Ruth, Chapter 2

Boaz is a relative of Naomi's late husband.

Apropos of nothing, we're back on Ruth in the second verse. She and Naomi are broke, so she invokes the law that says she can glean the fields. Whose field is it? Boaz'. Why not say who he is now, rather than in the first verse? Boaz comes out and magnanimously greets the scavengers. His eye falls on Ruth and he asks who she is. He asks her to stay on in his fields and promises her that the young men won't harass her and she can drink his water. Well, that's practically a declaration of love, right there.

Ruth prostrates herself and asks why he's being so kind. He coyly says she's nice to her mother in law. They flirt for awhile and finally he invites her to dinner. When she gets back up to return to the fields, he tells his harvesters to let her take some of the harvested barley, and to deliberately drop some on the ground for her.

At the end of the day, Ruth threshes her barely, which doesn't amount to much. She takes it home and Naomi asks her whose fields she was in. She explains, and Naomi is thrilled, because Boaz is their nearest relative and therefore the person who is obligated to have sex with Ruth so she can have a son. It's very romantic. I wonder if Jerry's followers do this when a childless husband dies? Because he explains in the introduction to this book that Ruth is a good model for a Christian woman.