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Text -- Ruth 2:7-23 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
2:7 She asked , ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather grain among the bundles ?’ Since she arrived she has been working hard from this morning until now – except for sitting in the resting hut a short time .”
2:8 So Boaz said to Ruth , “Listen carefully, my dear ! Do not leave to gather grain in another field . You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside my female workers .
2:9 Take note of the field where the men are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. I will tell the men to leave you alone . When you are thirsty , you may go to the water jars and drink some of the water the servants draw .”
2:10 Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner ?”
2:11 Boaz replied to her, “I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left your father and your mother , as well as your homeland , and came to live among people you did not know previously .
2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts ! May your acts of kindness be repaid fully by the Lord God of Israel , from whom you have sought protection !”
2:13 She said , “You really are being kind to me, sir , for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant , even though I am not one of your servants !”
2:14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have some food ! Dip your bread in the vinegar !” So she sat down beside the harvesters . Then he handed her some roasted grain . She ate until she was full and saved the rest .
2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told his male servants , “Let her gather grain even among the bundles ! Don’t chase her off !
2:16 Make sure you pull out ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up . Don’t tell her not to!”
2:17 So she gathered grain in the field until evening . When she threshed what she had gathered , it came to about thirty pounds of barley !
Ruth Returns to Naomi
2:18 She carried it back to town , and her mother-in-law saw how much grain she had gathered . Then Ruth gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime .
2:19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today ? Where did you work ? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded !” So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked . She said , “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz .”
2:20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law , “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead !” Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian .”
2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied , “He even told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants until they have finished gathering all my harvest !’”
2:22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth , “It is good , my daughter , that you should go out to work with his female servants . That way you will not be harmed , which could happen in another field .”
2:23 So Ruth worked beside Boaz’s female servants , gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest . After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:7; Rut 2:8; Rut 2:8; Rut 2:8; Rut 2:8; Rut 2:8; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:9; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:10; Rut 2:11; Rut 2:11; Rut 2:11; Rut 2:11; Rut 2:12; Rut 2:12; Rut 2:12; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:13; Rut 2:14; Rut 2:14; Rut 2:14; Rut 2:14; Rut 2:15; Rut 2:15; Rut 2:15; Rut 2:16; Rut 2:16; Rut 2:17; Rut 2:17; Rut 2:17; Rut 2:18; Rut 2:18; Rut 2:18; Rut 2:18; Rut 2:19; Rut 2:19; Rut 2:19; Rut 2:20; Rut 2:20; Rut 2:20; Rut 2:21; Rut 2:21; Rut 2:21; Rut 2:22; Rut 2:22; Rut 2:23; Rut 2:23; Rut 2:23; Rut 2:23
NET Notes: Rut 2:7 Heb “a little while.” The adjective מְעָט (me’at) functions in a temporal sense (“a little while...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:8 The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more ...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:9 The imperfect here either indicates characteristic or typical activity, or anterior future, referring to a future action (drawing water) which logical...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:11 Heb “yesterday and the third day.” This Hebrew idiom means “previously, in the past” (Exod 5:7,8,14; Exod 21:29,36; Deut 4:42;...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:12 Heb “under whose wings you have sought shelter”; NIV, NLT “have come to take refuge.”
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NET Notes: Rut 2:13 The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).
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NET Notes: Rut 2:14 Heb “and she ate and she was satisfied and she had some left over” (NASB similar).
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NET Notes: Rut 2:15 Heb “do not humiliate her”; cf. KJV “reproach her not”; NASB “do not insult her”; NIV “don’t embarrass...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:16 Heb “do not rebuke her” (so NASB, NRSV); CEV “don’t speak harshly to her”; NLT “don’t give her a hard time.&...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:17 This was a huge amount of barley for one woman to gather in a single day. It testifies both to Ruth’s industry and to Boaz’s generosity.
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NET Notes: Rut 2:18 Heb “and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left over from her being satisfied.”
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NET Notes: Rut 2:19 Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Rut 2:20 The Hebrew term גָּאַל (ga’al) is sometimes translated “redeemer” here (NIV “one of our ki...
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NET Notes: Rut 2:21 Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”
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NET Notes: Rut 2:22 Heb “and they will not harm you in another field”; NRSV “otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”
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