What instructions does Booz give so Ruth can keep gleaning in his field?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

He tells her to stay with his maids and follow where they reap, says he has ordered his young men not to molest her, and allows her to drink the servants’ water. Later he orders that she not be hindered or rebuked and that handfuls be left for her deliberately.

Chapter breakdown

Elimelech, Noemi’s husband, has a powerful and very rich kinsman named Booz. Ruth the Moabitess asks Noemi’s permission to go into the field and gather ears of corn missed by the reapers wherever she finds favor with a householder. Noemi tells her to go. Ruth gleans behind the reapers, and the field happens to belong to Booz, of Elimelech’s kindred. Coming from Bethlehem, he greets the reapers by asking the Lord to be with them; they ask the Lord to bless him. He asks the young man over the reapers whose maid this is. The reply identifies the Moabitess who came with Noemi, says she asked leave to glean behind the reapers, and reports that she has been there from morning until now without going home for a moment.

Booz calls Ruth daughter and tells her not to glean elsewhere or leave, but stay with his maids and follow where they reap. He has charged his young men not to molest her; if thirsty she may drink from the vessels supplying the servants. She falls on her face and bows upon the ground, asking why she has found favor and notice as a woman from another country. He says he has heard all she did for her mother-in-law after her husband’s death, her departure from her parents and birthplace and her coming to a people previously unknown to her. He asks the Lord to reward her work fully, naming the Lord God of Israel to whom she has come and under whose wings she has fled. She says she has found favor in his eyes, that he comforted her and spoke to his handmaid’s heart, though she is not like one of his maids.

At mealtime Booz invites Ruth to eat bread and dip her morsel in vinegar. She sits beside the reapers, heaps frumenty for herself, eats until filled and takes the leavings. When she rises to glean again, he tells his servants not to hinder her even if she reaps with them. They are to let some handfuls fall deliberately and leave them so she can gather without shame; no one is to rebuke her. She gleans until evening, beats and threshes what she gathered with a rod, and finds about an ephi of barley, explained here as three bushels. She carries it back to the city and shows Noemi, also giving her the food left from the meal that filled her.

Noemi asks where Ruth gleaned and worked that day and blesses the one who had pity on her. Ruth names Booz as the man with whom she worked. Noemi blesses him in the Lord, saying he has kept for the dead the kindness shown to the living, and identifies him as their kinsman. Ruth reports his instruction to stay close to his reapers until all the corn is reaped. Noemi says it is better to reap with his maids lest someone resist her in another man’s field. Ruth stays close to Booz’s maids and gleans until all the barley and wheat are stored in the barns.

The story inside

Ruth’s request to glean receives Noemi’s permission, and the field happens to be Booz’s. His greeting and inquiry lead to the overseer’s report about Ruth. He gives instructions about remaining, following the maids, protection and water. Her question about favor as a foreigner receives his account of what he has heard and his blessing. A meal and further orders accompany the gleaning, yielding about an ephi and food leavings for Noemi. Learning the name, Noemi speaks of kindness to living and dead and their kinship. Ruth remains through the storage of barley and wheat.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Booz’s instructions are specific. Remaining with his maids, following the reapers, protection from molestation and access to water precede the later no-hindrance and no-rebuke commands. The deliberate handfuls are recorded without an invented secret arrangement.
2
His answer explains the notice he gives Ruth. He reports hearing about her acts for Noemi, leaving parents and birthplace, and coming to an unfamiliar people. His wish for reward under the Lord’s wings remains a blessing spoken by him.
3
What Ruth brings home includes two things. She shows the barley, with the source’s approximate measure and three-bushel explanation, and shares her meal leavings. Noemi’s questions identify Booz, and her advice and Ruth’s continued gleaning complete the chapter.

Test your recall

What does the overseer tell Booz, what commands and meal does Booz give Ruth, and how does Noemi respond when she learns whose field it was?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 27851–27879
Ruth Chapter 2 Ruth gleaneth in the field of Booz, who sheweth her favour. 2:1. Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose name was Booz. 2:2. And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to her mother in law: If thou wilt, I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder, that will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter. 2:3. She went, therefore, and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. 2:4. And behold, he came out of Bethlehem, and said to the reapers: The Lord be with you. And they answered him: The Lord bless thee. 2:5. And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers: Whose maid is this? 2:6. And he answered him: This is the Moabitess, who came with Noemi, from the land of Moab, 2:7. And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment.
Lines 27881–27905
2:8. And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids, 2:9. And follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink. 2:10. She fell on her face, and worshipping upon the ground, said to him: Whence cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thy eyes, and that thou shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me, a woman of another country? 2:11. And he answered her: All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy mother in law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 2:12. The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayst thou receive a full reward of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled. 2:13. And she said: I have found grace in thy eyes, my lord, who hast comforted me, and hast spoken to the heart of thy handmaid, who am not like to one of thy maids.
Lines 27907–27926
2:14. And Booz said to her: At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. So she sat at the side of the reapers, and she heaped to herself frumenty, and ate and was filled, and took the leavings. 2:15. And she arose from thence, to glean the ears of corn as before. And Booz commanded his servants, saying: If she would even reap with you, hinder her not: 2:16. And let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may gather them without shame, and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them. 2:17. She gleaned therefore in the field till evening: and beating out with a rod, and threshing what she had gleaned, she found about the measure of an ephi of barley, that is, three bushels: 2:18. Which she took up, and returned into the city, and shewed it to her mother in law: moreover, she brought out, and gave her of the remains of her meat, wherewith she had been filled.
Lines 27928–27947
2:19. And her mother in law said to her: Where hast thou gleaned today, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that hath had pity on thee. And she told her with whom she had wrought: and she told the man’s name, that he was called Booz. 2:20. And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman. 2:21. And Ruth said: He also charged me, that I should keep close to his reapers, till all the corn should be reaped. 2:22. And her mother in law said to her: It is better for thee, my daughter, to go out to reap with his maids, lest in another man’s field some one may resist thee. 2:23. So she kept close to the maids of Booz: and continued to glean with them, till all the barley and the wheat were laid up in the barns.