Bible Strands
Ruth 2:23
So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records Ruth’s compliance with Naomi’s counsel to remain bound to Boaz’s female workers for safety during the grain harvest.
The words — וַתִּדְבַּק (tiddaḇeq) translates literally as “she clung” or “she stayed close,” denoting Ruth’s deliberate, physical attachment to the reaping crew.
The thread — This sustained, localized labor mirrors the seven-week harvest count in Deuteronomy 16:9 and the patient observation of the ant in Proverbs 6:6.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to accept that boundary-respecting, continuous work within a provided community is the concrete mechanism for survival and covenant faithfulness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Deuteronomy 16:9 You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
- Proverbs 6:6 Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
- Proverbs 13:1 A wise son heeds his father’s discipline, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.
- Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”