Add parallel Print Page Options

19 Naomi asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? Blessed be whoever noticed you!”

Ruth told her mother-in-law whose field she had worked in. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

20 Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! He continues to be kind to us—both the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives,[a] one who should take care of us.”

21 Then Ruth, the Moabite, said, “Boaz also told me, ‘Keep close to my workers until they have finished my whole harvest.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2:20 close relatives In Bible times the closest relative could marry a widow without children so she could have children. He would care for this family, but they and their property would not belong to him. They would belong to the dead husband.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!(A)

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!(B)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(C) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(D) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(E) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[a](F)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(G) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).