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Ruth 2

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Boaz, Kinsman of Elimelech 1–3

1
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. ​
2
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. ​
3
And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. ​

Boaz Shows Favor to Ruth 4–16

4
And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. ​
5
Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
6
And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: ​
7
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
8
Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
9
Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. ​
10
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? ​
11
And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. ​
12
The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. ​
13
Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
14
And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. ​
15
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
16
And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. ​

Naomi Discovers the Kinsman 17–23

17
So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. ​
18
And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
19
And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
20
And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. ​
21
And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
22
And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
23
So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ruth 2

Verse 1

a mighty man of wealth — The Hebrew is gibbor chayil, the ‘mighty man of valour’ of Gideon (Judg 6:12) and Jephthah (11:1). The same chayil is used of Ruth as ‘a virtuous woman’ in 3:11. ‘Kinsman’ is moda, one who is known. Boaz stands in the line of Christ: ‘Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth’ (Matt 1:5).

Verse 2

glean ears of corn — The Law left the corners and gleanings of the field ‘unto the poor, and to the stranger’ (Lev 23:22) and a forgotten sheaf ‘for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow’ (Deut 24:19). Ruth is a widow and a foreigner. She asks to glean ‘after him in whose sight I shall find grace’ (chen), a word that returns in v.10 and v.13.

Verse 3

her hap was to light — ‘Hap’ is miqreh, a chance happening, and ‘light’ is qarah, to befall, so the Hebrew reads her chance chanced. The same verb stands in Abraham’s servant’s prayer, ‘send me good speed this day’ (Gen 24:12). The field proves to be that of Boaz, ‘of the kindred of Elimelech’, and Naomi names the LORD in v.20.

Verse 4

The LORD be with you — The master and the reapers exchange the LORD’s name. The exchange matches the greeting of Ps 129:8, ‘The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD’, said by those who pass the harvest. Boaz comes ‘from Bethlehem’, the town of 1:1 and 1:22.

Verse 6

the Moabitish damsel — The servant describes her by her country and by Naomi, ‘that came back with Naomi’. ‘Came back’ is shub, the verb of return in ch.1. A Moabite was barred from ‘the congregation of the LORD… even to their tenth generation’ (Deut 23:3), and Ruth is introduced as a Moabite before anything else is said of her.

Verse 9

shall not touch thee — ‘Touch’ is naga, as in Abimelech’s order, ‘He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death’ (Gen 26:11). Boaz’s protection covers the whole field, and her thirst: she may ‘go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn’.

Verse 10

take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger — ‘Take knowledge’ is nakar, to take notice of, and ‘stranger’ is nokriyah, a foreign woman. The two words share a root, and she asks why a foreigner has been noticed. Naomi uses the same verb in v.19, ‘blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee’.

Verse 11

the land of thy nativity — Moledet is the word of the call to Abram, ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house’ (Gen 12:1; KJV ‘kindred’). Boaz describes Ruth’s leaving of father, mother and land in the same terms, and what he knows of her was ‘shewed’ him.

Verse 12

under whose wings thou art come to trust — ‘Trust’ is chasah, to take refuge, as in Ps 91:4, ‘under his wings shalt thou trust’. ‘Full reward’ is maskoret, wages paid in full. In 3:9 Ruth asks Boaz to ‘spread therefore thy skirt’ over her, and ‘skirt’ and ‘wings’ are the same Hebrew word, kanaph.

Verse 14

dip thy morsel in the vinegar — ‘Vinegar’ is chomets, sour wine, used for dipping bread. The ‘parched corn’ (qali) is roasted grain, a plain food (Lev 23:14; 1 Sam 17:17). ‘Was sufficed, and left’ uses the verb of 2 Kgs 4:44, ‘they did eat, and left thereof’, and she keeps the remainder for Naomi (v.18).

Verse 16

let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose — The verb ‘let fall’ (shalal) is doubled in the Hebrew, ‘draw out, draw out’. The ‘handfuls’ (tsebet) are pulled from the reapers’ own bundles. This goes past what the Law required, the corners and the gleanings (Lev 19:9), and he adds ‘rebuke her not’, as in v.15, ‘reproach her not’.

Verse 17

an ephah of barley — ‘Beat out’ is chabat, the verb used of Gideon’s threshing (Judg 6:11). An ephah is ten omers (Ex 16:36), and an omer was a person’s portion of manna for a day (Ex 16:16). The barley is the grain of ‘the beginning of barley harvest’ when she came to Bethlehem (1:22).

Verse 20

his kindness to the living and to the dead — ‘Kindness’ is chesed, the word of Naomi’s prayer in 1:8 and of Boaz’s praise in 3:10. ‘Next kinsmen’ is go’el, the relative who redeems, as ‘any of his kin come to redeem’ a sold possession (Lev 25:25). Naomi recognises Boaz as one who holds that duty.

Verse 23

the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest — She gleaned from ‘the beginning of barley harvest’ (1:22) to the end of wheat harvest, which the feast of weeks marks as ‘the firstfruits of wheat harvest’ (Ex 34:22). Throughout this time she kept fast by Boaz’s maidens and ‘dwelt with her mother in law’.