Ruth 3:3
in Ruth 3Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor, but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
KJV
Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
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This verse in Ruth 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd upon this occasion she would have an easier access to him in private than she could have at his own house. And thus far was well enough. Her coming to lie down at his feet, when he was asleep in his bed, had such an appearance of evil, was such an approach towards it, and might have been such an occasion of it, that we know not well how to justify it.
This site's exposition
Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes
on Ruth 3:3-5
Washing, anointing and a change of clothes mark the end of mourning at 2 Samuel 12:20. Ruth lays down the widow before asking to stop being one. Ruth replies only "I will do everything you say", with no question about a plan that puts her alone there at night.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
What does Naomi suggest to her daughter-in-law? When Ruth heard her mother-in-law saying, "Our neighbor is a true man," she was reminded of his great kindness and thought to want him [to be] married to her in law, so that she might keep up the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Wash thyself, therefore,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Wash thyself, therefore - She made Ruth put on her best dress, that Boaz might, in the course of the day, be the more attracted by her person, and be the better disposed to receive her as Naomi wished.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְרָחַ֣צְתְּ׀ | verachatzt | and you will wash | H7364 → | |
| וָסַ֗כְתְּ | vasakht | and you will anoint yourself | H5480 → | |
| וְשַׂ֧מְתְּ | vesamt | and you will put | H7760 → | |
| שִׂמְלֹתַ֛יִךְ | simlotekh | garments your | H8071 → | |
| עָלַ֖יִךְ | ʾalayikh | on yourself | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְיָרַ֣דְתְּ | veyaradti | and you will go down | H3381 → | |
| הַגֹּ֑רֶן | hagoren | the threshing floor | H1637 → | 36 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּוָּדְעִ֣י | tivadei | you make yourself known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לָאִ֔ישׁ | laish | to the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עַ֥ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| כַּלֹּת֖וֹ | kaloto | finishes he | H3615 → | 208 times |
| לֶאֱכֹ֥ל | leekhol | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְלִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃ | velishtot | and to drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
וְרָחַ֣צְתְּ׀and you will wash
verachatztH7364 →
וָסַ֗כְתְּand you will anoint yourself
vasakhtH5480 →
וְשַׂ֧מְתְּand you will put
vesamtH7760 →
שִׂמְלֹתַ֛יִךְgarments your
simlotekhH8071 →
עָלַ֖יִךְon yourself
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
וְיָרַ֣דְתְּand you will go down
veyaradtiH3381 →
הַגֹּ֑רֶןthe threshing floor
hagorenH1637 →36 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּוָּדְעִ֣יyou make yourself known
tivadeiH3045 →945 times
לָאִ֔ישׁto the man
laishH376 →1663 times
עַ֥דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
כַּלֹּת֖וֹfinishes he
kalotoH3615 →208 times
לֶאֱכֹ֥לto eat
leekholH398 →810 times
וְלִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃and to drink
velishtotH8354 →217 times
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 104:15wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
it leads to
- Psalms 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Ecclesiastes 10:19
A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
- Judges 9:13
But the grapevine replied, ‘Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’
- Psalms 23:5
Through
Matthew 6:17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:20
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 9:8
Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
- Daniel 10:2–3
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.
- 2 Samuel 12:20
Through
Esther 5:1On the third day, Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace across from the king’s quarters. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the…
it leads to
- Esther 6:4
“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
- Esther 6:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ruth
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, QUESTIONS ON RUTH.