1 And Naomi her mother-in-law saith to her, `My daughter, do not I seek for thee rest, that it may be well with thee?
2 and now, is not Boaz of our acquaintance, with whose young women thou hast been? lo, he is winnowing the threshing-floor of barley to-night,
3 and thou hast bathed, and anointed thyself, and put thy garments upon thee, and gone down to the threshing-floor; let not thyself be known to the man till he complete to eat and to drink;
4 and it cometh to pass when he lieth down, that thou hast known the place where he lieth down, and hast gone in, and uncovered his feet, and lain down, -- and he doth declare to thee that which thou dost do.'
5 And she saith unto her, `All that thou sayest -- I do.'
6 And she goeth down `to' the threshing-floor, and doth according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her
7 And Boaz eateth and drinketh, and his heart is glad; and he goeth in to lie down at the end of the heap; and she cometh in gently, and uncovereth his feet, and lieth down.
8 And it cometh to pass, at the middle of the night, that the man trembleth, and turneth himself, and lo, a woman is lying at his feet.
9 And he saith, `Who `art' thou?' and she saith, `I `am' Ruth thy handmaid, and thou hast spread thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou `art' a redeemer.'
10 And he saith, `Blessed `art' thou of Jehovah, my daughter; thou hast dealt more kindly at the latter end than at the beginning -- not to go after the young men, either poor or rich.
11 And now, my daughter, fear not, all that thou sayest I do to thee, for all the gate of my people doth know that thou `art' a virtuous woman.
12 And now, surely, true, that I `am' a redeemer, but also there is a redeemer nearer than I.
13 Lodge to night, and it hath been in the morning, if he doth redeem thee, well: he redeemeth; and if he delight not to redeem thee, then I have redeemed thee -- I; Jehovah liveth! lie down till the morning.'
14 And she lieth down at his feet till the morning, and riseth before one doth discern another; and he saith, `Let it not be known that the woman hath come into the floor.'
15 And he saith, `Give the covering which `is' on thee, and keep hold on it;' and she keepeth hold on it, and he measureth six `measures' of barley, and layeth `it' on her; and he goeth into the city.
16 And she cometh in unto her mother-in-law, and she saith, `Who `art' thou, my daughter?' and she declareth to her all that the man hath done to her.
17 And she saith, `These six `measures' of barley he hath given to me, for he said, Thou dost not go in empty unto thy mother-in-law.'
18 And she saith, `Sit still, my daughter, till thou dost know how the matter falleth, for the man doth not rest except he hath completed the matter to-day.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ruth 3
Commentary on Ruth 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Ru 3:1-13. By Naomi's Instructions, Ruth Lies at Boaz's Feet, Who Acknowledges the Duty of a Kinsman.
2. he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor—The winnowing process is performed by throwing up the grain, after being trodden down, against the wind with a shovel. The threshing-floor, which was commonly on the harvest-field, was carefully leveled with a large cylindric roller and consolidated with chalk, that weeds might not spring up, and that it might not chop with drought. The farmer usually remained all night in harvest-time on the threshing-floor, not only for the protection of his valuable grain, but for the winnowing. That operation was performed in the evening to catch the breezes which blow after the close of a hot day, and which continue for the most part of the night. This duty at so important a season the master undertakes himself; and, accordingly, in the simplicity of ancient manners, Boaz, a person of considerable wealth and high rank, laid himself down to sleep on the barn floor, at the end of the heap of barley he had been winnowing.
4. go in, and uncover his feet and lay thee down—Singular as these directions may appear to us, there was no impropriety in them, according to the simplicity of rural manners in Beth-lehem. In ordinary circumstances these would have seemed indecorous to the world; but in the case of Ruth, it was a method, doubtless conformable to prevailing usage, of reminding Boaz of the duty which devolved on him as the kinsman of her deceased husband. Boaz probably slept upon a mat or skin; Ruth lay crosswise at his feet—a position in which Eastern servants frequently sleep in the same chamber or tent with their master; and if they want a covering, custom allows them that benefit from part of the covering on their master's bed. Resting, as the Orientals do at night, in the same clothes they wear during the day, there was no indelicacy in a stranger, or even a woman, putting the extremity of this cover over her.
9. I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman—She had already drawn part of the mantle over her; and she asked him now to do it, that the act might become his own. To spread a skirt over one is, in the East, a symbolical action denoting protection. To this day in many parts of the East, to say of anyone that he put his skirt over a woman, is synonymous with saying that he married her; and at all the marriages of the modern Jews and Hindus, one part of the ceremony is for the bridegroom to put a silken or cotton cloak around his bride.
15. Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it—Eastern veils are large sheets—those of ladies being of red silk; but the poorer or common class of women wear them of blue, or blue and white striped linen or cotton. They are wrapped round the head, so as to conceal the whole face except one eye.
17. six measures of barley—Hebrew, "six seahs," a seah contained about two gallons and a half, six of which must have been rather a heavy load for a woman.