Bible Strands
Ruth 2:3
So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ruth acts independently after Naomi authorizes her to glean (Ruth 2:2), moving into the fields just before Boaz arrives from Bethlehem (Ruth 2:4). The narrative moment captures Ruth's first step of obedience and her unexpected positioning in Boaz's property.
The words — The text records Ruth's movement with וַ/תֵּ֤לֶךְ (va./Te.lekh, "and she went") and וַ/תְּלַקֵּ֣ט (va./te.la.Ket, "and she gleaned"), followed by וַ/יִּ֣קֶר (va/i.Yi.ker, "and it chanced on") to describe her arrival at Boaz's field. These verbs trace her physical labor and the narrative's emphasis on chance placement.
The thread — The concept of providential chance appears in Luke 10:31 and Matthew 10:29, where chance events and divine sovereignty intersect. It also echoes the labor ethic of 2 Thessalonians 3:12, which commands quiet work to earn a living.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to recognize that ordinary obedience initiates unexpected provision. It demands attention to how daily work intersects with unseen arrangements.
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
And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Cross-references
- 2 Thessalonians 3:12 We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.
- Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Luke 10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- 2 Kings 8:5 And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”
- Esther 6:1 That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.