Ruth 2:5

5 Then said Bo`az to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose young lady is this?

Ruth 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 2:5

Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers,
&c.] To direct them their work, what part each was to do, and to see that they did it well; to take care for provisions for them, and to pay them their wages when their work was done. Josephus ^F20 calls him (agrokomov) , that had the care of the field, and all things relative to it; the Jews ^F21 say, he was set over two and forty persons, whom he had the command of:

whose damsel is this?
to whom does she belong? of what family is she? whose daughter is she? or whose wife? for he thought, as Aben Ezra notes, that she was another man's wife; the Targum is, of what nation is she? perhaps her dress might be somewhat different from that of the Israelitish women.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 2.
F21 Midrash Ruth, fol. 32. 1.

Ruth 2:5 In-Context

3 She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Bo`az, who was of the family of Elimelekh.

4 Behold, Bo`az came from Beit-Lechem, and said to the reapers, the LORD be with you. They answered him, the LORD bless you.

5 Then said Bo`az to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose young lady is this?

6 The servant who was set over the reapers answered, It is the Mo'avite lady who came back with Na`omi out of the country of Mo'av:

7 She said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she stayed a little in the house.