Ruth 2:3

3 So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened [by] chance [upon] the tract of field {belonging to} Boaz, who [was] from the clan of Elimelech.

Ruth 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 2:3

And she went, and came
That is, she went out of the house where she was, and out of the city, and came into the field; though, according to the Midrash ^F16, she marked the ways as she went, before she entered into the field, and then came back to the city to observe the marks and signs she made, that she might not mistake the way, and might know how to come back again:

and gleaned in the field after the reapers;
when they had cut down and bound up the corn, what fell and was left she picked up, having first asked leave so to do:

and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz,
who was of the kindred of Elimelech;
the providence of God so ordering and directing it; for though it was hap and chance to her, and what some people call good luck, it was according to the purpose, and by the providence and direction of God that she came to the reapers in that part of the field Boaz, a near kinsman of her father-in-law, was owner of, and asked leave of them to glean and follow them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Midrash Ruth, fol. 31. 4. Vid. Jarchi & Alshech in loc.

Ruth 2:3 In-Context

1 {Now} Naomi {had a relative of her husband}, {a prominent rich man} from the clan of Elimelech, [whose] name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Please let me go [to] the field and glean among the ears of grain after [someone] in whose eyes I [may] find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."

3 So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened [by] chance [upon] the tract of field {belonging to} Boaz, who [was] from the clan of Elimelech.

4 And look, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "[May] Yahweh [be] with you." And they said to him, "[May] Yahweh bless you."

5 And Boaz said to his servant {in charge of the reapers}, "To whom [does] this young woman [belong]?"

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "was for"