Ruth 2

Rth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech. And his name was Boaz.

A kinsman - More literally “an acquaintance”.

Boaz - Commonly taken to mean, “strength is in him” (compare 1Ki_7:21). It is the name of one of the pillars in Solomon's temple, so called from its strength. This man is commonly said by the Jews to be the same with Ibzan, a judge of Israel, Jdg_12:8, he was the grandson of Nahshon, prince of the tribe of Judah, who first offered at the dedication of the altar, Num_7:12, his father's name was Salmon, and his mother was Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, Mat_1:5.

Rth 2:2 And Ruth of Moab said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.

Glean ears of corn - The poor went into the fields and collected the straggling ears of grain after the reapers.

After him in whose sight I shall find grace - She did not mean Boaz; but she purposed to go out where they were now reaping, and glean after any person who might permit her, or use her in a friendly manner. The words seem to intimate that, notwithstanding the law of Moses, the gleaners might be prevented by the owner of the field. Leviticus 19:9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field. And you shall not gather the gleaning of your harvest. Leviticus 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corner of your field. When you reap the gleaning of your harvest, you shall not gather. You shall leave them to the poor and to the stranger. I am Jehovah your God. Deuteronomy 24:19 When you cut down your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to bring it. It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand. But liberty to glean behind the reapers was not a right that could be claimed; it was a privilege granted or refused according to the good will or favor of the owner. Hard-hearted farmers and reapers threw obstacles in the way of the poor, and even forbade their gleaning altogether.

Rth 2:3 And she went. And she came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come upon a part of the field of Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

and gleaned in the field after the reapers - when they had cut down and bound up the corn, what fell and was left she picked up, having first asked leave so to do:

Her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz - It was a chance in reference to second causes, but ordered by God's providence. God wisely orders small events, even those that seem altogether contingent. Many a great affair is brought about by a little turn, fortuitous as to men, but designed by God.

Rth 2:4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they answered him, Jehovah bless you.

Rth 2:5 And Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose girl is this?

His servant that was set over the reapers - This was a kind of steward who had the under management of the estate.

Rth 2:6 And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the girl from Moab who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

Rth 2:7 And she said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. And she came, and has kept on from the morning until now, but that she stayed a little in the house.

The house - The shed or booth where they took their meals, and were sheltered from the sun in the heat of the day. It seems as if the reapers were now resting in their tent, and that Ruth had just gone in with them to take her rest also.

Rth 2:8 And Boaz said to Ruth, Do you not hear, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, neither go away from here, but stay here close by my maidens.

Abide here fast by my maidens - These were possibly employed in making bands, and laying on them enough to form a sheaf, which the binders would tie and form into shocks or thraves. These maidens were such, who either gathered the handfuls, cut and laid down by the reapers, and bound them up in sheaves, or else they also reaped, as it seems from the following verse; and it was very probably customary in those times for women to reap. When the maidens had gathered up the scattered handfuls thrown down by the reapers, Ruth picked up any straggling heads or ears which they had left.

hearest thou not, my daughter? - meaning not what the servant had said, but hereby exciting her to hearken to what he was about to say to her.

Rth 2:9 Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men that they shall not touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

After them - after my maidens. The fields not being divided by hedges, but only by unplowed ridges, it would be easy for her to pass off Boaz’s land without being aware of it, and so find herself among strangers where Boaz could not protect her.

The young men that they shall not touch thee - This was peculiarly necessary, as she was a stranger and unprotected.

go unto the vessels - Gleaners were sometimes allowed, by kind and charitable masters, to partake of the refreshments provided for the reapers. The vessels alluded to were skin bottles, filled with water--and the bread was soaked in vinegar (Rth_2:14); a kind of poor, weak wine, sometimes mingled with a little olive oil--very cooling, as would be required in harvest-time.

Rth 2:10 Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found grace in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?

Then she fell on her face - Prostrated herself, as was the custom in the East when inferiors approached those of superior rank. This was the humblest posture of reverence, either civil when performed to men, or religious, when to God.

seeing I am a stranger? not a citizen of Bethlehem, nor indeed one of the commonwealth of Israel; but of the daughters of Moab, and of a people who were not fit and worthy to enter into the congregation of the Lord.

Rth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully shown to me all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, And you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before now.

Rth 2:12 May Jehovah repay your work, and may a full reward be given you from Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to trust.

The similarity of expression here to Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward, and in Ruth 2:11(in part) And you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before now to Genesis 12:1 And the LORD said to Abram, Go out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house into a land that I will show you makes it possible that Boaz had the case of Abraham in his mind.

The Lord God of Israel - Jehovah the God of Israel Joshua 14:14 And Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, to this day, because he fully followed the LORD God of Israel In both verses, the force of the addition, the God of Israel, lies in the person spoken of being a foreigner.

and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel - the Targum adds, in the world to come; which is called the reward of the inheritance, Colossians 3:24 knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ a reward not of debt, but of grace; and that will be a full one indeed, fullness of joy, peace, and happiness, an abundance of good things not to be conceived of, see 2John 1:8 Look to yourselves, so that we may not lose those things which we worked out, but that we may receive a full reward.

under whose wings thou art come to trust – an expression of acknowledgement that Ruth has claimed the God of Israel as her God. Wing is also a word that means a man’s skirt or robe. Here it symbolizes God and His protection.

Rth 2:13 Then she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me; for you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, though I am not like one of your handmaidens.

though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens - not worthy to be one of them, or to be ranked with them, being meaner than the meanest of them, a poor widow, and a Moabitish woman; Ruth 2:13 And she said, Let me find grace in thy sight, my lord, because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, and behold, I shall be as one of thy servants. (Septuagint) version leaves out the negative particle.

Rth 2:14 And Boaz said to her, At mealtime come here and eat of the bread and dip your bit in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers. And he handed her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied, and left.

To dip the morsel, or sop, whether it were bread or meat, in the dish containing the vinegar was, and still is, the common custom in the East. Matthew 26:23 And He answered and said, He who dips his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me. Mar 14:20 And answering He said to them, It is one of the Twelve, the one dipping with Me in the dish.

Dip thy morsel in the vinegar – The word we translate vinegar, seems to have been some refreshing kind of acid sauce used by the reapers to dip their bread in, which both cooled and refreshed them. Vinegar, rob of fruits, etc., are used for this purpose in the East to the present day; and the custom is to dip the bread and hand together into these cooling and refreshing articles. Chomez, a sour beverage composed of vinegar (wine vinegar or sour wine) mixed with oil; a very refreshing drink, which is still a favourite beverage in the East.

and she sat beside the reapers - the women reapers; she did not sit along with them, or in thee midst of them, in the row with them, as ranking with them, but on one side of them, which was an instance of her great modesty:

Parched corn - This was a frequent repast among the ancients in almost all countries.

parched corn - This parched corn seems to be the new barley they were reaping, which they fried in a pan and ate. The parched corn which is best is made of new barley moderately dried and parched; and that it was the custom of some to drink the same with new sweet wine, or wine mixed with honey, in the summertime, before they went into the bath, who say they feel themselves by this drink freed from thirst.

and she did eat, and was sufficed - she had such a plentiful share given her, that she had more than she could eat, and which it seems she carried home to her mother-in-law, Rth_2:18.

Rth 2:15 And when she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not rebuke her.

Let her glean even among the sheaves - pointing to a particular spot where might be the best ears of corn, and where more of them had fallen. This was a privilege; for no person should glean till the sheaves were all bound, and the shocks set up.

Rth 2:16 And also let fall of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them so that she may glean them, and do not rebuke her.

And let fall some of the handfuls on purpose for her - That is, when they had reaped an handful, instead of laying it in its proper order, to be taken up by those that gathered after them, or by themselves, in order to be bound up in sheaves, scatter it about, or let it fall where they reaped it:

Rth 2:17 And she gleaned in the field until the evening, and beat out what she had gleaned. And it was about an ephah of barley.

and beat out that she had gleaned - When the quantity of grain was small, it was beat out by means of a stick. Ruth gleaned enough to support herself and her mother-in-law for five days Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded: Each man gather of it according to his eating, an omer for a head, according to the number of your souls. Each one shall take for those who are in his camp. Exodus 16:36 And an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. The verses from Exodus are regarding manna, but show roughly how many days worth of food they had. This was a great deal for one woman to pick up, ear by ear, in one day; and must be accounted for, not only by her diligence and industry, but by the favour shown her by the reapers, under the direction of Boaz, who suffered her to glean among the sheaves, and let fall handfuls for her to pick up. One commentator says that the ration of a male in ancient Mari was 1-2 pounds of grain per day, so this measure would have lasted Ruth and Naomi for several weeks. Regardless, it was a generous amount.

an ephah - supposed to contain about a bushel.

Rth 2:18 And she took it up and went into the city. And her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought it forth, and gave to her what she had kept after she was satisfied.

and drew out what she had left from her sufficiency - of the parched corn which Boaz had reached her (Rth_2:14).

Rth 2:19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed is he who took notice of you. And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.

Rth 2:20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of Jehovah, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, he is of our redeemers.

One of our next kinsmen - miggoaleynu, of our redeemers, one who has the right to redeem the forfeited inheritance of the family. The word goel signifies a near kinsman - one who by the Mosaic law had a right to redeem an inheritance, and also was permitted to vindicate or revenge the death of his relation by killing the slayer, if he found him out of the cities of refuge.

One of our next kinsmen - The word here is gā'al, the redeemer, who had the right:
1) of redeeming the inheritance of the person;
2) of marrying the widow;
3) of avenging the death. (See Lev_25:25-31, Lev_25:47-55; Deu_25:5-10; Deu_19:1-13.)

One of our next kinsmen - In order to prevent families from running to decay, if a brother died childless, the next unmarried brother took his widow; and the children from that marriage were reputed the children of the deceased brother. The office of the next akin was threefold:
1. It belonged to him to buy back the forfeited inheritance, or the liberty of him who had been obliged to sell himself for a servant.
2. It was his right to avenge the blood of any of the family who had been killed, by killing the murderer.
3. It belonged to him to take the widow of a deceased brother or relative, if he died childless.
If the nearest akin in any case refused, he was treated with indignity, lost his right to the inheritance, and the next akin to him might come forward and take the widow, etc., as in the case of Boaz. See Rth_4:4-10.

One of our next kinsmen –The kinsman redeemer is a foreshadow of Jesus, who is our kinsman redeemer.

To the living and to the dead - Naomi and Ruth were the living; and they were also the representatives of Elimelech and Mahlon, who were dead. Naomi was of the family; and Ruth, though not of the family, was a representative of one of its deceased branches, being the widow of Mahlon.

Rth 2:21 And Ruth of Moab said, He said to me also, You shall keep close by my young men whom I have until they have ended all my harvest.

all my harvest--both barley and wheat harvests. The latter was at the end of May or the beginning of June.

Rth 2:22 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, Good, my daughter. You go out with his maidens so that they do not fall upon you in any other field.

Rth 2:23 And she kept close by the maidens of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.