Ruth 3

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Ruth 3

1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.

3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.

6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.

7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.

9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.

10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning.

14 And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.

15 Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.

16 And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

17 And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.

18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

<html>Our kinsman. Our relative. Behold, he will be winnowing. The chaff, vraner in O.F. Tonight. Because the generation was unrestrained in theft and robbery; he would sleep in his granary to guard his granary.</html>

Verse 3

<html>[And you shall] bathe. From the contamination of your [past] idolatry.¹Rus, obviously does not have to be told to do such a basic thing (i.e., to bathe), therefore it must allude for her to remove the contamination of her past idolatry. And scent yourself. These are the [Torah’s] precepts. Dress [yourself] in your finest garb. Shabbos garments.²Maseches Shabbos 113b. The word שמלה rather than בגד or לבוש indicates especially fine clothing of Shabbos or Yom Tov. Malbim Alternatively, the mere mention to put on clothes is superfluous, it therefore must refer to Shabbos clothing. (Sifsei Chachomim) And go down to the threshing floor. It is written וְיָרַדְתִּי [=and I will go down]; [i.e.,] my merit will go down with you.³And protect you from any mishap. But do not identify yourself to the man. To Bo’az.</html>

Verse 6

<html>So she went down to the threshing floor and she did. She [Naomi] said to her, “Bathe and scent yourself, dress yourself in the finest garb,” and afterwards, “and go down to the threshing floor.” But she [Rus] did not do so, but [instead] she said, “If I go down when I am dressed up, whoever meets me or sees me will think that I am a harlot.” She therefore first went down to the threshing floor and afterwards adorned herself, as her mother-in-law had instructed.⁴Maseches Shabbos 113b. </html>

Verse 7

<html>And his heart was jubilant. Because he engaged in Torah [study].⁵Alternatively, he was happy that his prayers were accepted and the famine ended. (Targum) And she came in softly. בַלָּט =] silently.⁶Alternatively, slowly. (Radak) </html>

Verse 8

<html>The man was startled. He thought it was a demon and wanted to scream, but she held him and encompassed him with her arms. And [he] turned about. וַיִּלָּפֵת =] and he was seized, as in, “And Shimshon grasped וַיִּלְפֹּת.”⁷Shoftim 16:29. Alternatively, “his skin Hardened [like a turnip= לפת] from fright.” (Maseches Sanhedrin 19b) And behold there was a woman. He placed his hand on her head and recognized that it was a woman [and not a demon].⁸Because demons have no hair. Alternatively, he realized from her voice that she was a woman, or he saw her by the light of the moon. </html>

Verse 9

<html>Spread your mantle. The corner of your garment to cover me with your cloak; and this is an expression of marriage.⁹An expression taken from birds who spread their wings [כנף] when they mate. (Malbim) For you are a near kinsman. To redeem my husband’s inheritance, as it is stated, “and a close relative comes and redeems, etc.”¹⁰Vayikra 25:25. And my mother-in-law and I must sell our inheritance, and now it is incumbent upon you to buy it. Acquire [i.e., marry] me also, along with it,¹¹The Torah requires only that he redeem the relative’s property, but it does not require that he redeem his relative’s wife. She therefore asked him to marry her. so that the name of the deceased be remembered upon his estate, so that when I come to the field they will say, “this is Machlon’s wife.” </html>

Verse 10

<html>[Your] earlier [kindness]. That you did for your mother-in-law.¹²When you abandoned your home and fortune to stay with your mother-in-law. Your last act of kindness, i.e., your willingness to marry an older man to perpetuate your late husband’s name is a greater sacrifice on your part. </html>

Verse 12

<html>Now, though it is true that. אִם [=if] is written but not read, i.e., it conveys uncertainty [who will be the actual redeemer], for there is surely a redeemer closer than I.¹³The kinsman was Elimelech’s brother whereas Bo’az was only his nephew. (Another version: “כִּי אִם” conveys doubt, but it is certain [that he was a definite redeemer]).¹⁴I.e., without the word אם to indicate that there was actually no uncertainty, i.e., that Bo’az knew that he would indeed be the one to redeem her. Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Leivi said, “Salmone, Elimelech, and Tov were brothers. Then what is the meaning [of the statement by Bo’az], “which belonged to our brother, to Elimelech”? A person always refers to his uncle as his brother, as the matter is stated, “And Avrom heard that his brother was captured.”¹⁵Bereishis 14:14. Now was not Avrohom his [Lot’s] uncle?¹⁶Lot’s father Haran, was Avrohom’s brother; see Bereishis 11:27. So was Bo’az, Elimelech’s nephew, a relative of Machlon, but Tov was more closely related. Even closer than I. For he [Tov] is a brother, and I am a brother’s son [i.e., nephew].¹⁷And therefore he has priority. </html>

Verse 13

<html>Stay the night. Stay over [one more night] without a husband. As Adonoy lives. She said to him, “You are dismissing me with words [i.e., excuses].” He jumped up and swore to her¹⁸‘חי ה is the Biblical form of an oath, as in I Shmuel 19:6. that he would not dismiss her with words. Some of our Rabbis said that he swore to his evil inclination, for his evil inclination was inciting him [by saying], “You are not married and she is not married; be intimate with her.” So he swore that he would not be intimate with her except with marriage. </html>

Verse 14

<html>For he said, “It must not be known.” This refers back to “and she arose before one could recognize [another].” He hurried her to rise because he said in his heart, “It does not befit my honor that it should be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”¹⁹According to the Alshich, Bo’az was concerned with Rus’ reputation rather than his own, because his righteousness was well known and nobody would suspect him of acting immorally. </html>

Verse 15

<html>Six measures of barley. It is impossible to say [that it means] six se’ah, because it is not customary for a woman to carry such a [large] load; rather, [it means] literally, six barleycorns; and he hinted to her that there was destined to emerge from her a son who would be blessed with six blessings: “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Adonoy.”²⁰Yeshaya 11:2. Alternatively, this is the equivalent of a kav which is one sixth of a se’ah, also referred to as a שש and mentioned in Yechezkel 45:13. The Mishnah in Maseches Pe’ah (8:7) states that a poor person who is traveling from place to place must be given not less than a half kav of wheat from which to make bread. Bo’az therefore gave Naomi a whole kav, one half for Rus and the other half for herself. (Malbim) The six barleycorns may allude to the six righteous men, each blessed with six virtues are destined to descend from this marriage: Dovid, Daniel, Chananya, Mishaeil, Azaryah and Moshiach. (Targum) </html>

Verse 18

<html>Until he settles. [I.e., until] the man [settles] the matter today.</html>

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Table of Contents

Ruth 3

Ruth 3

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 18