Chapter Two

Ruth gleans ears of grain on the field of Boaz.

Ruth 2:1. Now Naomi had a kinsman on the side of her husband, a man of wealth, from the clan of Elimelech; his name was Boaz. A new person is introduced into the narrative—a kinsman of the deceased Elimelech and, consequently, of Naomi (Hebrew modá, LXX: γνώριμος, Slavonic: “a man acquainted”—properly “acquaintance,” but in view of his belonging to the clan of Elimelech—“kinsman,” as in Russian, cf. Ruth 3:2). Boaz (Hebrew Boaz; LXX: Βοοζ; Vulgate Booz). The Hebrew spelling of the name is the same as that of one of the bronze pillars set by Solomon in the porch of the temple—Boaz (1 Kgs 7:21; 2 Chr 3:17); the meaning of the name is transmitted in two ways: 1) “in him is strength” (bo and az), or 2) from the Arabic root “agility, swiftness” (Gesenius). In either case, Boaz befits the epithet “isch gibborchail” (Vulgate homo potens, Slavonic: “a man mighty,” Russian: “a man of great wealth”), commonly designating a man who is rich (1 Sam 9:1; 2 Kgs 15:20) or a courageous, brave, valiant hero (Judg 6:12; 1 Kgs 11:28; Neh 11:14).

Ruth 2:2. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “I will go to the field and glean ears of grain after those among whom I find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter. Ruth 2:3. And she went and came to the field and gleaned after the reapers. And it happened that she came to the portion of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. Ruth hastens to help the difficult situation in which both women found themselves upon their arrival in Bethlehem. An ancient Hebrew custom, sanctioned by law (Lev 19:9-10; Deut 24:19), provided for the benefit of the poor a certain portion of the field, left unreaped, forgotten sheaves and grain that fell during the harvest. Ruth uses this right, perhaps not knowing its legal basis, but simply hoping in human kindness of the reapers and the owners; fortunately, “by chance” (Hebrew midreh, Vulgate accidit: the concept of “chance” is extraordinarily rare in biblical vocabulary and worldview, belonging more to the pagans, for instance, 1 Sam 6:9) she comes to the field of Boaz, where she begins to glean after the reapers.

Ruth 2:4. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they said to him, “The Lord bless you! Boaz’s greeting to the reapers recalls the greeting of the Angel to Gideon (Judg 6:12); the responsive greeting of the reapers to him is close to the blessing at harvest time in Ps 128:8. The greeting of Boaz and the response of the reapers depict an attractive simplicity and warmth in the relationship between master and servants.

Ruth 2:5. And Boaz said to the servant in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this? Ruth 2:6. And the servant in charge of the reapers answered and said, “She is a young Moabitess who came with Naomi from the fields of Moab; Ruth 2:7. and she said, ‘I will glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers’; and she came and has been standing since early morning until now; she rests but little at home. In response to Boaz’s question about Ruth, the steward gives an answer favorable for her: it points to her selfless devotion to Naomi and her extraordinary diligence.

Ruth 2:8. And 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 with my young women; Ruth 2:9. Let your eyes be on the field where they reap, and go after them; I have ordered the servants not to touch you; when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the servants have drawn. This disposes Boaz in Ruth’s favor, and he permits her to gather ears of grain continually, exclusively in his field, entrusting her to the protection of the maidservants and shielding her from any mistreatment on the part of the reapers (cf. Ruth 2:14-15).

Ruth 2:10. And she fell on her face and bowed to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes, that you have noticed me, when I am a foreigner? Ruth 2:11. And Boaz answered and said to her, “All has been told me that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you did not know yesterday and the day before; Ruth 2:12. May the Lord repay you for this deed, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! Ruth 2:13. And she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants. Here are alike attractive: both Ruth’s humble gratitude to Boaz—who had left everything in her homeland for Israel and God, and who does not claim benefits in Israel (v. 10, 13)—and the kindness and piety of Boaz, permeated with faith in the special providence of Jehovah over Israel (as it were shadowing and protecting His people with His wings, cf. Deut 32:11-12 and Ps 35:8), not forgetting any who hope in Him (Ps 90:1), not excluding even “the stranger within the gates of Israel” (Deut 14:29)—receiving the sacrifice of Ruth’s selfless devotion to Naomi as a great godly deed, worthy of the most full and perfect reward from God, and ready to become an instrument of God’s mercy to the poor woman (v. 11–12). “This blessing by Boaz upon Ruth was fulfilled, for she received the full reward from the Lord, having become the great-grandmother of the Blessing of the nations” (blessed Theodoret, p. 315).

Ruth 2:14. And Boaz said to her, “At mealtime, come here and eat bread and dip your piece in vinegar.” And she sat beside the reapers. And he gave her roasted grain; and she ate, and was satisfied, and had some left over. The depiction of the meal is characteristic of an eastern laborer. The meal consisted of pieces of bread dipped in vinegar (Hebrew chomez—a drink used in the East in hot weather and now, despite restrictions from the prohibition of wine among Muslims), to which were added kali, Greek: ἄλφιτον, Slavonic: “priazhmo”—dried grain (cf. Lev 23:14).

Ruth 2:15. And she rose to glean. And Boaz instructed his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her; Ruth 2:16. and also pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them, that she may glean, and do not rebuke her. The conversation with Ruth apparently raises her even further in Boaz’s eyes, and he gives new directions to the reapers to help the poor woman in collecting grain; but even now he does not yet mention his kinship with Ruth’s deceased husband. This is revealed to her by Naomi upon her return in the evening of the first day of gleaning in Boaz’s field (v. 20).

Ruth 2:17. So she gleaned in the field until evening and threshed what she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah of barley. Ruth 2:18. And she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gathered. And she brought out and gave to her what was left over after she herself was satisfied. The amount of barley Ruth gathered on that day, threshed right in the field, amounted to an ephah, Hebrew epha, LXX: οιφι (οιφει), Vulgate: ephi, Slavonic: “ifi”; according to Jewish tradition (Midrasch, p. 42), this measure equaled three sata (Vulgate three modii); according to Josephus (Ant. VIII, 2, 9), 72 sextarii or 1 Attic μετρητὴς.

Ruth 2:19. And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today and where have you worked? Blessed be the one who noticed you!” And [Ruth] told her mother-in-law the name of the man with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz. Ruth 2:20. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers. Ruth 2:21. And Ruth the Moabitess said [to her mother-in-law], “He also said to me, ‘Stay with my young women until they have finished all my harvest.’ Ruth 2:22. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “Good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and no one will harm you in another field. The abundance of grain gathered by Ruth (v. 17), the leftovers from the meal she brought (v. 18), and finally the revelation of Boaz’s name (v. 19)—all this immediately dispels from the heart of the pious Naomi the former bitterness (Ruth 1:13) and draws from her words of thanksgiving to Jehovah and blessing upon Boaz (v. 20); now she informs Ruth of Boaz’s kinship. And Ruth’s further report of Boaz’s kind permission to remain with his servants all through the harvest (v. 21) naturally prompted Naomi then to think about arranging her daughter-in-law’s fate (cf. Ruth 3:1).

Ruth 2:23. So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning, until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law. Throughout the entire harvest (barley and then wheat about 2–3 weeks later), i.e., about 3 months (Midrasch, p. 44), Ruth worked in Boaz’s fields, living with Naomi. In the Vulgate the last words of v. 23, chapter 2: “vatteschev et—chamotag” (“she lived with her mother-in-law”) are assigned to v. 1 of chapter III, which begins in the Vulgate: “postquam autem reversa est ad sororem suam.”