Chapter 2 of Megillat Ruth is the chapter in which salvation begins to break through and enter. Naomi and Ruth returned to Beit Lechem in poverty and destitute of everything, and now Ruth goes out to the field to glean - and the first field she comes upon is the field of Boaz. Throughout the chapter, we will see how every small detail of Ruth's conduct, in her modesty and her wisdom, is what ultimately builds the dynasty of the House of David. We will proceed verse by verse in light of the commentary of the Malbim, supplemented by the words of Chazal and the Midrashim.
וּלְנָעֳמִי מוֹדָע לְאִישָׁהּ, אִישׁ גִּבּוֹר חַיִל מִמִּשְׁפַּחַת אֱלִימֶלֶךְ, וּשְׁמוֹ בֹּעַז. - Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth and valor from the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
"Moda" means a relative. The verse tells us that even though Naomi was poor, and she had a relative who was a man of valor and stature named Boaz, and she could easily have turned to him and been supported by him - she did not do so. Rather, her daughter-in-law went and gleaned among the sheaves to sustain her. Naomi preferred to be sustained directly by Hashem rather than be supported by a person who would provide for her. And in particular from such a person who had known her in her days of wealth - it is seven times harder to go and ask him for charity in her poverty.
And her intention from the outset was that Boaz would redeem the field and redeem Ruth as well, as we will see explicitly later on. This was the accepted practice in their days: when one of the relatives passed away, the closest relative to him would marry his wife or daughter and also take the field, thereby establishing the ancestral estate in the name of the deceased and ensuring his continuity - having someone from within the family serve as a redeemer.
And lest you say that Naomi did not turn to Boaz because she feared he would turn her away empty-handed - the verse comes to teach us that this was not the case. Three things are stated here regarding Boaz: First, "a kinsman of her husband" - he was known to Naomi and known to her husband, meaning close to them and beloved by them. Second, "from the family of Elimelech" - he himself was a relative. Third, "a man of valor" - and "a man of valor" encompasses all noble traits, including generosity and disdain for illicit gain. Furthermore, "and his name was Boaz" - wherever "and his name" precedes the name, it refers to a renowned and prominent person. Such a man would certainly not have turned a blind eye to his own flesh and blood, and would certainly have provided for them. Yet despite all this, Naomi did not bring herself to go and ask him.
And Chazal explain the nature of this kinship: Elimelech, and Salmon the father of Boaz, and Peloni Almoni who is called "the redeemer", and Naomi's father - were all sons of Nachshon the son of Amminadab; they were all brothers. And nevertheless, the merit of their ancestors did not protect them when they left the Land of Israel for abroad. Look and contemplate: Nachshon the son of Amminadab, such immense merit - yet whoever left the Land was ultimately punished.
וַתֹּאמֶר רוּת הַמּוֹאֲבִיָּה אֶל נָעֳמִי: אֵלְכָה נָּא הַשָּׂדֶה וַאֲלַקֳּטָה בַשִּׁבֳּלִים אַחַר אֲשֶׁר אֶמְצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָיו. וַתֹּאמֶר לָהּ: לְכִי בִתִּי. - And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi: "Let me go to the field and glean ears of grain behind him in whose eyes I find favor." And she said to her: "Go, my daughter."
Let us see here how righteous and pious Ruth was. After all, she was the daughter of Eglon king of Moab, or if not a direct daughter, a descendant of his, of royal lineage, a princess. Yet here she goes and gleans ears of grain - and not an extensive gathering, but taking one stalk and leaving two, lifting single fallen stalks dropped from the hands of the reapers - strictly what was due to her according to the law. She goes and gleans like one of the poor.
Not only that, but she does not allow Naomi to come with her. She could easily have said: Am I supposed to go and support an elderly mother-in-law who is no longer even my mother-in-law, since my husband has died? Let her come and glean as well! But Ruth says: Absolutely not, I will glean and not you. And why? Because no one knows me, and there is no humiliation for me in gleaning. But you, Naomi - from a high roof to a deep pit. This distinguished woman who always appeared with such great honor, and suddenly they will see her going about collecting one stalk after another - what a terrible humiliation. You will not go; I will go, so that you will not suffer disgrace. This is testimony to Ruth's goodness of character and the nobility of her conduct.
This is why the verse emphasizes, "And Ruth the Moabitess said" - meaning, I am after all a Moabitess; I came from Moab and no one knows me here, so it is I who will go and glean.
Several precise nuances are hidden in Rut's words. "Let me go to the field" - and not to a vineyard, for in a vineyard there is danger in climbing trees. "And glean among the ears of grain" - specifically leket (dropped gleanings), and not pe'ah (the corner of the field). What is the difference? Pe'ah is what the field owner leaves at the edge of the field, and many people jump to claim it; everyone wants their share, leading to quarrels. In contrast, with leket there were not many contenders, because there were many fields and each person would glean in a separate field. Once someone laid claim to a particular field, no one else would infringe upon them, since there were other fields available. Rut said: I do not want to push my way in by force and get into fights with people; therefore I will take only leket and not pe'ah, which invites strife and confrontation. She further added: "Behind him in whose eyes I shall find favor" - I will not go to a place where I will be a thorn in their side, where they look at me and say, "What is this one coming here to take?", but only to a place where I see that I am not a burden or an imposition to them.
וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתָּבוֹא וַתְּלַקֵּט בַּשָּׂדֶה אַחֲרֵי הַקֹּצְרִים, וַיִּקֶר מִקְרֶהָ חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה לְבֹעַז אֲשֶׁר מִמִּשְׁפַּחַת אֱלִימֶלֶךְ. - And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and her chance led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
There are two difficulties here: First, "and she went, and came" appears to be an unnecessary repetition, as it would have been sufficient to state, "and she went and gleaned in the field." Second, the chronological sequence is puzzling: she went, she came - and only then does she glean? "And she came" usually denotes returning, so it should have read, "and she went, and gleaned, and came [back]." Indeed, many of the commentators address this phrasing.
The Malbim explains that Rut did not have to walk far, but rather immediately "she went, and came" - the very first field arranged for her from Heaven was the field of Boaz; thus as soon as she set out, she arrived. Others explain differently: she went and saw maidens whom she thought of accompanying, but found they were not suitable for her, so she turned back, and went again and turned back, going back and forth, until she found those with whom she felt she could associate without suffering spiritual decline.
The Malbim notes another detail: usually in the morning, pe'ah was designated, and pe'ah stands at the edge of the field. Rut did not go to the area of pe'ah at all; instead, immediately "she came and gleaned" - she went directly to collect leket, as explained, because she wanted to avoid the disputes surrounding pe'ah among the other poor. Therefore it says "after the reapers" - the poor were gathering pe'ah, but she did not follow the poor; rather, she followed the reapers, waiting to see if a stalk of grain fell from their hands, which by law belonged to her as leket, allowing her to glean without having to quarrel with anyone.
The Malbim explains: "Mikreh" (chance) refers to something that is not naturally bound to happen. Although it appears to us that her arrival at Boaz's field was pure chance, it was not mere happenstance but a "chance tailored to her need" - an occurrence arranged for her from Heaven, as if orchestrated especially on her behalf. This is coincidence guided by Divine Providence. This is proven by the Hebrew language itself: when a person invites guests to a gathering, what are they called? Keru'im (invited guests). Did they arrive on their own? You invited them. A mikreh is something that was summoned, called upon, and arrived. It shares the root of keri'ah - calling and invitation.
We find the same concept with Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, when he prayed: "Please cause it to happen (hakreh na) before me this day" - this does not mean "chance" in the colloquial sense of a random occurrence. Rather, mikreh is something prepared and orchestrated by Hashem. Here, too, Divine Providence was at work, as the Holy One, blessed be He, desired and orchestrated to bring forth from Rut the entire dynasty of the House of David; therefore, "her chance led her" specifically to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz.
The Malbim adds: Hashem did not want to wait for the natural chain of causes to unfold and bring this about. That is, there are events that come about through cause and effect: if one cause occurs, a certain outcome follows, leading to the next, until ultimately the desired reality is reached. The Holy One, blessed be He, did not wish to wait for this to develop naturally; instead, He orchestrated and arranged that the very first field she set foot in would be Boaz's field - so that from this, the lineage of the House of David would emerge.
Midrash Rut questions the phrasing "and came, and gleaned," saying: "Ad dela azlat etat" - before she had even gone, she had come. How is it possible that before she went, she had already arrived? A wonderful explanation is given here: Rut marked the paths before entering the field. She went, came back, and returned toward the town to make signs and markers so she would not lose her way along the paths and would know how to return. She also did this out of modesty, so that she would not need to stop and ask directions from people.
Consider this: she needed to reach the field, and the path wound between fields and trails. She was not a local, and they had no GPS. What did she do? She took pebbles and laid them out along the path, so that on her return, she would recognize the way back by these markers. This is the meaning of "she went and she came" - while she was still going, she already made sure of her coming back, her return, and only then "she gleaned."
And why did she not simply ask people along the way? To this, the Midrash adds: for reasons of modesty (tzeniut). Had she needed to stop and ask people how to get here or how to go there, it would compromise modesty. As the Gemara recounts in that incident where a woman was asked, "By which way to Lod?" and the sages remarked: Do not converse excessively with a woman; you should merely have asked, "By which to Lod?" - even the word "way" was superfluous. From this we see how paramount modesty truly is.
The Vilna Gaon explains "and she went, and came, and gleaned" in a wondrous way: Ruth acted with great wisdom. An unwise person arrives at a field, sees barley, and immediately starts gleaning - walking and picking, walking and picking. By the time he reaches the far edge of the field, he is carrying ten kilograms, and must drag this heavy load all the way back across the entire field and on to his home. Ruth, however, was wise. She walked to the far edge of the field empty-handed, and from that far end began gleaning in the direction of home. When she finished, she was already close to home and did not have to haul the burden back and forth. This is "and she went" - initially she went empty-handed; "and she came and gleaned" - it was on her way back that she gleaned.
וְהִנֵּה בֹעַז בָּא מִבֵּית לֶחֶם, וַיֹּאמֶר לַקּוֹצְרִים: ה' עִמָּכֶם. וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ: יְבָרֶכְךָ ה'. - And behold, Boaz came from Beit Lechem, and said to the reapers, "Hashem be with you!" And they answered him, "May Hashem bless you!"
Every place in Tanach where the word ve-hinei ("and behold") appears, it indicates something novel that was not present before. As has been noted several times, and as discussed in works on dreams, the word ve-hinei appears consistently in dreams: "And behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves stood around and bowed down to my sheaf"; "And behold, the sun and the moon were bowing to me"; "And behold, out of the river there came up seven cows." Why is this? Because everything in a dream is an unexpected revelation to the dreamer, seen vividly before his eyes. Here too, "and behold, Boaz came from Beit Lechem" marks a novelty, for Boaz was not accustomed to coming out to the field, as he was the leader of the generation and a judge.
There is an additional novelty: Boaz came and said to the reapers, "Hashem be with you." Chazal teach that Boaz and his rabbinic court instituted that one should greet his fellow with the Divine Name. This does not mean he merely said "Hashem" as we do colloquially, but that he explicitly pronounced the holy Name of God. The Gemara asks: Could it be that Boaz did this on his own initiative? Rather, it was done in consultation with the Sanhedrin, and it was they who enacted that a person should greet his fellow using the Name.
Why was the council of the Sanhedrin necessary? Because without it, there is no permission to greet one's fellow using the Divine Name. To what can this be compared? To one who wishes to consecrate an offering: is he permitted to say, "To Hashem, an offering"? No; rather, one must say, "An offering to Hashem." Why? Because if he were to say "To Hashem" and something were to happen causing him to die at that very moment, he would have uttered God's Name in vain without concluding his statement. But if he first said "An offering," then even if he dies immediately afterward, the consecration already took effect. Yet here, Boaz explicitly opened with the Name: "Hashem be with you." Who possessed the authority to establish such an enactment? Only the Sanhedrin could institute that one should utter the Name of Hashem at the very opening of a greeting.
And where is it hinted that the Sanhedrin stood behind this enactment? "And behold, Boaz came from Beit Lechem" - and Beit Lechem was the seat of the Sanhedrin. Similarly, we find David's yearning, "Who will give me a drink of water from the well of Beit Lechem" - for the Sanhedrin sat in Beit Lechem, and it was from them that David sought a halachic ruling.
Why in fact did they institute this enactment? Because they saw that theft was rampant among them. "It was in the days when the judges judged" - a spiritually degraded generation that judged its own judges. Later, we see Boaz sleeping in the threshing floor; did he lack a home? Chazal explain that the generation was breached with theft. Therefore, Boaz and the Sanhedrin established the greeting, "Hashem be with you" - to instill and settle in their hearts that the Holy One, blessed be He, is with you. God sees everything you do; God rests His Shechinah here. Consequently, beware of theft, take heed of your conduct, do not be part of the generation that judges its judges, and conduct yourself according to the paths of Torah and mitzvot.
There is yet another dimension to this blessing: when "Hashem is with you," it ensures that each person rectifies his conduct toward his fellow human being as well. For when we are divided, Hashem is not with us. Hashem represents absolute perfection, the King to Whom peace belongs; if you are in conflict with your fellow, peace cannot rest upon you. Boaz was thus offering them an ethical exhortation: since Hashem is with you, conduct yourselves with holiness, walk in peace with one another, and guard yourselves cleanly against theft. And they responded to him, "May Hashem bless you" - you too, may the blessing rest upon you as well.
וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּעַז לְנַעֲרוֹ הַנִּצָּב עַל הַקּוֹצְרִים: לְמִי הַנַּעֲרָה הַזֹּאת. - And Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers: "To whom does this maiden belong?"
Boaz saw a maiden gleaning alone in the field, and he noticed that she had gathered a large quantity - after all, by the end of the day she had about an ephah of barley. He thought perhaps she was the wife or daughter of one of the reapers, who had brought a member of his household to glean. He suspected that this reaper might have chased away all the other poor people to avoid competition for his wife or daughter, ensuring that she alone would glean. Therefore, he asked, "To whom does this maiden belong?" - "To whom" implies belonging to someone: Which of the reapers brought her? Whose daughter is she? Whose wife is she, that he brought her here to glean at the expense of all the poor people he drove away?
Our Sages expound: "To whom does this maiden belong?" - was it Boaz's way to inquire about women? Boaz was a judge and a great man; why would he suddenly inquire about a young woman, and what concern was she to him? Rather, he observed matters of modesty and wisdom in her: she would glean two stalks of grain, but would not take three, since three stalks are no longer considered leket (gleanings) and are forbidden to take. Furthermore, standing stalks she would glean while standing, and fallen ones while sitting, so as not to bend over. For it is not proper or modest for a woman to bend down; rather, if she wishes to glean, she sits and takes them, avoiding kneeling or bending over. Seeing these ways of modesty in her, he asked: To whom does this maiden belong? From where does this uniquely modest young woman come?
וַיַּעַן הַנַּעַר הַנִּצָּב עַל הַקּוֹצְרִים וַיֹּאמַר: נַעֲרָה מוֹאֲבִיָּה הִיא, הַשָּׁבָה עִם נָעֳמִי מִשְּׂדֵי מוֹאָב. - And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said: "She is a Moabitess maiden, who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab."
You ask, "To whom does she belong?" - she came from Moab, and has no husband or master here. And perhaps you will ask: If so, how can we give leket to non-Jewish poor, when Jewish poor take precedence? To this he replies, "who returned with Naomi" - "returned" signifies that she converted, and as a convert, she is entitled to leket just like any of the poor of Israel.
Some commentaries add further homiletical insight: Why did he emphasize "Moabitess"? To hint to Boaz that she was permissible to him in marriage, for the Torah forbids a "Moabite" male, but not a Moabitess female. Furthermore, he called her a "maiden" - she is young and capable of bearing children. One can also deduce from the verse that she converted purely for the sake of Heaven, not to gain a marriage match. The proof is that she "returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab." Who would want to cling to Naomi? She was an impoverished woman in need of support. Would anyone attach themselves to her out of comfort, or in expectation of material gain? If someone clung to her, it was certainly for the sake of Heaven. This proves that she genuinely came to convert for the sake of Hashem.
וַתֹּאמֶר: אֲלַקֳּטָה נָּא וְאָסַפְתִּי בָעֳמָרִים אַחֲרֵי הַקּוֹצְרִים. וַתָּבוֹא וַתַּעֲמוֹד מֵאָז הַבֹּקֶר וְעַד עַתָּה, זֶה שִׁבְתָּהּ הַבַּיִת מְעָט. - And she said: "Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers." And she came and has stood from the morning until now, except for sitting briefly in the shelter.
Here, the servant answers even what he was not asked. You see that she has a large quantity in hand? Know that this did not come from pe'ah (corner of the field) nor from shikchah (forgotten sheaves), where disputes arise and many poor people rush in - rather, it was solely "please let me glean" [leket], and even that only "after the reapers."
"And gather among the sheaves" - lest you think she took actual sheaves from the field, which is forbidden since one may only pick up individual fallen stalks. Rather, the meaning is: what she gleaned, she gathered and formed into sheaves. The sheaves you see in her possession are what she herself collected. And lest you suspect that she stole sheaves from the field, it says "after the reapers" - everything she took was only after the reapers had finished cutting, and only then did she collect the leket, the individual fallen stalks.
And lest you ask: How did she manage to gather such a large quantity? To this [the overseer answered]: "And she came, and has stood since the morning" - she has already been here gathering for many hours. And lest you say: But surely she rested in the meantime? To this: "Her sitting in the house is but little." There was in the field a sort of booth or shelter where the poor would rest, and Ruth sat there only a little while, working most of the time. From this you can understand how she managed to gather so much.
There is also an allusion here: "Her sitting in the house is but little" - the lad hinted to him that this woman would sit in her own home only a short while, for soon she would marry you and have a new home.
The Vilna Gaon in his commentary Kol Eliyahu explains the entire dialogue between Boaz and the reapers as one continuous theme. He opens with the words of the holy Zohar: "Whenever two walk together, the Shechinah dwells [between them]" - whenever two walk together, the Shechinah rests between them, provided that they are engaged in words of Torah. "And if they do not conduct themselves properly, the Shechinah departs from between them" - and if they do not conduct themselves properly, the Shechinah departs from them. And as it is written: "That He see no unseemly thing in you, and turn away from you" - if there is a lack of modesty or improper gazing, the Shechinah turns away from you.
Now Boaz arrived and saw the reapers in the field. Their custom was to engage in words of Torah during their work, or to recite Tehillim - there were those who, while working, would finish the entire Book of Tehillim several times a day, knowing it by heart. And now Boaz saw that a young woman was with them in the field. He came and asked them: "Hashem be with you?" - is Hashem still with you, or has He perhaps already left you, as we saw that "[lest He] see an unseemly thing in you, and turn away from you"? Perhaps you have fallen into stumbling?
And they replied to him: "May Hashem bless you" - Heaven forbid! On the contrary, may Hashem bless you with such a modest and virtuous woman, for she is worthy of you. Boaz then said to them: You say she is worthy of me? If so, "Whose maiden is this?" - we need to look into the family; I want to hear the shidduch details: to whom does she belong and what is her background?
Then they answered him in the manner of a shadchan, who begins by praising the match: "She is a Moabitess maiden, who returned with Naomi." Look how exceptional she is - she left her people, left her homeland, left the royal house, and returned with Naomi! Nor did she return with Naomi because she had anything to gain from her, for Naomi is destitute, but solely to cleave to the God of Israel. Here is her greatness and holiness! Furthermore, in addition to fear of Heaven, one also seeks in a woman that she be an eshet chayil (a woman of valor) who will manage the household properly - and regarding this, "And she said, Let me glean among the ears of grain": see what an eshet chayil she is, for she did not rest at all, but immediately went to provide sustenance for her household and worked all day long. If so, she is worthy of you, and such a woman is well worth taking as a wife.
At the opening of the chapter, we learned of the greatness of Naomi, who did not exploit her kinship with Boaz and chose to be sustained from the hand of Hashem rather than from flesh and blood. And the greatness of Ruth was evident in every detail: a princess descending to glean like one of the destitute, sparing her mother-in-law the shame, choosing leket rather than pe'ah to avoid quarreling, marking the path herself so as not to speak with people out of modesty, gleaning while seated rather than bending over, and conducting herself with wisdom in her manner of gleaning. "And her chance happened" - and the Malbim taught us that this was no mere coincidence, but divine orchestration from Hashem, Who did not wait for natural causes but brought Boaz's field before her immediately, so that the Davidic dynasty would emerge from there. And Boaz, the leader of the generation, arrived from Beit Lechem and instituted with the Sanhedrin to greet one's fellow using the Divine Name - to instill in a generation breached by theft that Hashem is with them and sees all their deeds. And from there on, through the words of modesty and wisdom that he saw in her, the entire unfolding began that would give birth to the monarchy of Israel.