Ruth 3

Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, "My daughter, should I not look for a place of rest for you, so that things will go well for you?

1Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

Note"Rest" here does not mean sleep. It is a settled, secure place in a household, which for a widow in this society meant marriage. Naomi is saying plainly that she intends to find Ruth a husband.

2Now isn't Boaz, whose young women workers you have been with, one of our relatives? Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor.

2And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.

NoteA threshing floor was a flat, hard patch of open ground, usually on a rise outside the town, where the cut grain was beaten or trodden to knock the kernels loose. Winnowing was the next step: the crushed mass was tossed into the air with a fork so the evening breeze blew the light chaff away while the heavier grain fell back down. It was done in the late afternoon and evening when the wind was steady, and the owner would often sleep beside the piled grain to guard it.

3So wash yourself, rub perfumed oil on your skin, put on your clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

3Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

NoteWashing, rubbing on perfumed oil (ordinary grooming in a hot, dry climate) and putting on clean clothes was the standard way of making oneself presentable in public, and specifically of laying aside mourning. It is also how a bride prepared. The Hebrew does not say which is meant, and readers have argued about it for centuries.

4When he lies down, take note of the place where he lies. Then go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what you should do."

4And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "feet" can mean the feet themselves, the legs and lower body, or, in some passages, be a polite substitute for the genitals. Uncovering a sleeping man's "feet" is not a custom known from anywhere else, and the narrator never explains it. The wording is deliberately open: it may be a modest signal, a bold one, or a sexually suggestive one. What the text then reports is a conversation.

5Ruth said to her, "I will do everything you say."

5And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.

6So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had told her to do.

6And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.

7When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was happy, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of grain. Then she came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

Note"His heart was happy" is a stock Hebrew phrase for the contentment that follows a good meal with wine. It does not state that he was drunk. Lying down at the end of the grain pile was normal practice: the owner slept beside the threshed harvest to protect it from theft.

8In the middle of the night the man was startled. He turned over, and there was a woman lying at his feet.

8And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.

9He said, "Who are you?" She answered, "I am Ruth, your servant. So spread the edge of your garment over your servant, for you are a close relative who can redeem."

9And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.

NoteTwo things need unpacking here. First, "spread the edge of your garment": the Hebrew word means both the corner or skirt of a robe and the wing of a bird, and spreading a garment corner over a woman was a recognized gesture of claiming her as a wife and taking her under one's protection. Ruth's phrasing picks up Boaz's own words in 2:12 about taking shelter under the LORD's wings. Second, a "redeemer" (Hebrew go'el) was the nearest male relative, who carried defined family obligations: buying back land a relative had been forced to sell, buying a relative out of debt-slavery, and pursuing the case of a murdered kinsman. Ruth is asking him to extend that role to marrying her, so that her dead husband's name and his family's land stay together, the go'el's duty combined with the levirate custom by which a dead man's nearest kin fathered an heir for him.

10He said, "May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than you did at the beginning, since you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

10And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

NoteThe word translated "kindness" is hesed: loyal, generous action towards someone you are bound to, going beyond what could be demanded. "The beginning" is Ruth's decision to leave Moab and stay with Naomi. The "more" is that she has approached an older relative on the dead family's behalf instead of looking for a husband among the young men for her own sake.

11And now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you everything you ask, because everyone in my town knows that you are a woman of strong character.

11And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase is eshet hayil. Hayil covers strength, capability and standing, used of soldiers it means valor, used of property it means wealth. The same phrase opens the description of the woman in Proverbs 31. It is a word about public reputation and worth, which is why Boaz grounds it in what the whole town knows, not in his own opinion.

12Now it is true that I am a close relative who can redeem. Even so, there is a relative closer than I am.

12And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

NoteRedemption duties fell to relatives in a fixed order of closeness. The nearest man held both the first right and the first obligation, so Boaz cannot simply step past him; the closer relative has to be given the chance to accept or refuse.

13Stay here tonight. In the morning, if he will do the part of the relative-redeemer for you, good; let him do it. But if he will not do it, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will do the part of the relative-redeemer for you. Lie down until morning."

13Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.

Note"As surely as the LORD lives" is the standard Hebrew oath formula, calling on the living God as witness. It turns Boaz's promise into a binding vow rather than an intention.

14So she lay at his feet until morning, and she got up before it was light enough for one person to recognize another. And he said, "Do not let anyone know that a woman came to the threshing floor."

14And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.

NoteLeaving before dawn protects both of them. A woman found at a threshing floor at night would be assumed to be a prostitute (harvest celebrations had that reputation) and gossip of that kind would have poisoned the public negotiation Boaz is about to open the next morning.

15He also said, "Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out." When she held it out, he measured six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.

15Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.

NoteThe shawl is a large outer wrap, the same garment used as a cloak, a blanket and a carrying cloth. "Six measures" is a real puzzle: the Hebrew says only "six," with no unit attached. If the unit is the seah, this is roughly sixty to ninety pounds of grain, a very heavy load; if it is the smaller omer, something like ten pounds. Translators simply choose. Also note that in the Hebrew the last verb is masculine, "he went into the city", while many old manuscripts and versions read "she went," which is the sense most English Bibles follow.

16When she came to her mother-in-law, Naomi said, "Who are you, my daughter?" And Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

16And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

NoteNaomi's question is literally "Who are you, my daughter?" (odd, since she can hardly fail to recognize Ruth in her own house. In Hebrew "who" can ask after a person's standing rather than their identity, so the question is probably "what are you now) still a widow, or a promised wife?" Some translations render it "how did it go?"

17She said, "He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said to me, 'Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"

17And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.

Note"Empty-handed" deliberately picks up Naomi's own complaint when she came back to Bethlehem: that she went away full and the LORD had brought her home empty (1:21).

18Then Naomi said, "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out, because the man will not rest until he has finished the thing today."

18Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

Note"Sit still" means stay put and wait, not sit down. "How the matter will fall" is an idiom for how things turn out. And "the man will not rest" uses the same Hebrew root as the "place of rest" Naomi set out to find in verse 1, the chapter ends on the word it began with.