Ruth 2: Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz

In plain English: Naomi had a relative (or: someone known to the family) on her husband's side, a man of great wealth (or: a mighty man of worth; this Bible: a mighty man of wealth), from the clan (this Bible: family) of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.

The Hebrew words: "A relative" is moda, which the dictionary gives as "an acquaintance". It is in only this verse. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "a friend an acquaintance of her husband". "A mighty man of wealth" is gibbor chayil. The dictionary gives chayil as "probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength". In Ruth it is in 3 verses: here, 3:11 ("a worthy woman") and 4:11 ("treat you worthily").

What changes: Read as "wealth", Boaz is a rich man. Read as "worth" or "valor", he is a strong man, or a man of good standing. The text does not say which it means. It shows that he owns a field and has reapers working for him.

In plain English: Ruth the Moabite woman said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose eyes (this Bible: sight) I find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter."

Good to know: The law tells the people of Israel to leave part of the harvest for those in need: "You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner" (Leviticus 23:22, also 19:9 and 19:10). Deuteronomy 24:19 says a forgotten sheaf "shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow". Ruth is a foreigner (verse 10), and her husband has died (verse 11).

In plain English: So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers, and it so happened (literally: her chance chanced) that she came to the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

In plain English: Just then (this Bible: behold) Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "Yahweh be with you." They answered him, "May Yahweh bless you."

In plain English: Then Boaz said to his servant (literally: his young man) who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"

In plain English: The servant in charge of the reapers answered, "She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.

In plain English: She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.' So she came, and she has kept at it (literally: she has stood) from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house (the Hebrew here is hard to follow)."

The Hebrew words: The end of this verse is hard to follow in the Hebrew. Word for word it reads "this her sitting the house a little". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "and rested not even a little in the field".

What changes: Read the way this Bible has it, she rested only a short time in the house. Read the way the Greek has it, she did not rest at all. Either way, the servant says she has worked from the morning on.

In plain English: Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter (literally: have you not heard, my daughter?). Do not go to glean in another field, and do not leave this one. Stay close here to my young women (this Bible: maidens).

In plain English: Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow after them. Have I not ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the jars (this Bible: vessels) and drink from what the young men have drawn."

In plain English: Then she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me (this Bible: take knowledge of me), when I am a foreigner?"

The Hebrew words: "Take knowledge of me" is from nakar, which the dictionary gives as "properly, to scrutinize, i.e. look intently at; hence (with recognition implied), to acknowledge ... care for". "A foreigner" is nokri, "strange, in a variety of degrees and applications (foreign, non-relative ...)". In Hebrew the two words sound alike: Ruth asks why he should notice her (nakar) when she is a foreigner (nokri). Naomi uses nakar again in verse 19, "Blessed be he who noticed you".

In plain English: Boaz answered her, "I have been told all that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died: how you left your father and your mother and the land where you were born, and came to a people you did not know before (literally: yesterday and the day before).

In plain English: May Yahweh repay you for what you have done, and may you be given a full reward by Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take shelter (this Bible: refuge)."

The Hebrew word: "Wings" is kanaph, which the dictionary gives as "an edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bedclothing) a flap". Ruth uses the same word in 3:9, where this Bible says "the corner of your garment". The same picture, with the same words for wings and for taking refuge, is in Psalm 91:4: "Under his wings you will take refuge."

Good to know: Boaz's wish is his own blessing on Ruth. It speaks of Yahweh, but it is not words spoken by Yahweh.

In plain English: Then she said, "May I find favor (or: I find favor) in your eyes, my lord, because you have comforted me and spoken kindly (literally: spoken to the heart) to your servant, though I am not even like one of your servants."

In plain English: At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here and eat some of the bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers, and he (this Bible: they) handed her roasted grain (this Bible: parched grain). She ate until she was full, and had some left over.

In plain English: When she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not shame her (this Bible: reproach her).

In plain English: Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave it. Let her glean it, and do not scold her (this Bible: rebuke her)."

In plain English: So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it came to about an ephah of barley.

In plain English: She picked it up and went into the town, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then Ruth brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten her fill.

In plain English: Her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be he who took notice of you." She told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with, and said, "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz."

In plain English: Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not given up (this Bible: abandoned) his kindness to the living and to the dead (the Hebrew can mean Yahweh's kindness or Boaz's)." Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours. He is one of our redeemers (this Bible: near kinsmen)."

The Hebrew words: "Who has not abandoned his kindness" can point back to Yahweh, or to "he", the man Naomi is blessing. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "because he has not failed in his mercy".

What changes: Read one way, Naomi praises Yahweh, whose kindness to the living and the dead has not stopped. Read the other way, she praises Boaz, who has been kind to the living (Ruth and Naomi) and so to the dead (their husbands). The text does not say which. "Kindness" is chesed, as in 1:8.

The Hebrew word: "Near kinsmen" is from ga'al; the man who does it is the go'el. The dictionary gives it as "to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.)". This Bible gives it as "redeem" or a longer form in 60 of the 84 verses that use it, and as "avenger" in 12, as in "the avenger of blood" (Numbers 35:19). In Ruth it is in 10 verses, and this Bible says "kinsman" or a longer form in 8 of them. In plain lines this study says "redeemer".

Good to know: The law in Leviticus 25:25 says, "If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold." It uses the same two words as Naomi: go'el and "near" (qarob). The redeemer comes up again in 3:9, 3:12 to 3:13 and through chapter 4, where Boaz and another man talk about who will redeem Elimelech's land.

In plain English: Ruth the Moabite woman said, "He even said to me, 'Stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.'"

In plain English: Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that no one harms you in another field."

In plain English: So she stayed close to Boaz's young women to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.