is Yitra the Ishmaelite, he is Yitra the Israelite.145Both verses refer to the same person. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman and the Rabbis: Rabbi Shmuel said: He was an Ishmaelite, and you say Israelite? Rather, he was an Ishmaelite. He entered the study hall and found Yishai sitting and expounding thus: “Look to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth…” (Isaiah 45:22).146Anyone from all the ends of the earth can look to God and be saved. He converted, and [Yishai] gave him his daughter. The Rabbis say: He was an Israelite, and you say Ishmaelite? Rather, he was an Israelite and he girded his sword like an Ishmaelite. He stuck his sword in the middle of the study hall and said: I will either kill or be killed until I establish the halakha for the multitudes, so that anyone who abrogates this halakha, I will behead him with this sword: An Amonite but not an Amonite woman, a Moavite and not a Moavite woman.
Midrash Tehillim
And He will judge the world with righteousness. Rabbi Levi said: When the Holy One judges the nations, He judges them at night, at the time when they are asleep and free from sin. But when He judges Israel, He judges them at the time when they are engaged in Torah study. Rabbi Alexandri said: Ruth did not arise from the Moabites nor did Obed and his descendants, since they were considered from the side of Judah. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One verse says "and his name was Yeter the Yisraelite" (2 Samuel 17:25), while another verse says "the Yishmaelite" (1 Chronicles 1:31). Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said: His name was Yishmaelite, but he was called Yisraelite because once he entered the study hall and heard the voice of Jesse reciting the verse "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22). Immediately he converted and Jesse gave him his daughter in marriage. The sages, however, say that he was called Yisraelite because he sharpened his sword like Yishmael and entered the study hall and said, "Either I will kill or I will be killed, but I will fulfill the words of my teachers." Ammonite but not Ammonitess, Moabite but not Moabitess.