Ruth 2:5

5 Then said Boaz unto his servant who was set over the reapers, "Whose damsel 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 field after the reapers; and she happened to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, "The LORD be with you." And they answered him, "The LORD bless thee."

5 Then said Boaz unto his servant who was set over the reapers, "Whose damsel is this?"

6 And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, "It is the Moabite damsel who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

7 And she said, `I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came and hath continued even from the morning until now, except she tarried a little in the house."