Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 3:2
And now [is] not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshingfloor.
2. our kinsman ] See on Rth 2:1, a different word from near kinsman ( go’el) in Rth 3:9. His relationship to Elimelech, and the friendly disposition which he had shewn, led Naomi to think of Boaz in considering ‘a resting place’ for Ruth. He might be willing to do the kinsman’s part; at any rate, she made up her mind to act courageously and in a spirit of faith. In her plan for a next of kin marriage Naomi’s only concern is for Ruth’s future; the perpetuation of the name of her dead childless son is left for Boaz to mention (Rth 4:5; Rth 4:10).
to-night ] when the wind blows (Targ.), and the weather is cool. In Palestine a wind rises from the sea at about four o’clock in the afternoon, and lasts till half an hour before sunset. For the threshing-floor an exposed, open spot was chosen on the side or summit of a hill; here it must have lain outside the village, and to reach it Ruth had to go down the hills on which Beth-lehem stands.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, he winnoweth barley … – The simple manners of Boaz and his times are here before us. This mighty man of wealth assists personally in the winnowing of his barley, which lies in a great heap on the floor Rth 3:15, and sleeps in the open threshing-floor to protect his grain from depredation.
Tonight – For the sake of the breeze which springs up at sunset, and greatly facilitates the cleansing (separation) of the grain tossed up across the wind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. He winnoweth barley tonight] It is very likely that the winnowing of grain was effected by taking up, in a broad thin vessel or sieve, a portion of the corn, and letting it down slowly in the wind; thus the grain would, by its own weight, fall in one place, while the chaff, c., would be carried to a distance by the wind. It is said here that this was done at night probably what was threshed out in the day was winnowed in the evening, when the sea breeze set in, which was common in Palestine; and as this took place in the evening only, that was the time in which they would naturally winnow their corn.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Which was in a place covered at the top, but open elsewhere, whither Ruth might easily come. And this work of winnowing corn was usually begun or ended with a feast, as may be gathered both from Rth 3:7, and from other instances, wherein they used to do so upon like occasions; and this work was to begin this evening, and, as some think, was done only in the evenings, when the heat grew less, and the wind began to blow. See Gen 3:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. he winnoweth barley to-night inthe threshing-floorThe winnowing process is performed bythrowing up the grain, after being trodden down, against the windwith a shovel. The threshing-floor, which was commonly on theharvest-field, was carefully leveled with a large cylindric rollerand consolidated with chalk, that weeds might not spring up, and thatit might not chop with drought. The farmer usually remained all nightin harvest-time on the threshing-floor, not only for the protectionof his valuable grain, but for the winnowing. That operation wasperformed in the evening to catch the breezes which blow after theclose of a hot day, and which continue for the most part of thenight. This duty at so important a season the master undertakeshimself; and, accordingly, in the simplicity of ancient manners,Boaz, a person of considerable wealth and high rank, laid himselfdown to sleep on the barn floor, at the end of the heap of barley hehad been winnowing.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast?…. He was, and her question supposes and concludes it, and which she observes, that Ruth might take notice of it, and encouragement from it; and the rather, since she had been admitted into the company and conversation of his maidens; and which was more, though not mentioned, into the company and conversation of himself, and whom Ruth knew full well; and who being, Naomi thought, the next nearest kinsman, and obliged by the law in De 25:5 to marry Ruth, with which view his relation is mentioned:
behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshingfloor; which afforded a fit opportunity of meeting with him, being at night, and out of the city, from his own house, and alone, and after a feast for his reapers and threshers of corn, seems, from Ru 2:7 as it was usual to have threshingfloors in an open place without the city, so to winnow at them, whereby the chaff was more easily separated from the corn, and that, in the evening, when in those countries there were the strongest breezes of wind to carry it off; hence the Targum here has it,
“behold, he is winnowing the barley floor with the wind, which is in the night.”
For before the invention and use of fans in winnowing, it was only done by the wind carrying off the chaff, as the oxen trod the corn, for it was done in the threshingfloor, as here: hence Hesiod m advises that the threshingfloors should be , in a place exposed to wind; and so Varro n observes, the floor should be in the higher part of the field, that the wind might blow through it; to this manner of winnowing Virgil o has respect. Nor was it unusual for great personages, owners of farms and fields, to attend and overlook such service. Pliny p reports, that Sextus Pomponius, father of the praetor and prince of the hither Spain, presided over the winnowing of his reapers; so Gideon, another judge Israel, was found threshing wheat, Jud 6:11.
m Opera & Dies, l. 2. ver. 221. n De re Rustica, l. 1. c. 41. o “Cum graviter tunsis”, &c. Georgic. l. 3. Vid. Homer. Iliad 5. ver. 499. & Iliad, 13. ver. 588, &c. p Nat. Hist. l. 22. c. 25.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. He winnoweth barley to-night The night was chosen for the purpose because of the breeze which usually set in with the cool of the day. “The winnowing was performed by throwing up the grain with a fork against the wind, by which the broken straw and chaff were dispersed, and the grain fell to the ground. The grain was afterwards passed through a sieve to separate the morsels of earth and other impurities, and it then underwent a final purification by being tossed up with wooden scoops or short-handled shovels, such as we see figured in the monuments of Egypt.” Kitto.
The threshingfloor This was a level plot of ground of a circular shape, generally about fifty feet in diameter, and beaten down to a hard, smooth surface. Upon this the sheaves of grain were thrown, and the threshing was usually performed by driving cattle over them: the Scriptural mode of “treading out the corn.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“ And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? See, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing-floor.”
She reminds Ruth that the man who had been so kind to her was in fact their kinsman, knowing no doubt that Ruth would recognise the significance of that fact. Furthermore she knew where he would be that evening, for the harvest having been gathered in it would now be necessary for it to be threshed. Thus she knew that he would be in charge of the winnowing in the threshingfloor. The threshingfloor would be in an open area of ground where the ground had been beaten down and where it would be affected by the steady wind that blew at that time of year. The grain would be piled on the threshingfloor and would then be tossed up into the air by winnowing-forks so that the wind could blow away the chaff, leaving the ears of grain to fall again to the threshingfloor. Thus the ears of barley would be separated from the chaff. The winnowing would be followed by feasting in celebration of the gathering in of harvest.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rth 3:2. Behold, he winnoweth barley It is plain from the 7th verse, that this was a season of feasting, and that a kind of feast was given upon a completion of the harvest. The Chaldee paraphrase upon the 7th verse is, the heart of Boaz rejoiced, and he blessed God who had heard his prayer, and removed the famine from the land of Israel.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rth 3:2 And now [is] not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
Ver. 2. Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight. ] By night they winnowed, ad auram nocturnam, as the Chaldee here hath it: (1.) Because more cool, as Gen 3:8 ; (2.) Because then they had a better wind. Naomi remindeth Ruth of this opportunity, and willeth her to improve it. A well chosen season is one of the best advantages of any action. It may seem that Boaz himself had a hand in the work, howsoever an oversight. See Rth 2:4 . He might be of the mind of that Emperor a who said, Quo maior fuero, tanto plus laborabo: the greater I am, the more pains I will take.
a Maximinus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he winnoweth. This was, and is to-day, the master’s work. His servants plowed, sowed, and reaped.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
is not Boaz: Rth 2:20-23, Deu 25:5, Deu 25:6, Heb 2:11-14
with whose: Rth 2:8, Rth 2:23
he winnoweth: It is probable that the winnowing of grain was effected by taking up a portion of the corn in a sieve, and letting it down slowly in the wind; thus the grain would, by its own weight, fall in one place, while the chaff, etc., would be carried a distance by the wind. It is said here that this was done at night; probably what was threshed out in the day was winnowed in the evening, when the sea breeze set in, which was common in Palestine.
Reciprocal: Lev 25:25 – General Rth 2:1 – kinsman