Ruth 2:15

15 And she rose from thence to gather the ears of corn, by custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Also if she will reap with you, forbid ye not her, (And then she rose up from there to gather the ears of corn again, as was her custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Yea, if she will reap with you, forbid ye her not,)

Ruth 2:15 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 2:15

And when she was risen up to glean
After she had ate sufficiently, and refreshed herself, she rose up from her seat to go into the field and glean again; which shows her industry:

Boaz commanded his young men;
the reapers, or who gathered the handfuls, and bound them up in sheaves:

saying, let her glean even among the sheaves;
this she had requested of the reapers when she first came into the field, and it was granted her, ( Ruth 2:7 ) but this, as it was granted by Boaz himself, so was still a greater favour; and there is some difference in the expression, for it may be rendered here, "among those sheaves" F8, pointing to a particular spot where might be the best ears of corn, and where more of them had fallen:

and reproach her not;
as not with her being a poor woman, a widow, a Moabitish woman, so neither with being a thief, or taking such corn she should not, or gleaning where she ought not.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Myrmeh Nyb) "inter ipsos manipulos", Tigurine version, Rambachius.

Ruth 2:15 In-Context

13 And she said, My lord, I have found grace before thine eyes, and thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid, which am not like one of thine handmaids. (And she said, My lord, for I have found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thy servantess, though I am not equal to one of thy servantesses, yea, thou hast greatly comforted me.)
14 And Boaz said to her, When the hour of eating is, come thou hither, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in vinegar. Therefore she sat at the side of [the] reapers; and he directed to her pottage, and she ate, and was filled; and she took the remnants. (And Boaz said to her, When it is time to eat, come thou here, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in the vinegar. And so she sat beside the reapers; and Boaz passed her some roasted grain, and she ate, and was fulfilled; and she took up the remnants.)
15 And she rose from thence to gather the ears of corn, by custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Also if she will reap with you, forbid ye not her, (And then she rose up from there to gather the ears of corn again, as was her custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Yea, if she will reap with you, forbid ye her not,)
16 and also cast ye forth to her handfuls of purpose (and also throw ye forth to her some handfuls on purpose), and suffer ye those to abide, that she gather those without shame; and no man reprove her gathering them.
17 Therefore she gathered in the field till to eventide; and she beat with a rod, and shook out those things that she had gathered; and she found of barley as the measure of (an) ephah (and she found that she had about a bushel of barley).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.