Ruth 3:8
in Ruth 3At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
KJV
And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
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This verse in Ruth 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe man was afraid, and turned himself - The verb ילפת yillapheth, which we render he turned himself, has puzzled even the Targumist, who translates the clause thus: “The man trembled, and his flesh became like a (boiled) turnip through fear.” It is fully evident Boaz had no intimation of the present proceedings.
This site's exposition
went down unto the floor
on Ruth 3:6-8
The narrator says she did according to all that her mother in law bade her rather than repeating the four instructions, which is how this book handles obedience. Boaz sleeps at the end of the heap of corn because the owner stayed with the grain through the night while it lay in the open. What wakes him at midnight the text does not say, and older writers divide over the scene itself: Matthew Henry writes that it had such an appearance of evil that he knows not well how to justify it, while Adam Clarke reads it as a customary approach that only a man of Boaz's character could safely have been met with.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), and thus he would be fit for his business betimes next morning. All that are good husbands will keep good hours, and not indulge themselves nor their families in unseasonable mirth. The Chaldee paraphrase tell us (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And it came to pass at midnight,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Turned himself - Rather, “bent forward,” so as to feel what it was which was at his feet. The same word is translated “took hold of,” in Jdg 16:29.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַּחֲצִ֣י | bachatzi | in [the] middle of | H2677 → | |
| הַלַּ֔יְלָה | halaylah | the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וַיֶּחֱרַ֥ד | vaiyecherad | and he trembled | H2729 → | |
| הָאִ֖ישׁ | haish | the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וַיִּלָּפֵ֑ת | vaiyilafet | and he twisted | H3943 → | |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אִשָּׁ֔ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| שֹׁכֶ֖בֶת | shokhevet | [was] lying down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| מַרְגְּלֹתָֽיו׃ | margelotav | feet his | H4772 → | 5 times |
וַיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בַּחֲצִ֣יin [the] middle of
bachatziH2677 →
הַלַּ֔יְלָהthe night
halaylahH3915 →233 times
וַיֶּחֱרַ֥דand he trembled
vaiyecheradH2729 →
הָאִ֖ישׁthe man
haishH376 →1663 times
וַיִּלָּפֵ֑תand he twisted
vaiyilafetH3943 →
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אִשָּׁ֔הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
שֹׁכֶ֖בֶת[was] lying down
shokhevetH7901 →212 times
מַרְגְּלֹתָֽיו׃feet his
margelotavH4772 →5 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ruth
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.