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Rute 2

ARC · Chapter 2/4

1E tinha Noemi um parente de seu marido, homem valente e poderoso, da geração de Elimelech: e era o seu nome Boaz.

2E Ruth a moabita disse a Noemi: Deixa-me ir ao campo, e apanharei espigas após d'aquelle em cujos olhos eu achar graça. E ella lhe disse: Vae, minha filha.

3Foi pois, e chegou, e apanhava espigas no campo após dos segadores: e caiu-lhe em sorte uma parte do campo de Boaz, que era da geração de Elimelech.

4E eis que Boaz veiu de Beth-lehem, e disse aos segadores: O Senhor seja comvosco. E disseram-lhe elles: O Senhor te abençoe.

5Depois disse Boaz a seu moço, que estava posto sobre os segadores: De quem é esta moça?

6E respondeu o moço, que estava posto sobre os segadores, e disse: Esta é a moça moabita que voltou com Noemi dos campos de Moab.

7Disse-me ella: Deixa-me colher espigas, e ajuntal-as entre as gavellas após dos segadores. Assim ella veiu, e desde pela manhã está aqui até agora, a não ser um pouco que esteve sentada em casa

8Então disse Boaz a Ruth: Não ouves, filha minha? não vás colher a outro campo, nem tão pouco passes d'aqui: porém aqui te ajuntarás com as minhas moças.

9Os teus olhos estarão attentos no campo que segarem, e irás após d'ellas; não dei ordem aos moços, que te não toquem? tendo tu sede, vae aos vasos, e bebe do que os moços tirarem.

10Então ella caiu sobre o seu rosto, e se inclinou á terra: e disse-lhe: Porque achei graça em teus olhos, para que faças caso de mim, sendo eu uma estrangeira?

11E respondeu Boaz, e disse-lhe: Bem se me contou quanto fizeste a tua sogra, depois da morte de teu marido: e deixaste a teu pae e a tua mãe, e a terra onde nasceste, e vieste para um povo que d'antes não conheceste.

12O Senhor galardoe o teu feito: e seja cumprido o teu galardão do Senhor Deus de Israel, sob cujas azas te vieste abrigar.

13E disse ella: Ache eu graça em teus olhos, senhor meu, pois me consolaste, e pois fallaste ao coração da tua serva, não sendo eu ainda como uma das tuas creadas.

14E, sendo já horas de comer, disse-lhe Boaz: Achega-te aqui, e come do pão, e molha o teu bocado no vinagre. E ella se assentou ao lado dos segadores, e elle lhe deu do trigo tostado, e comeu, e se fartou, e ainda lhe sobejou.

15E, levantando-se ella a colher, Boaz deu ordem aos seus moços, dizendo: Até entre as gavelas deixae-a colher, e não lh'o embaraceis.

16E deixae cair alguns punhados, e deixae-os ficar, para que os colha, e não a reprehendaes.

17E esteve ella apanhando n'aquelle campo até á tarde: e debulhou o que apanhou, e foi quasi um epha de cevada.

18E tomou-o, e veiu á cidade; e viu sua sogra o que tinha apanhado: tambem tirou, e deu-lhe o que lhe sobejara depois de fartar-se.

19Então disse-lhe sua sogra: Onde colheste hoje, e onde trabalhaste? bemdito seja aquelle que te reconheceu. E relatou a sua sogra com quem tinha trabalhado, e disse: O nome do homem com quem hoje trabalhei é Boaz.

20Então Noemi disse a sua nora: Bemdito seja do Senhor, que ainda não tem deixado a sua beneficencia nem para com os vivos nem para com os mortos. Disse-lhe mais Noemi: Este homem é nosso parente chegado, e um d'entre os nossos remidores.

21E disse Ruth, a moabita: Tambem ainda me disse: Com os moços que tenho te ajuntarás, até que acabem toda a sega que tenho.

22E disse Noemi a sua nora, Ruth: Melhor é, filha minha, que saias com as suas moças, para que n'outro campo não te encontrem.

23Assim, ajuntou-se com as moças de Boaz, para colher até que a sega das cevadas e dos trigos se acabou; e ficou com a sua sogra.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ruth goes to glean grain in the fields and, by providence, happens upon the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi. Boaz notices her dedication and loyalty and orders his workers to treat her with special generosity.

Explanation

The Mosaic law (Leviticus 19:9-10) required landowners to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so that the poor, widows, and foreigners could glean and sustain themselves — an ancient social welfare system built into the agricultural law itself. Ruth's meeting with Boaz, described as happening 'by chance' (v.3), is understood in the text as discreet divine providence working through seemingly ordinary circumstances. Boaz already knew of Ruth's reputation for loyalty to her mother-in-law even before meeting her personally, showing how acts of kindness and faithfulness become known and respected in a community, even when they come from a foreigner.

Fun facts

  • The law of gleaning (leaving the leftovers for the poor to gather) is detailed in Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deuteronomy 24:19, making it one of the earliest documented social welfare systems in history.
  • An ephah of barley, the amount Ruth gathered in a single day (v.17), equals approximately 22 liters of grain — a generous amount that reflects Boaz's special favor toward her.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Rute 2:1Before the story moves on, the text introduces Boaz, a wealthy and prominent relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband — a key figure who will only matter later on.
  2. Rute 2:2The law of Israel required landowners to leave the edges of their harvest and the fallen grain for the poor, widows, and foreigners to gather. It is this right of gleaning that Ruth is exercising when she asks Naomi for permission to go to the field.
  3. Rute 2:3Ruth goes out to glean in the fields, without knowing it, and happens to end up working in the very portion that belongs to Boaz.
  4. Rute 2:4Boaz arrives from the field and greets the workers with a religious blessing, showing the respectful tone of the relationship between him and his laborers.
  5. Rute 2:5Boaz notices Ruth and asks his foreman whose young woman this is.
  6. Rute 2:6The foreman explains that she is the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi, information that already marks Ruth as a foreigner.
  7. Rute 2:7The foreman reports that Ruth asked permission to glean behind the reapers and that she has worked without stopping since early morning.
  8. Rute 2:8Boaz speaks directly to Ruth, telling her she does not need to go to another field: she can stay right there, close by his own young women workers.
  9. Rute 2:9He guarantees her protection, warning the young men not to touch her, and allows her to drink from the water the workers draw for themselves.
  10. Rute 2:10Ruth is amazed at Boaz’s kindness because, as a Moabite, she had no guaranteed right to an Israelite’s protection. Her question exposes the vulnerable position of a foreign widow trying to survive on her own.
  11. Rute 2:11Boaz explains why he is being so generous: he has already heard how Ruth cared for Naomi and left her own land and family behind.
  12. Rute 2:12The image of the wings under which Ruth has come to take refuge is Boaz’s way of describing her decision to leave Moab and join Naomi’s people and God. It is a blessing that acknowledges the risk she took, not just a polite compliment.
  13. Rute 2:13Ruth thanks Boaz, saying his words comforted her, even though she does not have the same status as his own servant women.
  14. Rute 2:14At mealtime, Boaz invites Ruth to eat with the workers and offers her parched grain, and she eats until she is satisfied, with food still left over.
  15. Rute 2:15After the meal, Boaz instructs his workers to let Ruth glean even among the bundled sheaves, something out of the ordinary.
  16. Rute 2:16He goes further still, telling them to deliberately drop handfuls of grain for her to gather, without rebuking her for it.
  17. Rute 2:17Ruth works until the end of the day, and when she beats out what she gathered, she has nearly a whole bushel of barley — a generous amount.
  18. Rute 2:18She carries it all home, shows Naomi what she has gleaned, and even sets aside the leftovers from her own meal to give to her mother-in-law.
  19. Rute 2:19Naomi, impressed by the amount, asks where she worked, and Ruth tells her it was in the field of a man named Boaz.
  20. Rute 2:20Naomi explains that Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer, in Hebrew goel: a close relative with the duty to redeem sold land or enslaved family members, and also to marry a childless widow to keep the dead man’s name alive. It is this double role that will drive the whole plot to the end of the book.
  21. Rute 2:21Ruth also reports that Boaz allowed her to stay close by his workers until the whole harvest was finished.
  22. Rute 2:22Naomi approves of the idea, advising Ruth to indeed stay only in Boaz’s field, to avoid trouble anywhere else.
  23. Rute 2:23Ruth follows this advice and works alongside Boaz’s young women until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, living with her mother-in-law the whole time.

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