“ 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.”
He explained that Ruth had in fact asked permission to glean, following the reapers as they gathered the sheaves. And he pointed out how hard she had worked at her task, working from dawn to this moment, apart from taking shelter for a short while in a lean-to which was apparently provided in order to offer a brief shelter from the hot sun while people ate such food as they had. She would no doubt have chosen a time when it was not otherwise being used, but it had not failed to be noticed by the overseer. His words may have been expressing admiration, or they may have been an assurance to Boaz that he was being observant. Gleaners no doubt sometimes exceeded their rights.