Ruth 3

Ruth 3 is the third of the four chapters of the Book of Ruth. In Ruth 2, Ruth gleaned in the field of Boaz, and Naomi told her that Boaz was one of their kinsmen-redeemers. This chapter continues the story from that point.

Outline

• Verses 1–5: Naomi seeks "rest" for Ruth. Because Boaz will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor that night, she tells Ruth to wash, anoint herself, go down there, and lie down at his feet where he sleeps. Ruth replies that she will do as Naomi says.
• Verses 6–9: Ruth quietly lies down at Boaz's feet. At midnight Boaz wakes with a start and asks who she is. Ruth asks him to spread his skirt over her, declaring that he is a kinsman-redeemer.
• Verses 10–13: Boaz blesses Ruth and calls her "a virtuous woman." He explains that there is a kinsman nearer than he; if that man will not fulfill the responsibility in the morning, Boaz swears by the LORD that he will do it himself.
• Verses 14–15: Ruth rises before dawn, while it is still too dark for people to recognize one another. Boaz measures six measures of barley into her mantle.
• Verses 16–18: Ruth tells her mother-in-law what has happened. Naomi tells her to wait quietly, for Boaz will not rest until he has settled the matter that very day.

Key Verses

• Ruth 3:9: "Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid." This request, in which Ruth asks Boaz for protection and marriage, stands at the center of the scene.
• Ruth 3:11: "All the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman." This verse shows how the community regards Ruth, a foreign woman.
• Ruth 3:18: "Sit still." This verse is frequently cited as expressing the attitude of waiting for the outcome after one has done all one can.

People and Places

• Ruth: A Moabite widow and Naomi's daughter-in-law.
• Naomi: Ruth's mother-in-law.
• Boaz: A relative of Naomi's family and a man of standing.
• The nearer kinsman: He is not named and appears again in Ruth 4.
• The threshing floor: A place where grain is threshed and winnowed. "The city" in the text refers to Bethlehem.

Points for Reflection

• Interpreting the threshing-floor scene: Readers differ in their understanding of the nighttime scene at the threshing floor. Some scholars take "feet" as an expression with sexual overtones. Many commentaries and sermons, on the basis of verse 14 and Boaz's conduct, read it as a chaste encounter.
• The meaning of "skirt": "Skirt" in verse 9 and "wings" in Ruth 2:12 translate the same Hebrew word (kanaph). A similar marriage expression appears in Ezekiel 16:8.
• The kinsman-redeemer and levirate marriage: Scholars differ in explaining how the responsibility of the kinsman-redeemer and the levirate marriage of Deuteronomy 25 (the practice of marrying a deceased brother's widow to carry on his line) overlap in this story.
• Kindness (hesed): "Kindness" in verse 10 translates hesed.
• "Six measures of barley": The Hebrew text specifies no unit, so translations render the phrase in various ways.
• Connection with the New Testament: Boaz and Ruth appear in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. Christian tradition has read Boaz as a figure who foreshadows the redemption accomplished by Christ.

In the Korean Church

Korean preachers often use this chapter to present Boaz as a type of Jesus Christ, the "kinsman-redeemer." Because the Book of Ruth is set during the barley harvest, the chapter is also used as a sermon text for Harvest Thanksgiving (the Feast of Harvest).