Ruth
Chapter 2
The Wealthy Man of the Town
Naomi had a wealthy relative named Boaz from her husband Elimelech’s clan.
Ruth the Moabite then said to Naomi: “Let me go pick up the leftover grain in the field, which the owner will allow me to do as a favor.” Naomi said: “Go ahead, my daughter.”
She went to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. It just so happened that the field she entered belonged to Boaz, a member of Elimelech’s clan.
When Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he greeted the harvesters: “The Lord be with you.” They returned the greeting: “The Lord bless you.”
Noticing Ruth, Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters: “To whom does that young woman belong?”
The foreman replied: “She is the Moabite who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.
She came this morning and asked for permission to glean behind the harvesters. Since then, she has been working tirelessly.”
Boaz said to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go away from here to glean in anyone else’s field. Stay here with my women servants.
See where the harvesters are and follow behind. I have ordered the men not to bother you. They have filled some jars with water. Go there and drink when you are thirsty.”
Bowing down with her face to the ground, she exclaimed: “Why have I, a foreigner, found such favor in your eyes?”
Boaz answered: “I have been told everything about you—what you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death, how you have gone with her, leaving your father, mother, and homeland to live with a people you knew nothing about before coming here.
May the Lord reward you for this! May you receive full recompense from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”
Ruth said, “May I prove worthy of your favor, my lord. You have consoled your servant with your kind words, though I am not the equal of your maidservants.”
Boaz called her at mealtime: “Come over, have some bread, and dip it in the wine.” As she sat among the reapers, he handed her some roasted grain. She ate her fill and had some leftovers to spare.
When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his men: “Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not scold her.
Pull some stalks from the bundles; leave them scattered for her to glean.”
She worked until evening, and when she threshed what she had gleaned, it amounted to about an ephah.
Ruth carried back to town the threshed barley, which she showed to her mother-in-law. She also gave her what she had left over from lunch.
Naomi asked her daughter-in-law: “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? May the man who took notice of you be blessed.” Ruth told her mother-in-law about the owner of the field where she had worked. “His name is Boaz,” she said.
Naomi exclaimed: “May the Lord bless him! God, indeed, is merciful both to the living and the dead. This man is a close relative with a right of redemption over us.”
Ruth continued: “He even told me to stay with his servants until they finish harvesting the grain.”
Naomi said: “It will be better for you, my daughter, to go out with his maidservants than to work in some other field where harm might come to you.”
Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s maidservants, gleaning until the end of the wheat and barley harvests. She also continued living with her mother-in-law.
Commentaries
The Wealthy Man of the Town.
The second chapter is divided into three parts: in verses 1-3, the scene takes place in the morning in Bethlehem. In verses 4-17, the author artfully and idyllically describes the scene throughout the day in Boaz’s fields. Finally, verses 18-23 depict Ruth’s return to Bethlehem in the evening.
The narrator skillfully introduces Boaz, Naomi’s wealthy relative, into the scene. With the arrival of this new character, the women—and the audience—gain a reason to hope for help in meeting their needs, as the wealthy had a duty to support the poor within their family. However, Ruth does not expect help; she asks Naomi to allow her to go and glean behind the reapers (2), for it is harvest time. Ruth does not plan to go to the field of Naomi’s wealthy relative—she doesn’t even know him—but “destiny”—the silent presence of the God of widows—guides her to one of Boaz’s fields (3). Gathering grain behind a reaper was the right of the destitute. Yet, Ruth does not claim this right; she just seeks a compassionate heart. Boaz understands her situation, and Ruth shows her gratitude.
Boaz takes Ruth under his protection, and after threshing barley, she returns to her mother-in-law. Naomi recognizes God’s blessing through Ruth’s work and blesses the man who has helped her. At this moment, Ruth reveals the identity of her protector, and Naomi blesses the Lord once more. At the end of the first chapter, Naomi calls herself Mara, bitter because she feels rejected by God and distant from Ruth. Now, Naomi speaks of Ruth as a member of the family and praises the Lord for His faithfulness. Boaz is not only a relative of Naomi and Elimelech but also a relative of Ruth (2:20). God has raised up a “go’el,” a “redeemer,” for these two women who have placed their complete trust in the God of foreigners, widows, and the poor.
Do we recognize the blessings God gives us? Do we understand that God is always with the community, even during the toughest moments? Do we show our gratitude to God for the gift of life?