Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
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And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
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And Ruth the Moabitess said: 'Yea, he said unto me: Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.'
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Ruth 2:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Song of Solomon 1:7-8 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; for why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
- Ruth 2:7-8 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.” 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.
- Ruth 2:22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Rth 2:21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said…
Rth 2:21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
Ver. 21. He said unto me also.] She further setteth forth his courtesy, but not a word of what he said in her commendation.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Both barley and wheat harvest, as is said, Rth…
Both barley and wheat harvest, as is said, Rth 2:23.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Ruth the Moabitess said, he said unto me…
And Ruth the Moabitess said, he said unto me also,.... Besides the favours he has shown me already, he has given me reason to expect more, for he has given me this strict order:
thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest; both barley harvest and wheat harvest; his will was, that she kept following them, and gleaned after them, as long as both harvests lasted. The Septuagint version is, "with my maidens", and which agrees with Rut 2:8, where the order of Boaz is expressed, and with the instructions of Naomi in the next verse, who so understood it; but if we understand it of young men here, there is no contradiction; for both young men and maidens wrought together in the same field, either in reaping or binding up; so that if she kept fast by the one, she also would do the same by the other.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Harvest - Both barley-harvest, and wheat-harvest. She tells what…
Harvest - Both barley-harvest, and wheat-harvest. She tells what kindness Boaz had shewed her; but not, how he had commended her. Humility teaches not only not to praise ourselves, but not to be forward in repeating the praise which others have given us.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. Keep fast by my young men] The…
Verse 21. Keep fast by my young men] The word הנערים hannearim should be translated servants, both the male and female being included in it; the latter especially, as we see in Ru 2:22-23.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rth 2:21. Thou shalt keep fast by my young…
Rth 2:21. Thou shalt keep fast by my young men — Or, young people, as the word נערים, negnarim, although of the masculine gender, here signifies, and particularly the maidens, to whom he bid her keep close, Rth 2:8. And thus both the Seventy and the Chaldee expound it; and so Naomi, as appears by the next verse, understood it. Until they have ended all my harvest — Both barley-harvest and wheat-harvest. She tells what kindness Boaz had showed her; but not how he had commended her. Humility teaches not only not to praise ourselves, but not to be forward in repeating the praise which others have given us.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain all my harvest--both barley and wheat harvests. The latter…
all my harvest--both barley and wheat harvests. The latter was at the end of May or the beginning of June.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) My young men . . . my harvest.—Emphatic…
(21) My young men . . . my harvest.—Emphatic in the Hebrew. As long as my reaping lasts, cleave steadily to us.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Ruth the Moabitess said. It seems to us…
And Ruth the Moabitess said. It seems to us rather remarkable that Ruth should be here again particularized formally as "the Moabitess." There is apparently no discoverable reason for the re-repetition. It is simply antique particularity, not amenable to any literary law said Moabitess." There is a peculiar abruptness in the initial words of what follows:Yea also he said to me. Carpzov and Wright understand them thus: blessed be he, "for" he said to me." But the word blessed, as used by Naomi, is too far removed to make it natural for the yea of Ruth"s remark to fall back upon it. Her mind and heart were full. She was profoundly affected by the kindness that had been shown to her. Hence she piles up her representation. Also,so may I well speak, for he said to me." Keep close by my young men, until they have finished all my harvest. The "young men" are not here discriminated from the "young women" (see ver. 8). The idea, consequently, is not that Ruth was to keep close to them in distinction from the young women. It was understood that she should work behind the young women, who followed in the rear of the young men. But it was the express desire of Boaz that, instead of exposing herself among strangers, on any adjoining harvest-fields, she should maintain her position behind his raspers as long as there remained any golden crops to reap.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Indeed, he said to me
Indeed, he said to me
"He even said to me." This indicates that what follows is the most important part of Boaz's words to Ruth.
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keep close to my young men
Boaz was referring to the physical protection his men can provide her.
go out with
"work with"
come to harm
Possible meanings are 1) other workers might abuse Ruth or try to seize her and sleep with her or 2) in another field, the owner might interfere or stop her from gleaning until the end of the harvest.
translationWords
Ruth
Moab
harvest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:21 The author refers to Ruth as (literally) “Ruth…
2:21 The author refers to Ruth as (literally) “Ruth the Moabite” five times (1:22; 2:2, 21; 4:5, 10), reminding us repeatedly that Ruth was not an Israelite.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.