See Ruth i.

THE parting of Naomi with her daughters-in-law forms the subject of the present engraving. Orpah has just said farewell and departed weeping; but Ruth, of a nobler, more faithful nature, clings to her mother-in-law, and refuses to leave her. Her words,- as recorded in the Bible, are among the most pathetic annals of devotion and domestic love: "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord, do so to me, and more also; if aught but death part thee and me."

The scene is finely portrayed by the artist. The wide, lonely land, over which the parting steps of Orpah lay, yet leads her home to kith and kin; but for Ruth, Love alone is to be the pathway of her future life, and she turns to Naomi, content with her to fix her lot, afterwards so beautifully rewarded by years of prosperity and peace.