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18 She picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth also took out and gave to Naomi what she had saved after she [had eaten and] was satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not ceased His kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is one of our closest relatives, one who has the right to [a]redeem us.”(A) 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay close to my servants until they have harvested my entire crop.’” 22 Naomi said to Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, for you to go out [to work] with his maids, so that others do not assault you in another field.” 23 So she stayed close to the maids of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:20 According to OT law (Lev 25:25), if an Israelite became so impoverished that he sold his property, his closest relative was to buy it back, so that the land would remain within the family. Such a person was called a redeemer. Another law stated that if a married man died childless, his brother was obligated to marry his widow and raise a son in the deceased brother’s name, so that the name would be carried on in Israel (Deut 25:5-10; cf Gen 38:8-10). Being aware of these laws and their applications by the scholars of that time, Naomi conceived of a plan (see ch 3:1-4) that might bring Ruth and Boaz together by having Boaz serve as a redeemer both to purchase a field that Naomi owned, and to fulfill the obligation of Deut 25:5 ff by marrying Ruth.

18 And she picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took some out and (A)gave [a]Naomi what she had left after [b]she was satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who (B)took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “(C)May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our (D)redeemers.” 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “[c]Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You are to stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not assault you in another field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until (E)the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:18 Lit her
  2. Ruth 2:18 Lit her satiety
  3. Ruth 2:21 Lit Also that