Ruth 2

Ruth in the fields of Boaz

And Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a wealthy man of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field and glean heads of grain after someone who looks on me with favour”. And she said to her, “Go, my daughter”.

3 And she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to a part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was a relative of Elimelech.

4 And just then Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you”. And they answered him, “The LORD bless you”.

2:4 This was in the days of the judges when Israel was often sunk in sin, defeat and apostasy (Jud 2:16-19). But there were lamps in that darkness and Boaz was one of them – as every believer should be (Matt 5:14-15; Phil 2:15). Evidently Boaz was a man who honored God and was honored by his workers and peers (Ruth 4:11-12).⚜

5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has stayed from morning until now, except that she sat for a while in the house”.

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field and do not go away from here, but stay here close to my servant girls. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have I not ordered the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the water pots and drink what the young men draw”.

10 Then she prostrated herself, bowing down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have you looked on me with favour to take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you have not known before this. 12 May the LORD repay you for your work and may a full reward be given to you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to trust”.

13 Then she said, “Let me find favour in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your maid servant, even though I am not like one of your maid servants”.

14 And Boaz said to her, “At mealtime come here and eat bread and dip your pieces in the vinegar”. And she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and left.

15 And when she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean among the sheaves and do not embarrass her.

2:15 Boaz was a kind man willing to give more to the poor and needy than the law required (v 2). He is in great contrast to some men who want every grain for themselves.⚜

16 And also let some handfuls intentionally fall for her and leave them, so that she can glean them. And do not rebuke her”.

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she took it out and gave to her what she had left after she had been satisfied.

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you”. And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz”.

2:19 It was obvious to Naomi that the owner of the field had left a large amount of grain for Ruth to glean.⚜

20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not ceased being kind to the living and to the dead”. And Naomi said to her, “The man is a near relative of ours, one of our closest kinsmen”.

21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, “Also he said to me, ‘Stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”

22 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maid servants, so that some men do not happen to meet you in another field”.

23 So she kept close to the maid servants of Boaz to glean to the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.