Ruth 2 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Ruth 2:1-9

1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’

Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’

‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.

5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’

6 The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’

A. Find Out:

1. To whom are we next introduced? v.1
2. What does Ruth suggest? v.2
3. Where does she ‘happen’ to find herself? v.3
4. Who comes and what does he ask? v.4,5
5. What does the foreman testify about Ruth? v.6,7
6. So what does Boaz say to Ruth? v.8,9

B. Think:

1. What does this passage tell us about Ruth?
2. What does it tell us about Boaz?
3. How much do you think this was a ‘chance’ encounter?

C. Comment:

     First, we are introduced to Boaz by description, then later by action. By description we are told that he is of the same clan as Naomi’s husband and that he is a man of some standing in the community, i.e. he is probably well off. We are later told he owns fields and the harvest in them, and employs workers. He is also shown to us as a godly man who has a good relationship with his workers. His response to finding Ruth in his field is to guard and protect and provide for her. This is a good man!

      But now look at Ruth’s actions. Having come into her mother-in-law’s country, she doesn’t sit back and do nothing, but she recognises that they have a problem of daily provision and so she takes advantage of the Jewish law that allowed others to follow behind the harvesters and pick up what was left over (Lev 19:9,10, Deut 24:19).

     However, it did tend to be something that was done only with the permission of the field owner. Ruth had approached the foreman and obtained permission and had worked solidly through the day. This girl was industrious on behalf of her aging mother-in-law who now largely depended on her. Coincidence that she chose Boaz’s field? No, this is what we call providence, the unseen guiding hand of God. We see it again and again in Scripture. God’s guidance is not mentioned but the coincidences are too great. God has a plan! The outcome is way beyond coincidence!

D. Application:

1. Trust that in daily affairs you will be guided.
2. Simply play your part and be industrious and righteous.

Passage: Ruth 2:10-18

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’

11 Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’

13 ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.’

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, ‘Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.’

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

A. Find Out:

1. What did Ruth ask of Boaz? v.10
2. What was his response? v.11,12
3. How did she respond to this? v.13
4. How did he subsequently care for her? v.14
5. What did he later tell his men? v.15,16
6. How did Ruth get on? v.17,18

B. Think:

1. Why was Boaz being kind to Ruth?
2. How does he show himself to be a godly man?
3. What sort of person does Ruth show herself to be?

C. Comment:

    Boaz has just spoken to Ruth for the first time and encouraged her to stay collecting in his field, telling her he has assured her protection and she should feel free to use their water. This is indeed a kindness, and so Ruth asks why he should do such a thing. He responds that he has heard of her loyalty to Naomi, and blesses her in the name of the Lord. This is the second time in a short passage that we have seen his references to the Lord. This is a man with a relationship with the Lord, a godly and righteous man, a good man! This goodness comes out in his concern for Ruth.

     He shows it even more when it’s time for a break and he invites her to join them and partake of their food and drink. She is provided with more than she can eat. This is abundant provision (v.14). When she goes back to work Boaz quietly instructs his men to make it easy for her to collect even more of the harvest (v.15,16). Ruth is a hard worker and so she works on until evening and collects a good supply which she takes back to Naomi.

     Ruth’s apparent ‘chance’ choice of this field has paid off abundantly. Her first encounter with Boaz has only found friendship, care and concern. She has been well looked after. He has provided encouragement, protection and provision in abundance, but it has still been up to her to receive it, she’s still had to work for it. He provides but she has to take. That’s how it is with us and the Lord.

D. Application:

1. Boaz’ reception is what we receive from Jesus when we come to him.
2. Yet we still have to reach out to receive these things from his hand.

Passage: Ruth 2:19-23,3:1

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, ‘Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!’

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. ‘The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,’ she said.

20 ‘The Lord bless him!’ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. ‘He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.’ She added, ‘That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.’

21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.”’

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.’

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, ‘My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for.

A. Find Out:

1. What did Naomi ask of Ruth? v.19a
2. What did Naomi say about Ruth’s answer? v.20
3. What more did Ruth share and what was Naomi’s response? v.21,22
4. So what did Ruth continue doing for how long? v.23
5. What was Naomi’s concern? v.1

B. Think:

1. Recap: what was Ruth able to tell Naomi about her ‘job’?
2. Why did that thrill Naomi?
3. How was this really only a temporary answer to their problems?

C. Comment:

     Returning home from her day in the fields, Ruth brings a large quantity of grain with her, which prompts Naomi to comment how well she has done and how good the owner has been to her. When Ruth tells her it is Boaz, Naomi is thrilled because Boaz is a close relative.

    It is here that we are introduced to the concept of a “kinsman redeemer” for the first time which is so vital to this story. The Law (Lev 25:25) declared that if a person became poor and had to sell their land to survive, then their nearest relative is to be the one to buy it, so that he will hold it until they have recovered and can buy it back.

     Naomi therefore has it in her mind that because of their poor state they may well have to sell the land and Boaz may be the one in the family (though not the closest) who might buy it. The fact that he has acted so favourably towards Ruth, is a possible indication that he would act well towards them in respect of the land.

     However, the possibility of having to sell off the land to survive can be put off for a while because there is clearly food coming in from Ruth’s activity in the harvest. The fact that it is the field of a close and kindly relative greatly reassures Naomi. So it is that Ruth continues going to the fields of Boaz and collecting after the harvesters. It is only a temporary solution and Naomi is very much aware of that. A better long-term solution would be for Ruth to be married. Watch this space!

D. Application:

1. Much of our life guidance is providential – living with events.
2. God takes and uses ordinary every day events for His purposes.