Ruth 2:12
in Ruth 2May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.
KJV
The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
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This verse in Ruth 2
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe blessing followed as Boaz said it would. For Ruth received the full reward from God, so that she was the progenitor of the blessing of the nations.
This site's exposition
under whose wings thou art
on Ruth 2:12-13
Under whose wings thou art come to trust uses kanaph, wing, and the same word is the skirt Ruth asks him to spread over her at 3:9, so what he prays for here is what he is later asked to become. The image runs through Psalm 17:8, 36:7, 57:1 and 91:4, and Christ takes it up over Jerusalem at Matthew 23:37. Boaz names the Lord God of Israel to a Moabitess and says she has already come to trust under him, and the question Deuteronomy 23:3 raises about a Moabite is never argued anywhere in the book, only left standing beside sentences like this one. Her answer claims nothing for herself, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Wings - That is, protection and care. An allusion either to hens, which protect and cherish their young ones under their wings; or to the wings of the Cherubim, between which God dwelt.
Note, Those that by faith come under the wings of the divine grace, and have a full complacency and confidence in that grace, may be sure of a full recompence of reward for their so doing. From this expression, the Jews describe a proselyte to be one that is gathered under the wings of the divine majesty.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Thy reward. Like "the tally of bricks," it is a noun from the intensive binyan (conjugation) with an additional mem (מ).
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I cannot even be considered as one of your handmaidens. I am not as worthy as one of your handmaidens.
It has been fully related to me. An action where the agent is not specified.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְשַׁלֵּ֥ם | yeshalem | may he reward | H7999 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| פָּעֳלֵ֑ךְ | poolekh | deed[s] your | H6467 → | |
| וּתְהִ֨י | utehi | and may it be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּ֜ךְ | maskurtekh | wage[s] your | H4909 → | |
| שְׁלֵמָ֗ה | shelemah | complete | H8003 → | |
| מֵעִ֤ם | meim | from with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֖את | bat | you have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לַחֲס֥וֹת | lachasot | to take refuge | H2620 → | |
| תַּֽחַת־ | tachat- | under | H8478 → | |
| כְּנָפָֽיו׃ | kenafav | wings his | H3671 → |
יְשַׁלֵּ֥םmay he reward
yeshalemH7999 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
פָּעֳלֵ֑ךְdeed[s] your
poolekhH6467 →
וּתְהִ֨יand may it be
utehiH1961 →3559 times
מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּ֜ךְwage[s] your
maskurtekhH4909 →
שְׁלֵמָ֗הcomplete
shelemahH8003 →
מֵעִ֤םfrom with
meimH5973 →1050 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֖אתyou have come
batH935 →2568 times
לַחֲס֥וֹתto take refuge
lachasotH2620 →
תַּֽחַת־under
tachat-H8478 →
כְּנָפָֽיו׃wings his
kenafavH3671 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 91:4He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
it leads to
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 61:4
Let me dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 57:1
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:11
As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
- Isaiah 43:1–2
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- Psalms 17:8
Through
Psalms 17:8Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
it leads to
- Psalms 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- Psalms 91:4
Through
Psalms 36:7How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!
it leads to
- Psalms 86:5
For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- Psalms 86:5
Where this verse is studied
1 study on this verse
About Ruth
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, QUESTIONS ON RUTH.