Ruth 2:11

Rth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

Ver. 11. It hath fully been showed me.] Her faith to God and love to her mother-in-law was much noted and noticed. See 1Th 1:8. Fame {a} followeth virtue, as the shadow doth the body, at the heels. "Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable." {Isa 43:4} By faith those "elders obtained a good report," {Heb 11:2} as Abel, who, "being dead, yet speaketh," or, is spoken of, as some render it, {Heb 11:4} and as Abraham, who forsook all, and followed God into a strange country; so did this daughter of Abraham, and was famous for it, yea, renowned. See Psa 37:6; Psa 112:6.

All that thou hast done unto thy mother-ln-law.] A sure sign of thy true love to thy late husband, and how greatly thou prizest holiness in his mother, a happy instrument of thy conversion. Ruth was lovely, and therefore loved: Ut ameris amabilis esto.

{a} "If there be any virtue, if any praise." - Php 4:8.

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.

Rth_2:11

It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law.

The praise of virtue

I. that virtue shall not want trumpeters to sound out her praises to the full (Psa_37:6).

II. that well-doing procureth favour to the poor, though strangers, at the hands of the virtuous; for this was the cause of Boazs love to Ruth, as here he acknowledgeth; and this is true godliness, to love others for their goodness. (R. Bernard.)

The gracious approbation

Ruth begins now to reap the abundant harvest which is growing for her in the Divine purposes of mercy--a harvest of which Boazs fields are only a part, and of which indeed all that Boaz possessed was but a feeble illustration. She had been faithful in that which appeared to be the least, and now she was to be rewarded with that which seemed to be much. We have first to remark upon the gracious approbation which Boaz bestows upon her whole history, though he knew not her personally. It is thus you may often think yourself unknown, and unobserved in your efforts to do right in your different relations of life, when there are many eyes upon you, watching your character, and many ears may be listening to what the Lord has enabled you thus to do for Him. Give yourself no concern about this. God, your guardian and protector, will see that you have all the reputation and recompense which is good for you. Ruth supposed herself concealed in the field of Boaz. But he declares to her that her faithfulness to Naomi had been fully related to him, and he knew her well. Thus the Saviour recounts to His people, and for them, the acts of their life which have manifested their love to Him. Nothing that you do is worthy the Saviours notice. But nothing that you really do for Him will be unnoticed by Him. You will never be rewarded for your works. But you will be judged by your works. They are the proofs of your faith, as the fruits on the tree are the evidences of its character and its worth. Certainly there is nothing on earth so blessed and so precious as the approbation of our Divine Master, speaking in our own hearts, of the service we have feebly but sincerely tried to render to Him. But Boaz not only expresses approbation, he also speaks of recompense to Ruth. She shall not be unrewarded. Naomi may not be able to do anything for her. But Naomi has other paymasters in the Lords employ beside herself. Our acts of benevolence and love for Christs sake can never go without their result of blessing even in this life. The merciful man doeth good to his own soul. We comfort the needy and the sorrowing, and we are thus preparing comforters for ourselves in the persons of others whom the Lord will raise up to minister to our wants. We aid the children of the poor, and we are laying up a heritage for our children in the kindness of others whom we know not. But apart from this result of recompense, there is also our own happiness in the work itself. It is more blessed, that is, it is happier, a happier state and habit of mind, a happier condition of feeling and thought, to give than to receive. Whatever we do in kindness to others for Christs sake He returns to us in our own secret personal enjoyments. He ministers to us a peace and blessedness in the work which is our inward possession, and which comes to us without any reference to outward results. But Boaz prays for more than recompense: A full reward be given thee, etc. For full rewards in any course of human life we must look beyond the present state of being. The Saviour says of the objects of beneficent action, They cannot recompense thee, but thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just. Whatever results come now from any of the acts of life, they are extremely partial. The final results are yet to be revealed. The abundant harvest is to be gathered hereafter. But it will be surely gathered. The Saviour shall Himself minister to those who have been faithful to Him here, an abundant recompense, a full reward. But while the Saviour thus animates and encourages His disciples with the blessed hope before them, see how the answer of Ruth to Boaz illustrates their self-renouncing mind. The more generously a noble mind is dealt with, the more humble and unassuming does it become. This is eminently the case with the children of God when their Divine Redeemer comforts and blesses them. Never do they feel so perfectly unworthy as when He pours the special ministration of the oil of gladness into their souls. But all this only increases their sense of their own unworthiness of such mercy. And their cry and prayer is, that they may still find favour in His sight--that He would look upon them with eyes of mercy, and think of them according to His own grace and not according to their merits. Boazs gracious provisions for the lonely stranger crown and close this instructive interview. Was any conduct of man ever more delicate, dignified, or beautiful? But it is only a feeble illustration of the riches of a Saviours grace. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(11) Heretofore.—The curious Hebrew phrase thus rendered is literally, yesterday and the day before.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Ruth’s uncommon devotion, which induced her to leave her native land and the natural guardians of her widowhood, is one of the main features of the story.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Boaz answered and said unto her,.... Alshech thinks, that he lift up his voice that all that stood by might hear:

it hath fully been showed me; either by Naomi, or rather by some persons of Boaz's Naomi and reacquaintance, that had conversed with Naomi and related to Boaz what passed between them, by which he was fully informed of the following things mentioned by him; though the above writer supposes, that it was showed him by the Holy Ghost:

all that thou hast done to thy mother in law since the death of thine husband; how that, instead of going home to her father and mother, she continued with her; how tenderly she used her; what strong expressions of love she had made unto her; what care she had taken of her, and how she had fed and nourished her, as the Targum, and now was gleaning for her support, as well as her own:

and how thou hast left thy father and mother; in a literal sense, to go along with her mother-in-law, to assist her in her journey, and see her safe to the end of it: and in a figurative sense her idol gods, as in Jer 2:27 so the Midrash (y):

and the land of thy nativity; the land of Moab, where she was born, and where her kindred, relations, and friends lived, dear and engaging to her:

and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore; but by hearsay, and what she learned of them from her husband and mother-in-law, even the people of Israel; to whom she was come to be a proselyte, and dwell among them, as the Targum.

(y) Midrash Ruth, fol. 32. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heretofore, to embrace the same religion. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Which thou knewest not; of whom thou hadst no experience; for otherwise in general she could not be ignorant of this people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. It hath fully been showed me — The story of Ruth’s bereavement, and of her sacrifices for and attachment to Naomi, had become a topic of conversation among the families of Beth-lehem, and touched a tender chord of sympathy in all who heard it.

Thou hast left thy father… mother… land — Far back in the dark age of the Judges the Moabitish ancestress of the Messiah bears one of the heaviest crosses of the Gospel age. Surely she showed herself worthy of New Testament discipleship, and for her recompense has already received in sacred history a hundredfold reward. Compare Mat_10:37; Mat_19:29.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Boaz"s interest and admiration grew. And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully showed to me, all that thou hast done toward thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband: and that thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and hast come to a people whom heretofore thou knewest not. When Boaz says, "It has been fully showed to me," he probably refers to the information which he had received from his overseer. The expression rendered "fully showed" is a fine specimen of a very antique idiom, showed-showed (dGhu dGehu). "Toward thy mother-in-law." The preposition which we render "toward" is literally "with," which, indeed, when laid side by side with the Hebrew preposition, looks as if it were organically identical. (tae = eth. Compare the old Hebrew etha with the Sanscrit itah. See Raabe"s "Glossar"). The expression which we render "heretofore" is literally "yesterday and the day before," a very primitive way of representing time past. It must have been like balm to the anxious heart of Ruth to hear from the lips of such a man as Boaz so hearty a "well-done." "Ruth," says the venerable Lawson, "showed no disposition to praise herself. She did not claim a right to glean from what she had done for Naomi, but wondered that such kindness should be showed by Boaz to her who was a stranger, and she hears the voice of praise from the mouth of one whoso commendations were a very great honor. No saying was oftener in the mouth of Jesus than this, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Boaz replied, "Everything has been told me that thou hast done to (את, prep. as in Zac 7:9; Sa2 16:17) thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband, that thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and thy kindred, and hast come to a people that thou knewest not heretofore" (hast therefore done what God commanded Abraham to do, Gen 12:1). "The Lord recompense thy work, and let thy reward be perfect (recalling Gen 15:1) from the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou hast come to seek refuge under His wings!" For this figurative expression, which is derived from Deu 32:11, compare Psa 91:4; Psa 36:8; Psa 57:2. In these words of Boaz we see the genuine piety of a true Israelite.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

It has been fully related to me. An action where the agent is not specified.

Whom thou knewest not. To dwell among them.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.