Ruth 2--Ruth Meets Boaz

Ruth 2
English Standard Version

Ruth Meets Boaz
2 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.”

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 ephah 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.

---

Ruth and Naomi were poor, so according to the Law, they were able to glean from the fields of others.  Whatever the harvesters missed or dropped was left for the poor and the sojourners to come behind then and gather.  The harvesters were never to make a second pass over the fields to pick up anything they missed or dropped.  So it was that Ruth ended up gleaning in a field that was owned by Boaz who "just so happened" (there is no coincidence here as the LORD orchestrated all of this) to be a close relative of Elimelech, Naomi's husband who had died in Moab.

Boaz came to oversee the harvest that day and Ruth caught his eye so that he asked the reapers who she was and if she belonged to anyone (he wanted to know if she was already was married or was available).  The gleaners all seemed to know who she was--that she was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and that she was a Moabite woman.  They probably thought that this would dissuade Boaz from pursuing her, but instead, Boaz approached Ruth and told her not to try to glean in any other fields for he had heard her request and would protect her (for it was dangerous at that time during the time of the Judges where the people where immoral and lawless for a young woman, especially a foreigner, to be by herself).  He told her to stay close to the other young women (probably his servants) and that they would help watch out for her and he would watch out for her too.

​This greatly pleased Ruth, but she was also surprised because she knew that she should not normally receive such attention.  Not only was she a foreigner, but a Moabite woman, and they were hated and ostracized among the people of Israel for the reasons we've talked about from the book of Numbers with the sin of Peor involving Balaam where the Moabite women came into the camp to seduce the Israelite men and turn their hearts towards their false gods so that the LORD would curse them.  Boaz didn't pay attention to any of this though because Ruth already had a reputation for how she had not abandoned Naomi and had taken good care of her, which she didn't need to do.  He told her that everything she had done had not gone unnoticed (by him).  But why would this man pay attention to Naomi and her needs?  We'll get the answer to that shortly.  Boaz promises her that what she has done for Naomi will not go without reward.

Boaz then fed her at mealtime (lunch) as if she was one of his servants who had been harvesting and he made sure that she was filled and had some leftover to take home with her.  When their meal time was over so that she got up to glean again, he gave the reapers instructions for the second half of the day to intentionally drop extra grain in front of her for she could not take from what they had harvested unless they dropped it, and if they dropped it, they could not go back for it, so Boaz made sure that she received a bountiful harvest and not just the scraps that one would normally receive from gleaning.

She spent the full day working there in Boaz's field and when she beat out the grain that she collected, it was about 5 gallons of barley (an ephah is about 4.994 gallons).  That a lot for someone that was just coming hoping to gather some bits and pieces that had been dropped by the reapers!  Naomi realizes this too and is excited.  She wants to know everything about where Ruth has and been and how she got such a generous harvest.  When Ruth told Naomi that she was gleaning in the field of Boaz Naomi recognized the name and praised the LORD that he had led her to a close relative.  So Ruth stayed with him throughout the barley and the wheat harvest and he took care of her and protected her, though she continued to live with her mother-in-law and take care of her.