Ruth 3

Ruth 3:1 Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find a resting place for you so that you will be taken care of?

Ruth 3:2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his girls? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

Ruth 3:3 Wash – put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

Ruth 3:4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”

Ruth 3:5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.”

Ruth 3:6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do.

Ruth 3:7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

Ruth 3:8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!

Ruth 3:9 So he asked, “Who are you?” “I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Spread out your wing, because you are a family deliverer.”

Ruth 3:10 Then he said, “May Yahveh bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor.

Ruth 3:11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a powerful woman.

Ruth 3:12 Yes, it is true that I am a family deliverer, but there is a deliverer closer than I am.

Ruth 3:13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to deliver you, that’s good. Let him deliver you. But if he doesn’t want to deliver you, as Yahveh lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”

Ruth 3:14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

Ruth 3:15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town.

Ruth 3:16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

Ruth 3:17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'”

Ruth 3:18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, because he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”

a quote:

“I shall call chapter 3 “Waiting.” Naomi tells Ruth to present herself to Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Boaz can redeem them, pay their debts and set them free. Ruth, in a great act of faith and love, goes to Boaz and lies at his feet. This act is the turning point in the book. You find her at the feet of Boaz when she is gleaning (2:10), but at that time she is thanking him for his generosity. She does not know who he is or what he can do for her. She simply realizes that he is providing food and protection for her. But in chapter 3 she knows who Boaz is. She lies at his feet, and he says to her, “Fear not;I will do to thee all that thou requirest” (v. 11).”

Wiersbe Warren W. Put Your Life Together : Studies in the Book of Ruth. Victor Books 1985.p.10.

Ruth 3 links:

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, April 22, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 5, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, September 6, 2023
sleeping on a threshing floor

The RUTH shelf in Jeff’s library