The motif of God's providence, His working out His own plan through the circumstances of life, which runs through the Book of Ruth, is especially strong in this pericope.
The writer introduced Boaz as a kinsman (lit. acquaintance or friend, Heb. myd') of Elimelech. Keil and Delitzsch believed Boaz's name means "alacrity,"but J. Vernon McGee wrote that it meant "in whom is strength."42Boaz was by virtue of his family relationship someone who was eligible to perpetuate Elimelech's line, the larger of Naomi and Ruth's needs. He was also wealthy so he could provide food and physical protection for Naomi and Ruth, their immediate need (v. 1). The same Hebrew words (ish gibbor), translated "man of wealth,"described Gideon (Judg. 6:12).
Ruth's plan to secure favor (v. 2) was a plan to obtain food. She did not realize how favored she would become. God commanded farmers in Israel not to harvest the corners of their fields so the poor and needy, such as aliens, widows, and orphans, could glean food enough to live (Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22). The reapers were free Israelites who hired themselves out to do this work for a stipulated payment.43Ruth qualified for gleaning as an alien and as a widow. She submitted her plans for Naomi's approval and received her blessing.
She "happened"to glean in Boaz's field from the human viewpoint (v. 3), but as the story unfolds God's hand of blessing obviously guided Ruth's choice to go to that field (cf. Prov. 3:5-6).
Boaz's love for God and other people, those qualities most important in a human being from God's perspective (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; cf. Matt. 22:37-39), are obvious in this record of his dealing with his employees (v. 4). There was no labor management tension here since Boaz treated his workers with love.
"Significantly, the two greetings form a chiasm with the name Yahweh at its beginning and end. Hence, the exchange dropped a subtile hint which followed up the luck' of v. 3: in a simple, undramatic way, it affirmed the presence of Yahweh in this scene. . . . Thus, by this simple device the narrator reminded his audience that, though offstage, Yahweh was nevertheless within earshot"44
Ruth's character too was of high quality as the reaper foreman reported (v. 7) and as Boaz later testified he had learned earlier (v. 11). We should probably understand the last part of verse 7 to mean that Ruth had rested only a short time.45In other words, Ruth was a hard worker.
