Ruth Meets Boaz
1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
We are introduced to a man named Boaz, who was a worthy (two Hebrew words ‘gib·bôr’,[1] meaning brave, strong or mighty and ‘ḥǎ’·yil’,[2] meaning strength, wealth or influence) relative of Naomi’s husband. Even his name, Boaz, means, “In him there is strength.” Later in the Old Testament we will that this name is important, as it will also be the name chosen by Solomon for one of the two pillars that will be placed at entrance of the Temple (see 1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chronicles 3:17).
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.”
During harvest any grain that is spilled or left, after being collected by the reapers was available for any one that was poor or otherwise destitute to pick up for themselves. The process was called gleaning, not only was it allowed by God’s law, the reapers could only make one pass, they were not allowed to clean up or make a second pass (see Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-21). Ruth apparently told by Naomi about the law, or perhaps Moab had a similar requirement, she offers to “go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” (Verse 2b, NLT) Naomi agrees and tells her to go.
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.
Ruth went to the fields and ‘arbitrarily’ chose Boaz’s field to glean. Again we are told that Boaz was from the clan of Elimelech, same family as her father-in-law. It is interesting to note that some rabbis when teaching this story, will often explain that ‘coincidence’ is not a ‘kosher’ word. Referring to the fact that God guided Ruth to Boaz’s field (The Hebrew ‘miq·rě(h)’[3] refers to a chance event, something without human planning, but does not rule out intervention from God).
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?”
When Boaz arrives at his field he blesses his workers saying, “The LORD be with you!” They respond by returning the blessing. Boaz immediately notices Ruth and asks his foreman who she is. The word ‘behold’ is used over 1,200 times in the Bible. Both the Hebrew word ‘hin·nē(h)’,[4] as seen here in verse four, and the Greek equivalent ‘idoú’[5] in the New Testament, refer to calling the attention of the reader to look at something very special. It is often thought that the best response to have when one encounters the word ‘behold’ would be to think of the word as the equivalent of a teacher writing something on the chalkboard, something that probably will be on the test. In other words, pay attention!
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.”
The foreman tells Boaz that the woman was the Moabite that came back with Naomi and that she asked for permission to glean and gather and has been working the field all day with little rest. In the ESV several words are not translated at the end of verse seven, apparently Ruth was taking a break at this time and was sitting in a shelter or house, where she was introduced to Boaz. Notice that Ruth was introduced to Boaz by an unnamed servant.
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.”
Boaz pleads with Ruth to stay and only glean on his field. He tells her that she should stay near the young women working the fields and that the men have been instructed to not touch her. This way she can focus on what she is doing and not worry about anything else. He even offered that when she thirst she could drink from the water his men had drawn for the other workers. Boaz encourages Ruth to stay in his fields as he had arranged for her to have optimum outcome and security during her time gleaning.
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!”
Knowing that Boaz was going beyond what was expected of him as a landowner, Ruth bows down before him and asks why he is offering such special treatment for her. Boaz explains that he had heard about her and how she left her family and homeland to stay with Naomi. Boaz was grateful for what she had done for his relative and asks God to bless her in repayment as well as offer a full reward (blessings from God) as she takes refuge under the wings of the God of Israel.
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.
Ruth acknowledges Boaz’s favor with gratitude stating that she is comforted and appreciates the kind words even though she is not one of his servants. Then at mealtime (likely a mid-day meal) Boaz asks her to eat with him and his staff. Ruth ate until she was satisfied and even had some leftovers.
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.”
Boaz now instructs his men to allow Ruth to glean among the sheaves without embarrassing or chastising her. Plus, they are to pull some stalks out of the bundles and allow extra grain to fall in the field for her to pick up. She was not to be rebuked for gleaning so much grain.
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.
Ruth continued to glean the field until evening and then separated out the grain by beating the stalks (the heads of the barley), typically with a stick. When she finished she had accumulated around one ephah of barley (approximately 30 liters, nearly five dry gallons). She comes home and Naomi saw how much she gleaned. Before Naomi could say anything Ruth gave her the leftover food she saved after eating lunch (see verse 14).
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.”
Naomi seeing the large amount of grain Ruth brought home, she knew that she found favor by one of the field owners. She asked Ruth where she gleaned that day. She then adds a blessing to the man who took notice of her. Ruth tells her that the owner of the field was 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.
Seeing how Ruth was favored and hearing from her that she worked all day in a field owned by Boaz, Naomi is beginning to think that Boaz may be willing to redeem the land that once belonged to her husband. She tells Ruth that Boaz is a close relative and is one of their redeemers (Hebrew ‘gā’al’, see next paragraph). Ruth reveals to Naomi that Boaz said for her to stay close to his young men during harvest which would give her both an advantage in obtaining more grain as well as provide her greater security. Naomi notes that it is good that she gleans with Boaz’s women, if she were to go to a different field, she runs the risk of being assaulted. The author then telescopes[6] the story by including both the barley harvests (March-April) and wheat harvests (typically in the Hebrew month of Sivan or May-June on our calendar). It is unclear how much time passed between verse 23 and the beginning of chapter three. During this time, however, we read that Ruth lived with Naomi.
The Hebrew word ‘gō·’ǎlē’[7] (or ‘gō’ēl’) is a verb meaning to redeem or act as a kinsman-redeemer (see Leviticus 25:23-34, 47-55; Numbers 5:8; 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Joshua 20:1-9; Ruth 3:9-4:12). While the term implies the action of redeeming an object or person (such as a slave) through some form of payment, the role of a kinsman-redeemer has several applications including being a critical component of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus. Here is a brief examination of the term is used in the Old Testament:
The root is used in four basic situations covering the things a good and true man would do for his kinsman. First, it is used in the Pentateuchal legislation to refer to the repurchase of a field which was sold in time of need (Lev 25:25 ff.), or the freeing of an Israelite slave who sold himself in time of poverty (Lev 25:48ff.). Such purchase and restitution was the duty of the next of kin. Secondly, but associated with this usage was the “redemption” of property or non-sacrificial animals dedicated to the Lord, or the redemption of the firstborn of unclean animals (Lev 27:11ff’.). The idea was that a man could give an equivalent to the Lord in exchange, but the redemption price was to be a bit extra to avoid dishonest exchanges. In these cases, the redeemer was not a relative, but the owner of the property. Thirdly, the root is used to refer to the next of kin who is the “avenger of blood” (RSV “revenger”) for a murdered man. The full phrase “avenger of blood” is almost always used (cf. Num. 35:12ff.). Apparently the idea is that the next of kin must effect the payment of life for life. As a house is repurchased or a slave redeemed by payment, so the lost life of the relative must be paid for by the equivalent life of the murderer. The kinsman is the avenger of blood. This system of execution must be distinguished from blood feuds for the gōʾēl was a guiltless executioner and not to be murdered in turn.
Perhaps the best known instance of redemption of the poor is in the book of Ruth which is the most extensive OT witness for the law of levirate marriage. According to Deut 25:5–10, a widow without issue should be taken by her husband’s brother to perpetuate seed and thus insure the succession of the land which was bound to the male descendants. The near relative here is called a yābām. The root gāʾal is not used. In the situation in Ruth two things are mentioned, the field and the levirate marriage. The near kin was willing to buy the field, but not to marry Ruth.
The point is that when Naomi in her poverty had to sell the field the next of kin was obligated to buy it back for her. This he was willing to do for his brother’s widow without issue. The land would presumably revert to him anyway at last. When he learned that he must marry Ruth and raise children who would maintain their inheritance, he refused and Boaz stepped in. But the two things, kinsman redemption and levirate marriage, are to be distinguished. The word gōʾēl “redeemer,” does not refer to the latter institution.
In the famous verse Job 19:25 the word gōʾēl is translated “redeemer” in the AV and some have taken it to refer to the coming of Christ in his work of atonement. This would be expressed more characteristically by the Hebrew word pādâ (which see). This word in Job 19:25 is now more accurately referred to the work of God who as friend and kinsman through faith will ultimately redeem Job from the dust of death. The enigmatic “after my skin” of v. 26 could well be read with different vowels “after I awake” (see NIV footnote and Job 14:12–14 where Job’s question about resurrection is climaxed by his hope that God will have regard for him at last and that Job like a tree will have a second growth–ḥălîpâ, v. 14, which answers to the ḥālap of v. 7). In any case Job expects with his own eyes to see God his goʾēl at last.[8]
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 1368.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 2428.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 4745.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 2009.
[5] Strong’s Greek 2400.
[6] Telescoping is a literary device employed by authors to compress time, often by presenting the main idea with no explanation, requiring the audience to know the subject well enough to fill in the otherwise missing or necessary details.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 1350.
[8] Harris, R. L. (1999). 300 גָּאַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., pp. 144–145). Moody Press.