Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ruth 3:15 - 3:15

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ruth 3:15 - 3:15


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He then said, “Bring the cloak that thou hast on, and lay hold of it” (to hold it open), and measured for her six measures of barley into it as a present, that she might not to back empty to her mother-in-law (Rth 3:17). מִטְפַּחַת, here and Isa 3:22, is a broad upper garment, pallium, possibly only a large shawl. “As the cloaks worn by the ancients were so full, that one part was thrown upon the shoulder, and another gathered up under the arm, Ruth, by holding a certain part, could receive into her bosom the corn which Boaz gave her” (Schröder, De vestit. mul. p. 264). Six (measures of) barley: the measure is not given. According to the Targum and the Rabbins, it was six seahs = two ephahs. This is certainly incorrect; for Ruth would not have been able to carry that quantity of barley home. When Boaz had given her the barley he measured out, and had sent here away, he also went into the city. This is the correct rendering, as given by the Chaldee, to the words הָעִיר וַיָּבֹא; though Jerome referred the words to Ruth, but certainly without any reason, as יָבֹא cannot stand for תָּבֹא. This reading is no doubt found in some of the MSS, but it merely owes its origin to a mistaken interpretation of the words.