Ruth 2 - Introduction

Ruth Comes Into Contact With Naomi's Kinsman Boaz, And Finds Favour With Him.

This chapter focuses on the fact that Ruth came across Boaz's field by chance, as a consequence of which a relationship built up between herself and Boaz, something which resulted in his showing great generosity towards Ruth, thereby awakening in Naomi the hope that he would play the part of a kinsman by marrying Ruth and bearing children on behalf of the deceased husband, thus preserving the family's name and possession of land in Israel.

Once again we find a clear chiastic structure. Thus structure was regularly used so as to divide the narrative up into paragraphs (our method of depicting paragraphs was unknown in those days). We should note that while we have paralleled verses strictly in order to bring out the process, the writer's aim (there were no verses) was more to parallel subject matter:

Analysis.

a And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, an important man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz (Ruth 2:1)

b And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favour.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter” (Ruth 2:2).

c And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and her chance was to light on the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech (Ruth 2:3).

d And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the reapers, “YHWH be with you.” And they answered him, “YHWH bless you” (Ruth 2:4).

e Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose damsel is this?” And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, “It is the Moabitish damsel who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab” (Ruth 2:5).

f “And she said, ‘Let me glean, I pray you, and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she tarried a little in the house” (Ruth 2:7).

g Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Do you not hear, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, nor pass from here, but remain here fast by my maidens” (Ruth 2:8).

h Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and you go after them. Have I not charged the young men that they must not touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of what the young men have drawn” (Ruth 2:9).

i Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favour in your sight, that you should take notice of me, seeing I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10).

j And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has fully been shown me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your nativity, and are come to a people whom you knew not up until now. YHWH recompense your work, and a full reward be given you by YHWH, the God of Israel, under whose wings you are come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:11).

i Then she said, “Let me find favour in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, although I am as one of your handmaidens” (Ruth 2:13).

h And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” And she sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left some of it (Ruth 2:14).

g And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her, and also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and do not rebuke her” (Ruth 2:15).

f So she gleaned in the field until evening, and she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley, and she took it up, and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and she brought forth and gave to her what she had left after she had had sufficient (Ruth 2:17).

e And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where have you wrought? Blessed be he who took notice of you.” And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, “The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz” (Ruth 2:19).

d And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of YHWH, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “The man is near of kin to us, one of our near kinsmen” (Ruth 2:20).

c Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he (Boaz) said to me, ‘You shall keep fast by my young men (the reapers), until they have completed all my harvest” (Ruth 2:21).

b And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they do not meet you in any other field (Ruth 2:22).

a Ruth kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest, and she dwelt with her mother-in-law (Ruth 2:23).

Note that in ‘a' we learn that Boaz was kinsman to Naomi This would immediately alert the attention of the reader or listener to his responsibility under the Law of Moses towards the poorer members of his wider family. In the parallel Ruth keeps close to the maidens of Boaz (as he had commanded, thus performing his duty as a kinsman), whilst also dwelling with her mother-in-law who was Boaz's kinswoman. In ‘b' Ruth determines to glean in the fields (picking up wisps of barley that had been dropped by the reapers) wherever she finds favour and Naomi tells her to ‘go, my daughter', and in the parallel commends the going out of her daughter to the fields of the one with whom she has clearly found favour, and nowhere else. In ‘c' she gleans in the fields after the reapers of Boaz, and in the parallel Boaz had instructed her to keep fast by his reapers. In ‘d' Boaz is blessed by his men, and blesses them in return, while in the parallel Boaz is blessed by Naomi. In ‘e' Boaz takes notice of Ruth and enquires as to who the young woman is who is gleaning, and in the parallel Naomi enquires as to where Ruth has gleaned, and blesses Boaz for having taken notice of her. In ‘f' the reapers declare that Ruth has gleaned ‘from morning until now' and in the parallel Ruth had ‘gleaned (all day) until evening'. In ‘g' Boaz instructs Ruth not to glean in another field, but to remain close to his own women reapers, and in the parallel he instructs his young men to allow her to glean in the fields without reproach. In ‘h' Boaz tells Ruth that she can refresh herself from the water drawn by his young men, and in the parallel the young men supply her with grain to eat, which is to be dipped in sour wine. In ‘i' Ruth enquires as to why she has found favour in his sight, and in the parallel she expresses the wish to find favour in his sight. Centrally in ‘j' we are given the reason for the kindness that Boaz has shown towards Ruth. It is because he is aware of how she has been willing to sacrifice herself for her mother-in-law, his kinswoman, and because she has taken shelter under the wings of YHWH.