Ruth 2:5

5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the kotzerim, Whose na’arah 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 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the sadeh behind the kotzerim (harvesters, reapers); and it so happened that she came on a part of the sadeh belonging unto Boaz, who was of the mishpochah of Elimelech.

4 And, hinei, Boaz came from Beit-Lechem, and said unto the kotzerim, Hashem be with you. And they answered him, Yevarech’chah Adonoi (Hashem bless thee).

5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the kotzerim, Whose na’arah is this?

6 And the servant that was set over the kotzerim answered and said, It is the na’arah from Moav that came back with Naomi out of the sadeh of Moav.

7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the kotzerim among the omarim (sheaves); so she came, and hath worked steadily from the boker even until now, except for a short rest in the bais.