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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ruth 2:1 - 2:1
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The account of this occurrence commences with a statement which was necessary in order to make it perfectly intelligible, namely that Boaz, to whose field Ruth went to glean, was a relative of Naomi through her deceased husband Elimelech. The Kethibh מידע is to be read מְיֻדָּע, an acquaintance (cf. Psa 31:12; Psa 55:14). The Keri מֹודַע is the construct state of מֹודָע, lit. acquaintanceship, then an acquaintance or friend (Pro 7:4), for which מֹודַעַת occurs afterwards in Rth 3:2 with the same meaning. That the acquaintance or friend of Naomi through her husband was also a relation, is evident from the fact that he was “of the family of Elimelech. †According to the rabbinical tradition, which is not well established however, Boaz was a nephew of Elimelech. The לְ before ×ִישָ××”Ö¼ is used instead of the simple construct state, because the reference is not to the relation, but to a relation of her husband; at the same time, the word מֹודַע has taken the form of the construct state notwithstanding this לְ (compare Ewald, §292, a., with §289, b.). חַיִל גִּבֹּור generally means the brave man of war (Jdg 6:12; Jdg 11:1, etc.); but here it signifies a man of property. The name Boaz is not formed from עָז בֹּו, in whom is strength, but from a root, בָּעַז, which does not occur in Hebrew, and signifies alacrity.
Rth 2:2-3
Ruth wished to go to the field and glean at (among) the ears, i.e., whatever ears were left lying upon the harvest field (cf. Rth 2:7), ×ֲשֶ×ר ×ַחַר, behind him in whose eyes she should find favour. The Mosaic law (Lev 19:9; Lev 23:22, compared with Deu 24:19) did indeed expressly secure to the poor the right to glean in the harvest fields, and prohibited the owners from gleaning themselves; but hard-hearted farmers and reapers threw obstacles in the way of the poor, and even forbade their gleaning altogether. Hence Ruth proposed to glean after him who should generously allow it. She carried out this intention with the consent of Naomi, and chance led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, a relation of Elimelech, without her knowing the owner of the field, or being at all aware of his connection with Elimelech. מִקְרֵהָ וַיִּקֶר, lit., “her chance chanced to hit upon the field.â€
Rth 2:4-7
When Boaz came from the town to the field, and had greeted his reapers with the blessing of a genuine Israelites, “Jehovah be with you,†and had received from them a corresponding greeting in return, he said to the overseer of the reapers, “Whose damsel is this?†to which he replied, “It is the Moabitish damsel who came back with Naomi from the fields of Moab, and she has said (asked), Pray, I will glean (i.e., pray allow me to glean) and gather among the sheaves after the reapers, and has come and stays (here) from morning till now; her sitting in the house that is little.†מֵ×ָז, lit. a conjunction, here used as a preposition, is stronger than מִן, “from then,†from the time of the morning onwards (see Ewald, §222, c.). It is evident from this answer of the servant who was placed over the reapers, (1) that Boaz did not prohibit any poor person from gleaning in his field; (2) that Ruth asked permission of the overseer of the reapers, and availed herself of this permission with untiring zeal from the first thing in the morning, that she might get the necessary support for her mother-in-law and herself; and (3) that her history was well known to the overseer, and also to Boaz, although Boaz saw her now for the first time.