Ruth 3--Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

Ruth 3
English Standard Version

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” 10 And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17 saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” 18 She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

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When the harvest time was nearly over, Naomi knows that it's time for Ruth or Boaz to make a move to continue the relationship, for this arrangement that they currently have where she is to stay close to his female servants (and him) during the harvest will not last much longer.  Naomi wants Ruth to take the initiative here to "propose" to Boaz in a way that most of us would find scandalous if we understood what was going on.  It's probably the last night of the harvest and Boaz is going to have a big party and get very drunk--so drunk that he's not going to make it home and he also would probably want to sleep near the grain that night.  Naomi gave Ruth instructions to bath and anoint herself with perfume and ointment so that she smelled good (this is unusual for that time and would be a sign to Boaz right away of what she was there for) and to wait for him to go to sleep (along with all the other men who he harvested with who celebrated with him and were together sleeping it off while watching over the harvest) and, while it was dark, lay at his feet and cover herself with his cloak--this was VERY forward and can be interpreted in no other way than she wanted to be intimate with him.  Naomi is basically telling her that Boaz seems to be a little thickheaded or slow to make a decision and that the subtle approach hasn't worked so it's time to be very direct with the equivalent of flashing neon signs that he can't miss or misinterpret.

She does everything that Naomi told her to do and after she had laid at his feet, he noticed her (which was the idea) and because it was dark he could not see who it was and asked "Who are you?."  She answered, "I am Ruth, your servant."  Then she throws in this part so it clear what she is there for, "Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer."  This is nothing short of a marriage proposal.  Israelites would find this whole scene more than a little scandalous because of how forward Ruth is being--not only because she is a woman, but a Moabite woman at that.  Boaz sees exactly what Ruth (and Naomi) are up to.  They are willing to let Boaz take possession of everything they own (which is next to nothing) so that they can be part of his family and he can take care of them as the law requires a kinsman redeemer to do.  However, there is a wrinkle in the plan that neither Ruth nor Naomi anticipated--Boaz is a close relative, but not the closest relative.  There is another that has the right to be the redeemer of Naomi and Ruth, so Boaz, now understanding what Ruth wants and that she doesn't want to wait for it, tells her to wait this one night and he will go and take care of business in the morning.  So she stayed the night with him, but they did not have sexual relations as it seems Naomi and Ruth may have intended.  Boaz realized where Ruth is coming from and that Ruth is still doing this to try to make sure that Naomi is taken care of, and he says that this act is more honorable than the first (when she came to Judah with Naomi and went out to work in the fields to make sure they both had enough food to eat).

The next day, Boaz knows not to leave her empty-handed, but he also wanted to protect Ruth's reputation.  First he commanded all his men that were there that night to never speak of Ruth being there.  As I said, this would be scandalous, and it would ruin her reputation and the reputation of Naomi (and Boaz).  We know about this because it was revealed by the Holy Spirit to the author of this book (probably Samuel) and Ruth and Boaz are important characters in the family of King David.  This protection of Ruth's reputation was undeserved, but is going to be just as important of a gift to her as the next.

She needs to take a sign of some sort back to Naomi, so Boaz tells her to stretch out the garment that she was wearing and he fills it as full as it can be filled with grain from the harvest.  While it's not going to be the story Naomi hoped to hear, it would be sign to her that Boaz would be more than generous in taking care of them and that he understood what was going on.  Naomi wants to hear the entire story and Ruth is so excited she can hardly contain herself, but Naomi in wisdom tells Ruth to wait until the matter settles itself and to know for sure that Boaz would not rest until he had taken care of the matter that very day (just as he had promised).  That will be the next part of the story that we will study together.