Ruth 2:7

Rth 2:7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

Ver. 7. I pray you, let me glean.] {See Trapp on "Rth 2:2"}

And gather after the reapers.] She thrust not herself in before or among the reapers as an impudent, bold housewife, pretending that now God’s barn door was open, and she might take where she could, &c., but begged leave to follow after them, to gather up the loose ears. This was her honesty, modesty, and humility, to her great commendation.

And hath continued even from the morning.] "Not slothful in business," {Rom 12:11} but assiduous and constant at it. {Ecc 10:18} This is praiseworthy, - in a minister especially, who is bidden to be instant, or to stand over his work, to stand close to it, {2Ti 4:2} {a} to live and die upon it. Oportet Episcopum conscionantem mori, said Bishop Juell.

Until now, that she tarried a little in the house.] For necessary repast and repose, in the heat of the day. Excepa modica sessione eius in tugurio; so Munster rendereth it.

{a} επιστηθι.

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 2:7. She said, I pray you, &c. — She did not boldly intrude herself, but modestly ask leave of us. Till now — She is not retired through idleness, for she hath been diligent and constant in her labours. The house — In the little house or tent, which was set up in the fields at these times, and was necessary in those hot countries, where the labourers might retire for a little repose or repast. Being weary with her continued labours, she comes hither to take a little rest.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:7 in the shelter: Many farmers in Israel’s hill country erected shelters beside their fields for use during the harvest. Workers used these shelters for shade during lunch or other break times during the long, hard workday. Such shelters can still be seen in parts of the hill country.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, certain handfuls.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

she said . . . Let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves--Various modes of reaping are practised in the East. Where the crop is thin and short, it is plucked up by the roots. Sometimes it is cut with the sickle. Whether reaped in the one way or the other, the grain is cast into sheaves loosely thrown together, to be subjected to the process of threshing, which takes place, for the most part, immediately after the reaping. Field labors were begun early in the morning--before the day became oppressively hot.

she tarried a little in the house--that is, the field tent, erected for the occasional rest and refreshment of the laborers.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. That she tarried a little in the house.] It seems as if the reapers were now resting in their tent, and that Ruth had just gone in with them to take her rest also.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. save that she tarried a little in the house] lit. ‘her dwelling in the house is (but) short’: not the house of Boaz, which is out of the question; possibly her own house, in which case the meaning will be ‘she has but recently come to live here.’ It is doubtful, however, whether the words can bear this sense; the text is probably corrupt. The LXX. reads ‘and she hath not rested in the field (even) a little time’; the Vulg., ‘and not even for a moment hath she returned to the house.’ Something can be said for each of these emendations, but neither is quite satisfactory.

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 she said,.... These are the words of the servant continued, who goes on with the account of Ruth, and her conduct, since she had been in the field:

I pray you let me glean, and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: for though by the law of Israel she had a right, as a poor widow and stranger, to glean, yet as the owner of the field, and his servants, by his appointment, under him, might have power of fixing the time when such might glean, and of judging who were the proper persons to be admitted, Ruth in her great modesty and meekness did not choose to enter on this work without leave:

so she came; into the field and gleaned, having obtained leave:

and hath continued even from the morning until now; had been very diligent and industrious in gathering up the loose ears of corn among the sheaves, as she followed the reapers cutting down and binding up the corn in sheaves; she began pretty early in the morning, and had stuck close to it till that time, which may be supposed to be about noon, or pretty near it, for as yet it was not mealtime, Rut 2:14. The Septuagint version is therefore very wrong, which reads"from the morning until the evening,''for that was not yet come, Rut 2:17 but

she tarried a little in the house; not that she went home to the city, and stayed a little in the house of Naomi her mother, and then returned again, for she went not home until the evening, Rut 2:17, but the meaning of the passage is, that she had been constant and diligent in gleaning all the morning, only a very little time that she was in the house, which was in the field; either a farm house of Boaz adjoining to the field; or rather a cottage or booth, as Aben Ezra interprets it, which was in the field, whither the reapers betook themselves when they ate their meals; or to shelter themselves under the shade of it, as Abendana, from the heat of the sun at noonday; and here Ruth set herself down awhile for a little rest, and ease, and refreshment; and some think she was here when Boaz came, and therefore took the more notice of her.

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

The house - The shed or booth where they took their meals, and were sheltered from the sun in the heat of the day (see Gen 33:17).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moment. Hebrew, "her tarrying in the house is but small, or till now, that she remains a little in the house." She entered the house with the reapers, during the excessive heat of the day, and to avoid the suspicion of taking more than was allowed, during their absence. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "she hath not discontinued to work in the field even a little." Her diligence and modesty attracted the notice of Booz. (Haydock).

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).

She said, I pray you, let me glean; she did not boldly intrude herself, but modestly ask leave of us.

Hath continued even from the morning until now; she is not retired though idleness, for she hath been diligent and constant in her labours.

In the house; not in Naomi’s house, as many understand it, as may be gathered from Rth 2:18,19, but in the little house or tent, which was set up in the fields at these times, and was necessary in those hot countries, where the labourers or others might retire for a little repose or repast at fit times. Being weary with her continued labours she comes hither to take a little rest.

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

7. That she tarried a little in the house — Literally, This her resting in the house is little. That is, This rest which you now see her taking in the tent has been but for a little time, for her toil has been most assiduous from early morning until now.

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

The steward continues his account of Ruth. She had respectfully solicited leave to glean. She said, Let me glean, I pray thee, and gather in bundles after the reapers. The expression, "and gather in bundles," is in Hebrew yTipsaw and is rendered in King James"s version, as also by Coverdale, Tremellius, Castellio, Luther, Michaelis, "and gather among" or "beside the sheaves." But such a request on the part of Ruth would seem to be too bold, the more especially as we find Boaz afterwards giving instructions to the young men to allow her, without molestation, to glean "even between the sheaves" (ver. 15). Hence Pagnin"s free version is to be preferred, and gather bundles" (et congregabo manipulos ). Carpzov pleads for the same interpretation, and translates thus: "Let me, I pray thee, glean, and collect the gleanings into bundles (colligam obsecro spicas, collectasque accumulem in manipules). Montanus too adopts it, and Raabe likewise (und sammele zu Haufen). The steward praises Ruth s industry. And she came, and has remained ever since the morning until just now. She had worked with scarcely any intermission, diligently, from early morning. Drusius says that the following expression, rendered in King James"s version that she tarried a little in the house, occasioned him critical torture (locus hie et diu et acriter me torsit). Coverdale also had been inextricably perplexed. He renders it, And within a litel whyle she wolde have bene gone home agayne." The word house troubled these and many other interpreters, as if the reference were to Naomi s dwelling-house in the town. The reference, however, is evidently to a temporary but, shed, tent, or booth erected in the harvest-field for the siesta of the workers, and the accommodation of the master, when he was visiting by day, or exercising supervision by night. We would translate the clause thus resting at the hut (has been) little." Her siesta in the shade of thebut was trot brief. She felt as if she could not afford a long repose.

"I pray thee let me glean.

In rural life no sight is pleasanter than the hour when the gleaners come in and "gather after the reapers among the sheaves." It bespeaks "something to spare." It is like the "commons" or the grass by the roadside for the poor man"s cattle. We all like the spectacle of plenty; we all like the consciousness that the overflowings of the cup of plenty are to be tasted by others.

I THERE IS WORK FOR THE HUMBLEST TO DO. We may not be permitted to take a leading part even in God"s great harvest-field, but we can all do something. We can glean words of comfort to carry to the bedsides of the sick and the homes of the poor. We can glean in the fields of Scripture lessons for the little ones, and promises for the brokenhearted. Thank God there is a place in the world for gleaners as well as reapers.

II THERE IS WORK TO BE SOUGHT OUT. It is asked for. "I pray thee." How many complain that no one finds a service for them. They are waiters and idlers because no one gives them a commission, or secures them a suitable field. They wait to be sought out, instead of saying, "Here am I, send me." They wait to be besought, instead of beseeching for work. What a glorious day for the Church of Christ everywhere when men seek for the honor of service.

III ALL WORK DEMANDS PERSEVERANCE. How constant Ruth is! "She came, and hath continued from the morning until now." How much spasmodic energy there is; how many ploughs are left mid-furrow; how many begin and do not finish. It is not genius that wins the goal, but plodding earnestness. Ye did run well, glean well; what doth hinder you? W.M.S.

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

I pray - She did not boldly intrude herself, but modestly ask leave of us. 'Till now - She is not retired through idleness, for she hath been diligent and constant in her labours. The house - In the little house or tent, which was set up in the fields at these times, and was necessary in those hot countries, where the labourers might retire for a little repose or repast. Being weary with her continued labours, she comes hither to take a little rest.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And she said to herself.

I will now glean the gleaning of the ears.

and gather from among the sheaves the forgotten sheaves.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

So she came and has continued. That she always busies herself with her own needs and not with anything else, so she would not be suspected because of her beauty.

Scarcely spending any time in the hut. For a short time.

Spending time. That she sat.

The meaning of 'hut'. Like a booth (sukkah).

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.