HE SHOWS KINDNESS TO THE LIVING AND DEAD

Passage: Ruth 2:17-23

Key verse: 20

NIV

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed(A) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a](B) 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over(C) after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!(D)”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!(E)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(F) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(G) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(H) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b](I)”

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(J) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley(K) and wheat harvests(L) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes
  1. Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Ruth 2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over (A)after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man (B)who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, (C)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken (D)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of (E)our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes
  1. Ruth 2:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. Blessed be the man who took notice (17-19)

Ruth worked hard all day, and in the evening when she returned home to Naomi, she brought almost a bushel of grain. This was an extraordinary amount of grain for a gleaner to bring. Also, she brought a 'doggie bag' of left-overs from lunch! So Naomi knew that someone had been especially kind to Ruth. She said, 'Blessed be the man who took notice of you.'

2. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers (2

-23)

When Ruth told Naomi that she had worked in the field of a man named Boaz, a new hope came into Naomi's heart, for Boaz was her dead husband's relative. According to the levirate law, Boaz was one who could possibly redeem the family and property of Elimelech. God had not forgotten her family. He was still showing his kindness to the dead and to the living. Ruth confided in Naomi that Boaz had urged her to glean only in his field until the harvest ended.

Prayer: Lord, give us eyes to see your hand working in our lives, and a heart to thank and praise you.

One Word: God shows kindness