Ruth 2:12

12 "¹May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, ²under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

Ruth 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 2:12

The Lord recompence thy work
The Targum adds, in this world; meaning the kind offices she had performed, and the good service she had done to her mother-in-law; nor is God unrighteous to forget the work and labour of love, which is shown by children to their parents; and though such works are not in themselves meritorious of any blessing from God here or hereafter, yet he is pleased of his own grace to recompence them, and return the good into their bosom manifold, it being acceptable in his sight:

and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel;
the Targum adds, in the world to come; which is called the reward of the inheritance, ( Colossians 3:24 ) a reward not of debt, but of grace; and that will be a full one indeed, fulness of joy, peace, and happiness, an abundance of good things not to be conceived of, see ( 2 John 1:8 ) ,

under whose wings thou art come to trust;
whom she professed to be her God, and whom she determined to serve and worship; whose grace and favour she expected, and to whose care and protection she committed herself: the allusion is either to fowls, which cover their young with their wings, and thereby keep them warm and comfortable, and shelter and protect them, see ( Psalms 36:7 ) ( 57:1 ) or to the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat, ( Exodus 25:20 ) and the phrase is now adopted by the Jews to express proselytism; and so the Targum here,

``thou art come to be proselyted, and to be hid under the wings of the Shechinah of his glory,''

or his glorious Shechinah.

Ruth 2:12 In-Context

10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"

11 Boaz replied to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

12 "May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD , the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

13 Then she said, "I have found favor in your sight, my lord , for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants."

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 24:19
• 2. Ruth 1:16; Psalms 17:8; Psalms 36:7; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 63:7; Psalms 91:4