Ruth 2:21

_AND RUTH THE MOABITESS SAID, HE SAID UNTO ME ALSO, THOU SHALT KEEP FAST BY MY YOUNG MEN, UNTIL THEY HAVE ENDED ALL MY HARVEST._ All my harvest - both barley and wheat harvests. The latter was at the end of May or the beginning of June....

17-23 It encourages industry, that in all labour, even that of gleaning, there is profit. Ruth was pleased with what she gained by her own industry, and was careful to secure it. Let us thus take care that we lose not those things which we have wrought, which we have gained for our souls' good, 2 John 1:8. Parents should examine their children, as Naomi did, not to frighten or discourage them, so as to make them hate home, or tempt them to tell a lie; but to commend them if they have done well, and with mildness to reprove and caution them if they have done otherwise. It is a good question for us to ask ourselves every night, Where have I gleaned to-day? What improvement have I made in knowledge and grace? What have I done that will turn to a good account? When the Lord deals bountifully with us, let us not be found in any other field, nor seeking for happiness and satisfaction in the c...

Verse Ruth 2:21. _KEEP FAST BY MY YOUNG MEN_] The word הנערים _hannearim_ should be translated _servants_, both the _male_ and _female_ being included in it; the latter especially, as we see in Ruth 2:22-8....

EXPOSITION RUTH 2:18 AND SHE LIFTED IT UP, AND WENT INTO THE CITY: AND HER MOTHER-IN-LAW BEHELD WHAT SHE HAD GLEANED. SHE LIKEWISE BROUGHT FORTH, AND GAVE TO HER, WHAT SHE HAD LEFT OVER AFTER SHE WAS SATISFIED. It would be with gratitude and pride that Ruth would let her heavy burden slip off into the hands of Naomi. It would be with gratitude and wonder that Naomi would _behold _the precious load. Other gentle emotions would stir within the mother-in-law's hungry heart when her beloved daughter-in-law produced and presented the remains of her delightfully refreshing repast at the tent. The expression, "_after _she was satisfied," is literally, "from her satiety." RUTH 2:19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where has

AND RUTH THE MOABITESS SAID, HE SAID UNTO ME ALSO,.... Besides the favours he has shown me already, he has given me reason to expect more, for he has given me this strict order: THOU SHALT KEEP FAST BY MY YOUNG MEN, UNTIL THEY HAVE ENDED ALL MY HARVEST; both barley harvest and wheat harvest; his will was, that she kept following them, and gleaned after them, as long as both harvests lasted. The Septuagint version is, "with my maidens", and which agrees with Ruth 2:8, where the order of Boaz is expressed, and with the instructions of Naomi in the next verse, who so understood it; but if we understand it of young men here, there is no contradiction; for both young men and maidens wrought together in the same field, either in reaping or binding up; so that if she kept fast by the one, she also would do the same by the other....

CHAPTER 2 GLEANING IN THE FIELD _ 1. Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz (Ruth 2:1)_ 2. Grace shown to Ruth by Boaz (Ruth 2:4) 3. Ruth hears concerning Boaz (Ruth 2:18) Boaz comes now upon the scene. His name means “in Him is strength.” He is called “a mighty man of wealth.” As the kinsman-redeemer he is a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one in whom there is strength, the rich one. Ruth knows at first little of him and the coming relationship with the wealthy one. Boaz is related to Elimelech, whose name “my God is king” is typical of Israel's faith. Through Elimelech only Naomi (the nation Israel) has a claim on Boaz. And she can only lay claim through Ruth. Even so Israel has a claim on the ble

THE MEETING OF BOAZ AND RUTH. Naomi's kinsman quite a different word from the near kinsman (goë l) of Ruth 2:20 is introduced in Heb. words which sometimes denoted a wealthy man, and sometimes a valiant man, so that a peaceful farmer like Boaz is characterised in the same terms as warriors like Gideon and Jephthah (Judges 6:12; Judges 11:1). The name Boaz may mean in Him is strength. Ruth 2:2. It was a custom, and it became a law, in Israel that the poor, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow should be permitted to glean in the harvest fields (Deuteronomy 24:19

THE MOABITESS. See note on Ruth 1:4; Ruth 1:22....

THOU SHALT KEEP FAST BY MY YOUNG MEN— The word which we render _young men,_ signifies all young people in general. We see by the following verse in what manner Naomi understood it. The LXX and Chaldee render it _maidens,_ and so, doubtless, it should be read in our version. REFLECTIONS.—Ruth, having refreshed herself at dinner, returns again with diligence to her work, and at even, 1. She beats out and winnows the corn that she had gathered, which was between six and seven gallons of barley, and, taking it up, carries it home to her mother. _Note;_ Industry and plenty are twin-sisters; even the poor, if industrious, never need want. 2. On her arrival, she shews her mother what she had gleaned, gives her of the provision which she had left at dinner, and, in answer to Naomi's question, who was pleasingly surprised at the quantity she had brought home, relates the adventures of the day,...

_Ruth Returns to Naomi Ruth 2:17-23_ 17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. 19 And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz. 20 And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. 21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep f