Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 3:9
And he said, Who [art] thou? And she answered, I [am] Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou [art] a near kinsman.
9. spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid ] This symbolic act denoted that the kinsman claimed the widow as his wife. Cf. Eze 16:8. The custom prevailed among the early Arabs; a good illustration is given in abar’s commentary on the Koran (Sura 4:23, forbidding men to ‘inherit women against their will’): ‘In the Jhilya, when a man’s father or brother or son died and left a widow, the dead man’s heir, if he came at once and threw his garment over her, had the right to marry her under the dowry of [i.e. already paid by] her [deceased] lord, or to give her in marriage and take her dowry. But if she anticipated him and went off to her own people, then the disposal of her hand belonged to herself’; Robertson Smith, Kinship etc., p. 87. See also Sale’s translation of the Koran (Warne & Co.), p. 56 and note.
a near kinsman ] The primary meaning of the Hebr. go’el is ‘one who enforces a claim’ which has lapsed; so ‘one who re-claims’ or ‘re-vindicates.’ Hence the verb is used of redeeming a house or field after it has been sold, or an Israelite who has been obliged to sell himself as a slave (Lev 25:25 ff., Lev 25:47 ff.), or something which has been vowed to Jehovah; in the expression go’el had-dm, ‘the avenger of blood,’ Deu 19:6; Deu 19:12 etc., it denotes ‘one who vindicates the rights of the murdered man;’ see Driver in loc. But since a man was not as a rule able himself to redeem a right which had lapsed, the duty fell upon his family and more particularly upon his nearest relative; in this way go’el came to mean ‘the next of kin.’ Boaz, however, was not the nearest relative ( Rth 3:12), so he could not act unless the next of kin declined; nor did the Pentatenchal law require the go’el to marry the widow of the deceased in addition to redeeming his property, though custom sanctioned the marriage. Hence Ruth’s appeal to the generosity of Boaz.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Spread thy skirt … – The phrase indicates receiving and acknowledging her as a wife.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Spread therefore thy skirt over thine hand maid] Hebrew, Spread thy wing. The wing is the emblem of protection, and is a metaphor taken from the young of fowls, which run under the wings of their mothers, that they may be saved from birds of prey. The meaning here is, Take me to thee for wife; and so the Targum has translated it, Let thy name be called on thy handmaid to take me for wife, because thou art the redeemer; i.e., thou art the goel, the kinsman, to whom the right of redemption belongs. See on Ru 2:20. Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirt or end of his talith over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Spread thy skirt over thine hand-maid, i.e. take me to be thy wife, and perform the duty of an husband to me. This phrase is used in this sense Deu 22:30; 27:20; Eze 16:8. Either, first, Because the wife is admitted into the same bed with her husband, and both are covered with one and the same covering. Or, secondly, From an ancient ceremony of the husbands throwing the skirt of his garment over her head, in token both of her subjection, 1Co 11:5,6,10, and appropriation to him, being hereby as it were hid from the eyes of others; see Gen 20:16; and also of that protection which he oweth to her: see Rth 2:12.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. I am Ruth thine handmaid: spreadtherefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a nearkinsmanShe had already drawn part of the mantle over her; andshe asked him now to do it, that the act might become his own. Tospread a skirt over one is, in the East, a symbolical action denotingprotection. To this day in many parts of the East, to say of anyonethat he put his skirt over a woman, is synonymous with saying that hemarried her; and at all the marriages of the modern Jews and Hindus,one part of the ceremony is for the bridegroom to put a silken orcotton cloak around his bride.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he said, who art thou?…. He spoke quick and short, as one displeased, or however surprised and frightened, just coming out of sleep, and in the night:
and she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; that had gleaned in his fields with his maidens, and with whom he had conversed there, and knew her by name:
spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid; which seems to account for the reason of her uncovering his feet, or turning up the skirt of his garment that was upon them; not through wantonness and immodesty, but to direct him, when opportunity offered, to spread it over her as a token of his taking her in marriage, and of her being under his care and protection, and of her subjection to him; so the Targum,
“let thy name be called upon me to take me for a wife,”
Whether the custom now used with the Jews at marriage, for a man to cast the skirt of his “talith”, or outward garment, over the head of his spouse, and cover it, was in use so early, is questionable; and yet something like it seems to have been done, as this phrase intimates, and to which there is an allusion in Eze 16:8. So Jarchi,
“spread the skirt of thy garments to cover me with thy talith, and this is expressive of marriage;”
and Aben Ezra says, it intimates taking her to him for wife; though as the word signifies a wing, the allusion may be to the wings of birds spread over their young, to cherish and protect them, which are acts to be done by a man to his wife:
for thou art a near kinsman; as she had been informed by Naomi, to whom the right of redemption of her husband’s estate belonged, and in whom it lay to marry her, and raise up seed to his kinsman, her former husband.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In answer to his inquiry, “ Who art thou? ” she said, “ I am Ruth, thine handmaid; spread thy wing over thine handmaid, for thou art a redeemer. ” is a dual according to the Masoretic pointing, as we cannot look upon it as a pausal form on account of the position of the word, but it is most probably to be regarded as a singular; and the figurative expression is not taken from birds, which spread their wings over their young, i.e., to protect them, but refers, according to Deu 23:1; Deu 27:20, and Eze 16:8, to the wing, i.e., the corner of the counterpane, referring to the fact that a man spreads this over his wife as well as himself. Thus Ruth entreated Boaz to marry her because he was a redeemer. On this reason for the request, see the remarks in the introduction to the chapter.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(9) Skirt.Literally wing; Heb. canaph, as in Rth. 2:12. The Targum treats this as in itself the claim to espousal on her part. The metaphor may be illustrated from Eze. 16:8, and more generally from Mat. 23:37.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Spread thy skirt over thine handmaid Literally, spread thy wing. The meaning is, Take me into the protection and intimacy of the marriage relation. The figure, taken originally from birds that cover their young with their wings for protection, is appropriately used of the marriage state. Thus in Eze 16:8, Jehovah represents himself as spreading his wing over Jerusalem in the time of love, and thus taking her to wife. Also in Deu 22:30; Deu 27:20, a man guilty of incest is represented as one that uncovereth his father’s wing, or skirt, because he meddles with that which is closed and legally sealed to all but the married pair.
Thou art a near kinsman A goel, from whom I have a legal right to claim this relation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your handmaid. Spread therefore the edge of your robe over your handmaid, for you are a near kinsman.”
So he asked, quite startled, ‘Who are you?’ And Ruth replied ‘I am Ruth your handmaid.’ As we have seen previously to call herself his handmaid was not to be taken literally, but merely indicated her maidenly modesty. She then requested him, acting as a near kinsman, to cover her with the corner or ‘wing’ of his robe (see Deu 22:30; Deu 27:20; Eze 16:8) as a sign that he was taking her under his protection. The word for ‘wing’ is the same as in Rth 2:12 where it is in the plural and indicated the wings of YHWH, thinking of Him in terms of a protecting bird. Here then, symbolically, Boaz would be taking her under his wing.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rth 3:9. Spread, therefore, thy skirt over thine handmaid See chap. Rth 2:12. In the Hebrew it is, spread thy wing. It is a proverbial manner of speaking, signifying in general, take me under thy protection; and in particular, take me under thy protection as a husband: the Chaldee, therefore, plainly renders it, let thy name be called upon thine handmaid, by taking me for thy wife. Even to this day, it is a ceremony among the Jews for the man to throw the skirt of his talith, or veil, over his spouse, and to cover her head with it. See Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 39: Ruth, subjoins the reason of her request; and, to judge properly concerning it, we must, in a great measure, divest ourselves of modern ideas, and consider not only the manners of those times, but the light in which a state of widowhood and celibacy was considered among the Jews. Ruth, a proselyte to the religion of that nation, was full of those expectations which animated the pious women among them; and the sequel of this history fully proves, that her expectations were not ill-grounded.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rth 3:9 And he said, Who [art] thou? And she answered, I [am] Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou [art] a near kinsman.
Ver. 9. Spread therefore thy skirt. ] Tostatus thinketh that by this speech she desired him to lie with her; which is gross. Rather, hereby she desired him to marry her – see Eze 16:8 , – and as a husband to nourish and cherish her; Eph 5:29 and he understandeth her no otherwise, as appeareth by his answer.
For thou art a near kinsman.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
thy skirt = wing (with Septuagint and Vulgate) Other codices, with two early printed editions, read “wings”. “Wing” put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause) for protective care. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ruth: Rth 2:10-13, 1Sa 25:41, Luk 14:11
spread therefore: Hebrew “spread thy wing;” the emblem of protection; and a metaphor taken from the young of fowls, which run under the wings of their mother from birds of prey. Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirts of his talith over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection. Eze 16:8
a near kinsman: or, one that has right to redeem, Rth 3:12, Rth 2:20
Reciprocal: Lev 25:25 – General Deu 22:30 – discover Deu 25:5 – husband’s brother