And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare
unto Judah
Of whose tribe the Bethlehemites were, and were also of the house or family of Pharez, as appears from ( Ruth 4:18 ) who was born to Judah of Tamar, one of another nation, as Ruth was, and from whom sprung a very numerous family, one of the five families of Judah; and they wish that the family of Boaz, by Ruth, might be as numerous; and if Boaz was the same with Ibzan, as the Jews say, though that wants proof, he had a very numerous offspring, thirty sons and thirty daughters, ( Judges 12:8 Judges 12:9 )
of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman;
by which it is plain Ruth was present, for they do, as it were, point to her, and that she was a young woman, though a widow: the Jews say she was forty years of age, as observed in ( Ruth 3:10 ) and the elders wish and pray he might have a numerous family of the children the Lord would give him by her; and this might be the rather expected of her, as being a young woman, yet only as the gift of God, as children are, ( Psalms 127:3 ) .