# Ruth 2.8-9 **Book:** [Ruth](/codex/ruth/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 6. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 7. 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. > > **8. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. 9. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.** > > 10. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found favor in thy sight, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner? 11. And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people that thou knewest not heretofore. (Ruth 2:6-11, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 6. The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. 7. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.” > > **8. Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. 9. Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”** > > 10. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11. Boaz answered her, “I have been fully told about all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before. (Ruth 2:6-11, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 6. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 7. 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. > > **8. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.** > > 10. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? 11. And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. (Ruth 2:6-11, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 6. And the young man who is set over the reapers answereth and saith, 'A young woman, Moabitess, she [is], who came back with Naomi from the fields of Moab, 7. and she saith, Let me glean, I pray thee, and I have gathered among the sheaves after the reapers; and she cometh and remaineth since the morning and till now; she sat in the house a little. > > **8. And Boaz saith unto Ruth, 'Hast thou not heard, my daughter? go not to glean in another field, and also, pass not over from this, and thus thou dost cleave to my young women: 9. thine eyes [are] on the field which they reap, and thou hast gone after them; have not I charged the young men not to touch thee? when thou art athirst then thou hast gone unto the vessels, and hast drunk from that which the young men draw.'** > > 10. And she falleth on her face, and boweth herself to the earth, and saith unto him, 'Wherefore have I found grace in thine eyes, to discern me, and I a stranger?' 11. And Boaz answereth and saith to her, 'It hath thoroughly been declared to me all that thou hast done with thy mother-in-law, after the death of thy husband, and thou dost leave thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and dost come in unto a people which thou hast not known heretofore. (Ruth 2:6-11, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Boaz, in direct speech - **Audience:** Ruth, a Moabite widow gleaning in his field - **Location:** the field belonging to Boaz near Beth-lehem (Ruth 2:3-4) - **Time period:** the days when the judges judged (Ruth 1:1), during the barley harvest (1:22) ## Theological reading "Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens." Boaz speaks to Ruth before she speaks to him, and the first thing he offers is a place. "My daughter" marks the age difference the story later makes explicit (3:10). "Abide here fast" is the same verb, Strong's H1692 in the KJV, used when "Ruth clave unto her" mother-in-law (1:14). The woman who clung to Naomi is now told to cling to Boaz's household. She repeats the instruction to Naomi (2:21) and carries it out: "she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz" (2:23). The rest of his speech is protection and provision. "Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee?" implies a real danger to a foreign woman gleaning alone, which Naomi confirms when she says it is good "that they meet thee not in any other field" (2:22; the KJV margin reads "fall upon thee"). Then the reversal: the Moabite is to drink "of that which the young men have drawn." An Israelite landowner's workers draw water for a foreigner. The law had commanded room for the sojourner (Leviticus 19:9-10); Boaz goes past what the law required. ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.