Naomi Instructs Ruth
3:1 At that time, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.
Naomi had earlier prayed that Ruth would find her a husband. Naomi was now going to answer her own prayer.
3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor.
During the harvest, the owners would sleep on the threshing floor so that their grain would not be stolen during the night.
3:3 So bathe yourself, rub on some perfumed oil, and get dressed up. Then go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal.
Ruth was to bathe herself just as a bride would bathe herself for her husband on a wedding night. She was to place olive oil upon her body as perfume. She was to get rid of her widow’s clothes and put on her nicest dress. She was to wait for Boaz at the threshing floor. She was not to reveal herself until he had eaten his dinner and relaxed.
3:4 When he gets ready to go to sleep, take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs, and lie down beside him. He will tell you what you should do.”
Ruth was not to approach Boaz until everyone had gone to sleep. When Ruth uncovered Boaz’s legs, then the cool wind would awaken him from his sleep. Ruth was to lie down beside Boaz. The purpose of this ritual was that Ruth was asking Boaz to fulfill his duty and become her kinsman-redeemer and her husband.
3:5 Ruth replied to Naomi, “I will do everything you have told me to do.”
Ruth agreed to Naomi’s plan.
Ruth Visits Boaz
3:6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.
Ruth began to execute Naomi’s plan.
3:7 When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap. Then Ruth crept up quietly, uncovered his legs, and lay down beside him.
Boaz was not satisfied, because he was drunk. He was satisfied because he finally had an abundant harvest after ten years of famine. Ruth offered the marriage proposal. Boaz would now have to accept or decline the proposal.
3:8 In the middle of the night he was startled and turned over. Now he saw a woman lying beside him!
The rabbi taught that Boaz was scared, because he thought a demon was at his feet. This is fanciful rabbinic exegesis. He was scared, because he did not expect to wake up at midnight and find a woman at his feet.
3:9 He said, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant. Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests.”
Electricity had not been invented yet, so it was pitch dark at the threshing flood. Boaz’s eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness. He could feel and smell a woman, but he had no idea who it was.
Ruth identified herself this time as Boaz’s אָמָה (amah), meaning a servant who has the right to become a concubine, wife, or family member. She announced that Boaz was her kinsman-redeemer. She asked Boaz to fulfill his kinsman-redeemer duty and marry her. This seems immoral or forward in American modern culture, but this was standard procedure in Jewish culture.
3:10 He said, “May you be rewarded by the Lord, my dear! This act of devotion is greater than what you did before. For you have not sought to marry one of the young men, whether rich or poor.
The Hebrew word for “my dear” is בִּתִּ֔י (bat-i), meaning “my daughter”. Boaz was much older than Ruth. He was impressed by Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi. Ruth could have married a younger man, but she passed on her own happiness and chose an older man who could redeem Naomi out of her poverty situation. Ruth was not marrying Boaz for herself, but for Naomi.
3:11 Now, my dear, don’t worry! I intend to do for you everything you propose, for everyone in the village knows that you are a worthy woman.
Boaz accepted Ruth’s proposal to become both kinsman-redeemer to Naomi and husband to Ruth. After three months in Israel, everyone knew that Ruth was a woman of honor.
3:12 Now yes, it is true that I am a guardian, but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.
According to the Mosaic Law, the duty of kinsman-redeemer fell upon the closest male relative, unless he waved his right of duty. Boaz obeyed the Mosaic Law, so he would have to go through the proper channels. This may have been why he did not make the first move towards Ruth.
3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, fine, let him do so. But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. Sleep here until morning.”
The Hebrew word for “remain” is לוּן (lun), meaning to lodge for the night without sexual activity. If Boaz would have used the Hebrew word שָׁכַב (shakav), then sexual activity would have been included in this midnight encounter. Boaz would give Ruth an answer to her marriage proposal and kinsman-redeemer status on the very next day, after he went through the proper procedures of the Mosaic Covenant.
3:14 So she slept beside him until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. Boaz thought, “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.”
Boaz and Ruth had done nothing wrong, but Ruth left before morning so that no gossip would damage their reputation.
3:15 Then he said, “Hold out the shawl you are wearing and grip it tightly.” As she held it tightly, he measured out about sixty pounds of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders. Then he went into town,
Ruth was given barley so that if anyone saw her, they would just think that she was working late to bring extra barley to Naomi.
3:16 and she returned to her mother-in-law. When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did things turn out for you, my daughter?” Ruth told her about all the man had done for her.
Naomi wanted to know if Ruth returned as Mrs. Boaz.
3:17 She said, “He gave me these sixty pounds of barley, for he said to me, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
The gift that Boaz gave to Naomi was the assurance that Boaz would redeem her and Ruth. Naomi had left Moab empty, but Boaz would make sure that she would not stay that way.
3:18 Then Naomi said, “Stay put, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest until he has taken care of the matter today.”
Naomi knew that Boaz would execute his desires to redeem Naomi and marry Ruth.