Ruth 3:1 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

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The Appeal to Boaz

1. Marriages are always arranged by the parents in Eastern lands; here, of course, the mother-in-law must intervene.

2-7. Grain is winnowed in the evening, to avoid the heat of the day and take advantage of the cool sea-wind, which blows in Palestine from 4 p.m. to half-an-hour before sunset. As a rule the threshing floor, which is an open space of clean, hard, dry ground, is on an elevated spot. But at Beth-lehem it was necessary to go 'down' to it, because the town is on the summit of the ridge and higher than any of the surrounding eminences. Ruth is to wash and anoint herself and put on the simlah, the long outer robe of ceremony, for this was to be a formal and important visit. Every precaution, too, was to be taken to ensure Boaz being in a genial frame of mind; the day's work was to be at an end, and he was to have eaten and drunk: cp. Genesis 27:4; Genesis 27:25, and David's assumption that even Nabal would be generous during the feast of sheepshearing (1 Samuel 25:5-8). Naomi had entire confidence in the honour of her kinsman, and although the procedure which she devised is alien to all our thoughts and customs, it is conceived and carried out without a spot of impure intention. To this day the Syrian farmer lies down under the shelter of a heap of threshed corn to protect it from thieves, or sleeps close by with his family in a little hut erected for the purpose.

8-18. At midnight the sleeper was startled. He bent forward to ascertain what was there, and the swift, curt question, Who art thou? reveals his alarm. Her request is: Spread thy skirt (or, thy wing) over thine handmaid, i.e. Become my guardian and protector by marrying me (Ezekiel 16:8), according to the duty of a near kinsman. The law in Deuteronomy 25 required that a brother should do this, if he and the deceased had dwelt together on the land belonging to the family. The right or duty was subsequently extended to more distant relatives. Boaz looked on this appeal as an even greater loving-kindness than Ruth had shown to Naomi, seeing that he was no longer young, and younger men would willingly have married her. The Rabbinical commentary on this book goes curiously astray in fixing his age as 80 and hers as 40. All the 'gate' of his people knew that she was an 'excellent' woman. They had discussed her in the gate of the city, which was the place of concourse, consultation and gossip, like the Gk. agora (Acts 17:17-18), and the forum of the Romans. But ready as he was to take up the position of Goel (see on Job 19:25), he would not encroach on the stronger claim which another man had. For this night she must remain where she was, lest mischief should befall her at the hands of some of the roisterers who were especially likely to be abroad at that season of the year (Song of Solomon 5:7). Yet she must leave whilst it was still too dark for a man to discern his friend if he met him; no breath of scandal must touch their good name. Let it not be known, said Boaz, that the woman came to the threshing floor. The 'mantle' (RV) here mentioned is not the same as the simlah of Ruth 3:3 most likely it was the veil of cotton cloth or coarse muslin which rests on the head and falls down the back of Bedouin and peasant women, and is often used by them for carrying such things as vegetables. The present of three-fifths of a bushel of barley is at one and the same time an outpouring of his liberality and a precaution against the suspicion which might have been roused if any one had met her; they were to be led to think that she had been to fetch grain. The AV is correct in stating that she now went into the city; he came later (Ruth 4:1). It would almost seem as though her mother-in-law could not at the first moment see who she was: Who art thou, my daughter? But perhaps the question really meant, 'How, hast thou fared?'

Related Commentaries of Ruth 3:1

Ruth 3:1-18

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

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

3 Wash 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.

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

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

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

7 And 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.

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

9 And 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.

10 And 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.

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

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

13 Tarry 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.

14 And 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.

15 Also he said, Bring the vaild 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.

16 And 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.

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

18 Then 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.