Ruth · chapter 3 of 4
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Ruth 3 tells how Naomi, seeking a home for Ruth, tells her to make herself ready and go at night to the threshing floor where Boaz is winnowing barley. Ruth lies at his feet, and when he wakes at midnight she asks him to spread his cloak over her, for he is a redeemer. Boaz blesses her, promises to act, though there is a nearer relative, and sends her away with six measures of barley.
Ruth 2 showed Boaz's kindness and Naomi recognizing him as a possible redeemer. Ruth 3 moves to the decisive step: Naomi proposes a plan that seems daring but respects the law and reveals the integrity of all three characters. The scene takes place on the threshing floor at night, at the end of the harvest.
Naomi tells Ruth she wants to seek a home for her where it may be well with her. She points out that Boaz, with whose young women she has been, is a relative, and that tonight he will winnow barley at the threshing floor. She tells her to wash, anoint herself, put on her best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, without making herself known until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, she is to notice the place where he lies, go, uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell her what to do. Ruth answers that she will do all that Naomi says.
Ruth goes down to the threshing floor and does as her mother-in-law commanded. Boaz eats and drinks, and with a glad heart lies down at the end of a heap of grain. Ruth comes quietly, uncovers his feet and lies down. At midnight the man is startled, turns and finds a woman lying at his feet. He asks who she is, and she says she is Ruth, his servant, and asks him to spread his cloak over her, for he is a redeemer.
Boaz blesses her in the Lord's name and says her latest kindness is greater than the first, since she has not gone after young men, rich or poor. He tells her not to fear, that he will do what she asks, for all the town knows she is a worthy woman. It is true that he is a redeemer, but there is a nearer one. He tells her to stay the night and that in the morning, if the other wants to redeem her, let him, and if not, he himself will redeem her, and he swears it by the Lord.
Ruth lies at his feet until morning and rises before one can recognize another, for Boaz says it must not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor. He gives her six measures of barley. In town Naomi asks how it went. Ruth tells her everything and shows the six measures, saying Boaz did not want her to go back empty-handed. Naomi tells her to wait, for the man will not rest until he settles the matter that day.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Ruth asks Boaz to spread his cloak over her because he is a redeemer. It is a request for marriage and protection in the terms of the law, recalling the image of taking refuge under God's wings.
Boaz blesses Ruth and says her present kindness exceeds the first, since she did not seek young men, rich or poor. He recognizes Ruth's loyalty toward Naomi's family and not toward her own convenience.
Boaz tells her not to fear, that he will do what she asks, and that all the town knows she is a worthy woman. Ruth's reputation comes from a life of faithfulness, and Boaz respects it.
Boaz promises that if the nearer relative does not redeem her, he will, and he swears it by the Lord. His respect for the legal order shows that he does not use his advantage and that he keeps the law before his desire.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A home where it would be well with her. — Ruth 3:1
Answer: At the threshing floor, winnowing barley. — Ruth 3:2
Answer: That he spread his cloak over her, because he was a redeemer. — Ruth 3:9
Answer: As a worthy woman, known as such by all the town. — Ruth 3:11
Answer: That there was a relative nearer than he. — Ruth 3:12
Answer: Six measures of barley. — Ruth 3:15
Ruth 3 shows how to act with integrity in a delicate situation. Ruth and Boaz do not take advantage of each other; both submit to the order of the law and to their given word. In a small group we can talk about guarding our testimony and relationships, and how important the reputation built over years of faithfulness is.
It also encourages waiting. Naomi tells Ruth to sit still until she sees how the matter turns out. Sometimes we do our part wisely and then trust God to direct what we cannot control.
Ruth 3 ends with Ruth and Naomi waiting. Boaz has promised to settle the matter that same day, and in Ruth 4 he goes to the town gate to speak with the nearer relative.
It was a symbolic gesture within the customs of the time to ask for the protection and fulfillment of a redeemer's duty. The text underlines the integrity of both, and Boaz himself takes care that Ruth's reputation not be questioned.
The Hebrew word for cloak is the same as wings, used in Ruth 2:12. Ruth asks Boaz to be the means by which God protects her, and she asks for marriage according to the redeemer's duty.
The law gave priority in redemption to the closest blood relative. Boaz respects it even though he wishes to marry Ruth, and that shows his integrity.