Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 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.
Verse 21. Keep fast by my young men] The word 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Both barley and wheat harvest, as is said, Rth 2:23.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. all my harvestboth barleyand wheat harvests. The latter was at the end of May or the beginningof June.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Ru 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(21) My young men . . . my harvest.Emphatic in the Hebrew. As long as my reaping lasts, cleave steadily to us.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close to my young people (the masculine noun covering both men and women), until they have completed all my harvest.”
Ruth then explained what Boaz had said to her, that she keep close to his young people for the remainder of the harvesting, where she would be safe from being molested, and could be sure of ample gleanings. Note again the reference to Ruth as ‘the Moabitess’, which confirms that that fact is important to the writer’s purpose.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rth 2:21. Thou shalt keep fast by my young men The word which we render young men, signifies all young people in general. We see by the following verse in what manner Naomi understood it. The LXX and Chaldee render it maidens, and so, doubtless, it should be read in our version.
REFLECTIONS.Ruth, having refreshed herself at dinner, returns again with diligence to her work, and at even,
1. She beats out and winnows the corn that she had gathered, which was between six and seven gallons of barley, and, taking it up, carries it home to her mother. Note; Industry and plenty are twin-sisters; even the poor, if industrious, never need want.
2. On her arrival, she shews her mother what she had gleaned, gives her of the provision which she had left at dinner, and, in answer to Naomi’s question, who was pleasingly surprised at the quantity she had brought home, relates the adventures of the day, and the kind providence which had directed her to the field of Boaz. Note; (1.) A good child will always divide his morsel with his aged parent. (2.) In all our ways we must acknowledge God. (3.) When we go out in the way of duty, we may hope to return and bring a blessing along with us.
3. Naomi hereupon blesses God for the mercy, and prays for his prosperity who had so kindly treated her daughter. The name of Boaz awakens her remembrance of former kindness to her family, and she now mentions what either she had forgotten, or had not told her daughter before, that he was a very near kinsman to them. This reflection, perhaps, now first struck her mind, and therefore, in hope of farther kindness, she bids her daughter accept the kind invitation she had received, and, during the harvest, follow his reapers, and go nowhere else. These directions Ruth carefully followed, and, when the harvest was ended, dwelt at home with her mother on the provision which her industry had collected. Note; (1.) The best returns for kindness are the prayers of the poor. (2.) Whatever mercies we receive from men, God must have the praise. (3.) Humility will make us silent with respect to our connections, rather than boast, as many do who are poor, the greatness of their relations. (4.) A casual word or hint, dropped undesignedly, is sometimes pregnant with strange consequences. (5.) They who have the blessed Jesus for their redeemer cannot keep too close to him and his reapers: his past favours are the earnest of greater still in store for them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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.
Delightful thought! Jesus not only gives plentifully and suitably to his distressed relations, but he enjoins them to come again and again, and not to go to glean in the fields of another. He that overcometh (saith Jesus) shall inherit all things: and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. Rev 21:7 . We need not go elsewhere. We have all and abound. Blessed (saith the apostle) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Our persons are accepted in Jesus, and all grace must flow in him and from him. Hence it is, perhaps, with this view, that Jehovah in a covenant relation is called El-Shaddai, that is, God all-sufficient. A sufficiency to live upon to all eternity. So that all blessedness is wrapped up in this one comprehensive mercy of our Jesus.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Moabitess. See note on Rth 1:4, Rth 1:22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Thou shalt: Rth 2:7, Rth 2:8, Rth 2:22, Son 1:7, Son 1:8
young men: The word hannearim should be translated the servants; both male and female being included in it, the latter especially – see note on Rth 2:8, see note on Rth 2:22, and see note on Rth 2:23.
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rth 2:21. Thou shalt keep fast by my young men Or, young people, as the word , 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.