Ruth 2:7
in Ruth 2She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and she said, Let me glean, I pray you, and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, save that she tarried a little in the house.
KJV
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
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This verse in Ruth 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The house - The shed or booth where they took their meals, and were sheltered from the sun in the heat of the day (see Gen 33:17).
This site's exposition
And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters
on Ruth 2:5-7
Boaz asks whose she is rather than who she is, the question a landowner asks about a household. The foreman answers by nation before name, "She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi", and she stays unnamed. Her request to "glean and gather among the sheaves" asks more than the corners of Leviticus 19:9 or the forgotten sheaf of Deuteronomy 24:19, and Boaz himself grants it at verse 15.
This site's exposition
rested a short time in the shelter
Albert Barnes takes the shelter to be the booth where the harvesters ate and escaped the midday sun. The foreman's report makes her day long and her rest short. He reports her request without saying whether he granted it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I pray - She did not boldly intrude herself, but modestly ask leave of us. 'Till now - She is not retired through idleness, for she hath been diligent and constant in her labours. The house - In the little house or tent, which was set up in the fields at these times, and was necessary in those hot countries, where the labourers might retire for a little repose or repast.
And she said,....
(1.) That she was a stranger, and therefore one of those that by the law of God were to gather the gleanings of the harvest, Lev. xix. She is the Moabitish damsel. (2.) That she was allied to his family; she came back with Naomi, the wife of Elimelech, a kinsman of Boaz.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves--Various modes of reaping are practised in the East. Where the crop is thin and short, it is plucked up by the roots.
That she tarried a little in the house - It seems as if the reapers were now resting in their tent, and that Ruth had just gone in with them to take her rest also.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֗אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלַקֳטָה־ | ʾalakotah- | let me glean | H3950 → | 37 times |
| נָּא֙ | na' | please | H4994 → | |
| וְאָסַפְתִּ֣י | veasafti | and I will gather | H622 → | |
| בָֽעֳמָרִ֔ים | voomarim | among the sheaves | H6016 → | |
| אַחֲרֵ֖י | ʾacharei | behind | H310 → | 715 times |
| הַקּוֹצְרִ֑ים | hakotzrim | the harvesters | H7114 → | 49 times |
| וַתָּב֣וֹא | vatavo' | and she came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וַֽתַּעֲמ֗וֹד | vataamod | and she has stayed | H5975 → | |
| מֵאָ֤ז | meaz | from then | H227 → | |
| הַבֹּ֙קֶר֙ | haboker | this morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עַ֔תָּה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| זֶ֛ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | |
| שִׁבְתָּ֥הּ | shivtah | sitting she | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הַבַּ֖יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מְעָֽט׃ | meat | little | H4592 → |
וַתֹּ֗אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלַקֳטָה־let me glean
ʾalakotah-H3950 →37 times
נָּא֙please
na'H4994 →
וְאָסַפְתִּ֣יand I will gather
veasaftiH622 →
בָֽעֳמָרִ֔יםamong the sheaves
voomarimH6016 →
אַחֲרֵ֖יbehind
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
הַקּוֹצְרִ֑יםthe harvesters
hakotzrimH7114 →49 times
וַתָּב֣וֹאand she came
vatavo'H935 →2568 times
וַֽתַּעֲמ֗וֹדand she has stayed
vataamodH5975 →
מֵאָ֤זfrom then
meazH227 →
הַבֹּ֙קֶר֙this morning
habokerH1242 →214 times
וְעַד־and until
vead-H5704 →1261 times
עַ֔תָּהnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
זֶ֛הthis
zehH2088 →
שִׁבְתָּ֥הּsitting she
shivtahH3427 →1079 times
הַבַּ֖יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
מְעָֽט׃little
meatH4592 →
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
Proverbs 22:29Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:24
The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 10:4
Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 11:28
Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.
- Matthew 25:21
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’
- Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Proverbs 12:24
Through
Proverbs 13:4The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:11
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
- Proverbs 12:11
Through
Proverbs 15:33The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Proverbs 18:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ruth
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.