Bible Strands
Ruth 3:9
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Boaz asks Ruth’s identity at midnight after finding her at his feet, and Ruth responds by identifying herself and making a request.
The words — וּ/פָרַשְׂתָּ֤ (u./fa.ras.Ta) = and/ you will spread out [H6566] denotes the physical act of extending a garment’s edge over someone.
The thread — The text’s request appears alongside Ruth 2:20’s acknowledgment of Boaz as a kinsman-redeemer and finds a parallel in Ezekiel 16:8 where God spreads a cloak over a people.
Why it lands — The verse demands a reader recognize how Ruth’s explicit request relies on established legal and familial obligations rather than personal sentiment.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 16:8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ruth 2:20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
- Ruth 3:12 Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
- Ruth 2:10 At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”
- Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- 1 Samuel 25:41 She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”