hotcoffee
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Ruth 3:1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
These verses remind me of a song called "Fancy". It sounds deceitful and a tad bit dangerous. But the commentary soothes me.
Go in, and uncover his feet and lay thee down--Singular as these directions may appear to us, there was no impropriety in them, according to the simplicity of rural manners in Beth-lehem. In ordinary circumstances these would have seemed indecorous to the world; but in the case of Ruth, it was a method, doubtless conformable to prevailing usage, of reminding Boaz of the duty which devolved on him as the kinsman of her deceased husband. Boaz probably slept upon a mat or skin; Ruth lay crosswise at his feet--a position in which Eastern servants frequently sleep in the same chamber or tent with their master; and if they want a covering, custom allows them that benefit from part of the covering on their master's bed. Resting, as the Orientals do at night, in the same clothes they wear during the day, there was no indelicacy in a stranger, or even a woman, putting the extremity of this cover over her.
The plain English commentary offers a clear explanation.
The harvest was now over. Naomi made plans for the future. If a man from Israel died without children, his brother or another relative used to marry the widow. That was the custom. Then the first son that she had would carry on the dead man’s name. And he would own his land. (See Deuteronomy 25:5-6.)
There was another custom also. If someone had financial difficulties, a man from their family would buy their land. He would then look after the land, so that it still belonged to the same family. This also meant that the person with financial difficulties would not have to become somebody’s slave. People called a man who carried out these duties a ‘*redeemer’. Naomi hopes that Boaz will accept the *redeemer’s duties. So Naomi is not doing anything unusual.
There was another custom also. If someone had financial difficulties, a man from their family would buy their land. He would then look after the land, so that it still belonged to the same family. This also meant that the person with financial difficulties would not have to become somebody’s slave. People called a man who carried out these duties a ‘*redeemer’. Naomi hopes that Boaz will accept the *redeemer’s duties. So Naomi is not doing anything unusual.
Verses 1-5 After the men finished harvesting, the farmer had to *thresh the wheat and the *barley. He stayed at his place of work all day and all night. He would be very tired and hungry. Ruth had to wait until Boaz had finished eating and drinking. She had to be very quiet and prepare herself like a bride in her best clothes. Boaz would understand why she had come to him. Ruth showed that she trusted Naomi. And she obeyed her.
Now if this was my daughter-in-law, I would bet she wouldn't trust me. Ruth had left her home and family behind when she married Naomi's daughter. She left her homeland and her old gods behind when she followed Naomi to Bethlehem. Ruth trusted Naomi. I think she trusted God as well.
