Ruth 2 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Ruth 2

Ruth Meets Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”¹

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah² of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

[1] 2:7 Compare Septuagint, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain
[2] 2:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

Commentary

v1: Naomi had a relative, called Boaz, a wealthy land-owner. Here is a further aspect of God’s provision for the family. It is impossible to read this chapter without seeing God's providential hand upon Naomi and Ruth.

v2: Gleaning was God's provision for the poor, Lev 19.9-10; Deut 24.19-22. The style of reaping necessarily missed some sheaves, and these were to be left for the poor. By going into the field, Ruth and Naomi were trusting in God, that some of His people still honoured the law.

v3: Ruth 'happened' to arrive in Boaz' field. This was part of God's overruling in the whole story.

Gleaning was hard work, having to bend down to collect stray barley stalks, and then carry them. It pictures the way we learn from God's word as He teaches us and feeds us; but we must make an effort.

v4: Boaz and his reapers greeted each other in a godly way. Here was evidence of a remnant of those who loved God within a barren country.

v7: Boaz noticed Ruth and asked after here. Ruth was seen as someone both diligent and courteous.

v8-9: Boaz showed kindness to Ruth; she had privilege, protection, and provision. She was commanded to stay in Boaz' field (see v23); for the Christian, there is constant need to stay close to the Lord (pictured by Christ), and to stay with the Lord's people (pictured by the "servant girls").

v10: Ruth saw herself as undeserving, a foreigner, and alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and a stranger from the covenants of promise (Eph 2.12); she did not have the standing of Boaz' servant girls (v13).

v11-13: Boaz assured her of his blessing and commended her loyalty to Naomi. She had come under the Lord's wings and would soon come under Boaz' wings too (3.9). This was her place of refuge.

v14-16: Boaz showed Ruth extra kindness, even sitting with the reapers. The reapers were instructed to drop stalks for her. Will not the Lord honour our diligence and humility also?

v17-18: Gleaning also involved threshing what had been gathered. We must meditate on Scripture, to receive more goodness from the Lord.

v19-23: Ruth related the day's events. Naomi saw the hand of God, in Boaz, who considered the poor (Ps 41.1-3), who was a close relative, and who would guarantee protection for Ruth.

The command for Ruth was to 'stay close' as Boaz had directed her; for the Christian, staying close to the Lord, and to His people is the route to blessing and strength.