It was in the days when the judges judged; there was a famine in the land due to a drought. And a wealthy, prominent man from Bethlehem, which was in the territory of Judah, near Jerusalem, went to reside temporarily in the fields of Moav, where conditions were better, he, his wife, and his two sons. The verse specifies Bethlehem in Judah in order to distinguish this place from the town of Bethlehem located in the Galilee.

The name of the man was Elimelekh, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilyon. They were Efratites from Bethlehem of Judah. The region near Bethlehem was named after their family of Efrat, who was a descendant of Hur. They came to the fields of Moav and were there for some time.

Elimelekh, Naomi’s husband, died while they were living in Moav, and she and her two sons remained in the fields of Moav.

They, Naomi’s two sons, married local Moavite women: The name of the one was Orpa, and the name of the second Ruth; they lived there approximately ten years.

Also both of them, Mahlon and Kilyon, died childless; and the woman, Naomi, remained of her two children and her husband.

She and her daughters-in-law rose, and returned from the fields of Moav, not only because Naomi had lost her husband and sons, but also because she had heard in the fields of Moav that the Lord had remembered His people to give them bread. In the meantime, the famine had ended and normal life had resumed in the land of Judah.

She departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law were with her, as they were her only surviving family members; they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law: I am returning to my home and my people, but as for you, go, each return to her mother’s house and family. She added with great affection: May the Lord deal kindly with you and assist you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

May the Lord grant you that you find repose, each in the house of her husband. I bless each of you that you should both remarry and live in peace with new husbands. Since nothing remains from our family relationship, there is no reason for you to accompany me. Naomi wished to treat these two women fairly, as they were apparently relatively young, having married a mere few years earlier. She therefore encouraged them to resume their lives elsewhere. She, Naomi, kissed them a farewell kiss; and they, possibly all three of them, raised their voices and wept. This shared weeping is indicative of the profound ties between them, despite the fact that the pair were not Naomi’s biological daughters.

They said to her: No, for we will return with you to your people and live among your nation. We are one family, and we will continue to remain a family.

Naomi said: Return, my daughters; why would you go with me? There is no reason for you to do so. Do I have more sons in my womb who will be husbands for you? Is there any chance that I will give birth to boys who might later marry you and produce offspring?

Accordingly, return, my daughters; go, as I am too old to remarry and have a second husband. Even if I were to entertain an utterly unrealistic idea and say: I have hope, then even if I had a husband tonight, and even if I were to bear sons,

would you wait for them, these imaginary sons, until they grow up? For them, would you constrain yourselves and stop your lives, to not have a husband? No, my daughters, for I am embittered on your account that I am unable to assist you or provide you with anything, for the hand of the Lord has been extended against me. I am left wretched and hopeless. Apparently, any property or possessions the family had once owned had been lost over the years.

They raised their voices and wept more; Orpa kissed her mother-in-law farewell, as she had been convinced by Naomi’s argument and decided to return home, but Ruth clung to her and would not consent to any separation.

She, Naomi, said to Ruth: Behold, your sister-in-law returned to her people and to her god; return after your sister-in-law.

Ruth said: Do not implore me to leave you, to return from following you, to abandon you. For wherever you will go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; moreover, your people is my people, and your God my God. You said that Orpa should return to her nation and her gods, but Moav is no longer my nation, and the gods of Moav are no longer my gods. My ties to your family and way of life are not an accident, and I no longer feel any connection to the Moavite nation and its faith;

wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. I will remain alongside you until death, and I will be buried together with you. I swear that so may the Lord do to me, and so may He continue, for death will separate between me and you. Note that Ruth takes an oath in the name of the God of Israel.

She, Naomi, saw that she was resolute to go with her, despite her best efforts to convince Ruth that she should return home, and she ceased speaking with her and urging her to return.

The two of them walked until they arrived in Bethlehem. Since Bethlehem was not far from Moav, they presumably walked for only a few days. It was, upon their arriving in Bethlehem, that the whole city was in a tumult over them; the women said: Is that Naomi? No one was familiar with Ruth, but everyone in the small city knew the distinguished Naomi. At this stage, however, she had not only aged physically, but her dress and her appearance had changed, as the vicissitudes of life had left their scars.

She said to them: Do not call me Naomi, meaning pleasant [no’am], as I have not had any pleasantness in my life; rather, call me Bitterness [Mara]. This name is more appropriate, as the Almighty has greatly embittered me and brought much bitterness and suffering upon me.

I went full, with a husband, children, and possessions, and the Lord returned me empty, with nothing; why would you call me Naomi, and the Lord has testified against me and rebuked me for my sins; alternatively, He has warned me and the Almighty has harmed me?

Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moavite, her daughter-in-law, was with her, who returned from the fields of Moav; they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, the period after the festival of Passover, when barley is first reaped. Thus, it was relatively easy to find food during this time of the year.

Naomi had an acquaintance of her husband, who was a mighty man of valor, prominent in stature, from the family of Elimelekh, and his name was Boaz.

Ruth the Moavite said to Naomi: Let me now go to the field, and glean among the stalks of grain, in accordance with the common practice of the poor, which Ruth had apparently noticed, following anyone in whose eyes I find favor. I will go to the field of someone in whose eyes I find favor and who will allow me to glean there. Although the Torah requires the owner of a field to leave gleanings of his harvest for the destitute, in practice not every landowner welcomed the poor graciously. Some were concerned that the poor might distract the reapers from their work, while others suspected them of dishonesty, and there might even have been some individuals who did not wish to interact with or assist others at all. She, Naomi, said to her: Go, my daughter.

She went, and came, and gleaned the stalks that had fallen or had not been harvested in the field after the reapers; it happened for her that it was the tract of land belonging to Boaz, who was from the family of Elimelekh, without prior knowledge of the landowner’s identity.

Behold, at that time Boaz came from Bethlehem to his field outside the city, presumably in order to supervise the harvest. And Boaz said to the reapers a greeting in the form of a blessing: The Lord be with you and assist you. They said to him: The Lord bless you.

Boaz said to his lad set over the reapers to ensure that the harvest was performed properly: Whose young woman is this? With whom is she associated? Bethlehem was not a large city, and Boaz, one of the long-standing residents of the city, was surprised to see a young woman whom he did not recognize.

The lad set over the reapers answered and said: She is a young Moavite woman who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moav.

She said, asked of us: Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves, following the reapers. She came and has been standing in the field from the morning until now; she sat in the house only a bit. She went to a nearby house to rest for a short time, before returning to the field.

Boaz said to Ruth: Hear truly, my daughter; do not go to glean in a different field; also do not pass on from here to another field, as my field is sufficiently large, but rather attach yourself to my young women. Keep close to my maidservants and go with them.

Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and follow them, the other maidservants. Haven’t I commanded the lads not to touch you, and bother you, but rather treat you with respect? Moreover, as you are outside in the heat, when you become thirsty, go to the vessels that contain water for the reapers, and drink from that which the lads have drawn. I permit you to drink from their water, so that you can continue to reap here in comfort.

She fell on her face and prostrated herself to the ground; she said to him: Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should acknowledge me and treat me in such a friendly manner, and I am a foreigner? I am not from the house of Israel, and I am a stranger to this area.

Boaz answered and said to her: Although I have not seen you until now, everything that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was told to me; you left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know previously.

May the Lord reward your conduct, and may your payment be complete from the Lord, God of Israel, under whose wings you came to find refuge. Boaz understood that Ruth had not converted for merely social or financial reasons, and that she did not come to the Land of Israel just in order to accompany her mother-in-law. Rather, she wished to be close to God.

She said: May I find favor in your eyes, my lord. I am grateful that I have found favor in your eyes; for you have comforted me, for you have spoken to the heart of your maidservant. You have encouraged me and treated me in a special manner, though I am not worthy even of a status as one of your maidservants.

Boaz said to her sometime later, at mealtime, when the reapers gathered to sit and eat: Come over here, and eat from the bread shared by the reapers, and dip your piece in the vinegar that is used as a sauce for the bread. She sat beside the reapers, not mingling with them, and he, Boaz, handed her kernels of roasted fresh grain. Some of the starch inside of these kernels is converted to sugar when heated, and the slightly sweet roasted kernels were considered a delicacy. And she ate and was satisfied, and left over. Boaz had given her a sizable portion, which was more than enough to satisfy her.

She rose to glean, and Boaz commanded his lads, saying: She is permitted to glean in the field not only after you have removed the bound-together sheaves of harvested grain, but let her glean among the sheaves as well, and do not shame her. You must allow her to glean without voicing any objections;

also pull some for her from the bundles. You are to forget, or intentionally remove, some stalks from those that are tied together ready to be harvested with the sickle, and leave them, and let her glean, and do not rebuke her.

She gleaned in the field until evening. Since Ruth had been given a comfortable place to rest, perhaps in the shade near the reapers, and provided with food and drink, she did not need to return home in the middle of the day. And she beat out that which she had gleaned, in order to separate the kernels of grain from the stalks, and it was approximately an ephah of barley, a sizable dry measure equivalent to roughly 24 L.

She took it up, the barley, and came to the city, and her mother-in-law saw that which she had gleaned, a larger quantity than Naomi had expected; she took out and gave to her that which she had left over from her fill. As stated, Ruth did not eat all of what Boaz had given her. She brought her mother-in-law roasted grain in addition to the barley.

Her mother-in-law said to her: Where did you glean today and where did you work? Blessed be he who acknowledged you, who assisted you, and who treated you with exceptional generosity. She told her mother-in-law the identity of the man with whom she worked, and said: The name of the man, the owner of the field, with whom I worked today is Boaz.

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: Blessed be he to the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and to the dead. Boaz had maintained close ties with the family when Naomi’s husband and sons were still alive, and he was now honoring their memory by helping Naomi and Ruth. Naomi said to her: I am familiar with him not only as a resident of this city, but the man is also related to us, he is among our redeemers [go’aleinu]. When someone becomes poor and is forced to sell his field, a relative may redeem the field from the buyer if he can afford to do so. Although some Sages maintain that it is obligatory for such a relative to do so, the halakha is that it is optional. This purchase is called the redemption [ge’ula] of the field, and every relative is considered a potential redeemer [go’el].

In keeping with Naomi’s excitement and the praises she had bestowed upon Boaz, Ruth the Moavite said in the same vein: Indeed, he said to me: You shall attach yourself to my lads and continue gleaning with them, until they complete my entire harvest.

Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law: Since Boaz is treating you so well, my daughter, it is better that you go out with his young women and remain in his field, that you not be accosted in another field.

She attached herself to Boaz’s young women to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. The barley harvest begins in the spring and lasts for some seven weeks. It is followed by the wheat harvest, which generally starts at around the time of Shavuot, which is called the Festival of the First Fruits of the wheat harvest. This harvest concludes approximately three months after the start of the barley harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law. During that entire period, Ruth would glean in the field and bring the grain home to her mother-in-law.

Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her: My daughter, do I not seek repose for you, so that it may be well for you? You are currently living in a temporary manner; I wish to find a more permanent arrangement for you. Naomi had expressed a similar wish while they were still in Moav (see 1:9).

Now, isn’t Boaz our acquaintance and friend, that you were with his young women? Behold, he is winnowing the barley threshing floor tonight. Boaz was not married at that time; some maintain that he was a widower. Naomi sought to arrange a match between him and Ruth.

Bathe, anoint yourself with oil in order to enhance your appearance, place your most attractive garment upon you, and descend to the threshing floor; do not make yourself known to the man. Hide in the threshing floor so that Boaz will not discover you until he finishes eating and drinking.

It shall be that when he lies down to sleep on the threshing floor that night, in order to guard the grain, or perhaps because he wishes to resume work early in the morning, you shall know the place where he lies, and you shall come and uncover his feet. Even in the summer the evenings in the Judean hills are not particularly hot, and therefore Boaz’s feet would be covered. And lie down near his feet. He will tell you what you shall do. Allow him to proceed in whatever manner he sees fit. Through this unusual act, which is direct and authentic, but at the same time discreet and non-binding, Ruth will issue an unconventional proposition: A request for Boaz’s full protection, which means that in essence she is asking him to marry her.

She, Ruth, said to her: Everything that you say to me, I will do. Ruth could have hesitated to follow such a strange suggestion, which was not in keeping with conventional norms of decency and modesty. Nevertheless, she accepted her mother-in-law’s plan without hesitation.

She went down to the threshing floor, and acted in accordance with everything that her mother-in-law had commanded her.

When the workday was concluded, Boaz ate and drank wine, and his heart was merry, and he came to lie at the end of the pile of grain, the mound of grain stalks, where there is grain on the ground that is comfortable to lie on and where he could also watch over the harvested grain. She came surreptitiously, and she uncovered his feet, and she lay down at his feet, per Naomi’s instruction.

It was midnight, and the man was startled and recoiled in confusion, as he had gone to sleep alone, and now he suddenly discerned the presence of another person; behold, a woman was lying at his feet.

He said in complete surprise: Who are you? She said: I am Ruth, your maidservant, whom you know; spread the corner of your garment, your patronage, over your maidservant, and take me as your wife, for you are a redeemer. Owing to your familial ties to Naomi, you are also related to me, as I am her son’s widow. Naomi had presumably explained to Ruth the significance of this type of redemption as practiced among the Israelites.

He said: Blessed be you to the Lord, my daughter; your latter kindness, when you chose to marry a relative of your deceased husband, is greater than the former, when you left your land and accompanied your mother-in-law, in not going after the lads, whether poor or rich. Had you sought to marry merely in order to reestablish your own life, you would have chosen a young man, closer in age to yourself. By selecting me, a man who is far older than you, because of my formal status as a redeemer, you have revealed the purity of your intentions.

Now, my daughter, do not fear, everything that you say I will do for you, for everyone who is found at the gate of my people, the important men of the city, knows that you are a woman of valor [eshet h·], an unusual personality and an exceptional person. The term eshet ĥayil here parallels the phrase “mighty man of valor” [gibbor ĥayil] that appeared earlier in reference to Boaz (2:1). It also features as a general expression of praise in the book of Proverbs, which was written by King Solomon, a descendant of Ruth and Boaz.

Now it is true that I am a redeemer, as I am part of the family; however, there is a redeemer who is closer than I, and the proper order must be maintained with regard to these matters.

Therefore, stay here tonight, and when it is morning, if he, the redeemer who has a closer relationship to you, redeems you, then it is good [tov], he will redeem, as he has the right. Alternatively, the word tov is the name of the redeemer. According to this interpretation, the verse reads: And when it is morning, if Tov performs his role as redeemer, then let him do so. But if he does not wish to redeem you, I will redeem you, as I will then be the next in line to redeem you. I swear as the Lord lives; lie down until the morning and rest; I will not touch you.

She lay at his feet until the morning, and rose before one could discern another. He, Boaz, said: Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. Since he did not want her to be identified or her actions publicized, she departed before the light of day.

He, Boaz, said to Ruth: Hand me the large kerchief that is upon you, and hold it out; and she held it out. He measured six measures of barley, a sizable amount, and placed it, the full kerchief, on her; and he too entered the city, to take care of his business.

She came to her mother-in-law, when it was still quite early in the morning, and therefore she was unable to identify Ruth immediately. And she, Naomi, said: Who are you, my daughter? She told her everything that the man had done for her.

She, Ruth, said: These six measures of barley he gave me, as he said to me: Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law. This is not a payment of any sort, but a gift to bring to your mother-in-law.

She said: Sit and wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter will develop; for the man will not rest until he completes the matter today. I know that he is a determined man, and I am certain that he will not delay.

Boaz did not postpone the matter of the redemption. Boaz went up to the gate, the place of judgment, where the dignitaries of the city were present, and sat there, and behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken was passing. He, Boaz, said: Turn aside from wherever you are going and enter, sit here, So-and-So. He turned aside and he sat. The redeemer’s name is not stated here, either because it is not known, or because he acted inappropriately by refusing the redemption.

He, Boaz, took ten men of the elders of the city, and said: Sit here to serve as judges; and they sat down.

He said to the redeemer: Regarding the tract of land that belonged to our brother, to Elimelekh, Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moav, is selling, that is, she has put up the land for sale. Naomi and Ruth could not work the field alone, and the money from the sale would help sustain them financially.

I said: I will inform you, saying: Acquire before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you have not heard about it, I hereby inform you that the field is for sale, and you may purchase it officially in a public manner before all those who sit here. If you would redeem, redeem, as you have the first right to do so. But if you will not redeem, tell me, and I will know. For there is no one besides you to redeem, and I am after you. According to the laws of redemption, there is no other potential redeemer in the family apart from myself. If you refuse to redeem it, I will purchase it instead. He, the man, said: I will redeem it, by purchasing it.

The anonymous redeemer agreed to purchase the field belonging to the family of his relatives, but he did not realize that whoever redeems the field must also marry the young surviving widow, and thereby preserve the family by having more children. This is not a biblical obligation, as according to Torah law the redemption of an inheritance of a relative is not automatically accompanied by the obligation to marry his widow. Nevertheless, the practice was that anyone who takes over the inheritance of a relative must also marry his wife, similar to levirate marriage. Boaz said: On the day of your acquisition of the field from the hand of Naomi, and from Ruth the Moavite, you acquire the wife of the dead; the practice of redemption includes marrying her in order to perpetuate the name of the dead upon his inheritance. By marrying the widow of the deceased childless husband and fathering children with her, the name of the deceased will be perpetuated.

The redeemer said: I cannot redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance, harm my family; you redeem my redemption in my place, as I cannot redeem it. Apparently, he did not want to marry Ruth because she was a foreign woman, and worse, a Moavite. Alternatively, he was wary of bringing a younger wife into his home as a rival to his current wife, a move that would cause marital strife.

This was the tradition in Israel, in the ancient past, concerning redemption of fields and concerning exchange of goods, in order to validate any matter: A man removed his shoe, and he gave it to another; that action of removing one’s shoe was the testament in Israel. It was a symbolic expression of the completion of a transaction.

The redeemer said to Boaz: Acquire it for yourself; I waive my right to the purchase; and he removed his shoe, to indicate that he was prepared to validate the arrangement.

Boaz said to the elders and to all the people: You are witnesses this day that I have acquired everything that was Elimelekh’s and everything that was Kilyon’s and Mahlon’s from the hand of Naomi.

And Ruth the Moavite, wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, similar to the levirate marriage discussed in the Torah.Here too my intention is to perpetuate the name of the dead upon his inheritance, both by buying his field as well as through the descendants of his widow, and thus the name of the dead will not be eliminated from among his brethren and from the gate of his place. Any children from the match will be named after the deceased, and in this manner his existence will be continued in this world in a certain sense. You are witnesses today. Boaz thereby invited the elders and the people to validate the proceedings.

All the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said: We are witnesses, and we all affirm your statement. Since Boaz intended to marry Ruth, they also blessed him: May the Lord grant that the woman who is coming into your house be like Rachel and like Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. Prosper in Efrat, and proclaim a name in Bethlehem. Some explain that the last phrase means that you should merit offspring from this marriage in Bethlehem, which was near Efrata, or the very same place (see 1:2).

May your house be like the house of Peretz, your ancestor,whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the descendants that the Lord will give you from this young woman.

Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he consorted with her, and the Lord granted her pregnancy, and she bore a son.

Following the birth of a son to Ruth, the women said to Naomi: Blessed be the Lord, who did not leave you today without a redeemer. He is considered the heir of your deceased son, as he preserves his memory and existence in this world, like the child born from a levirate marriage. In this manner, he redeems you, as though you had given birth to an additional son. And let his name be called in Israel. Now your family lineage will be continued.

Furthermore, may he be for you a restorer of life merely by virtue of his existence, and one to sustain your old age. When he grows up and you grow old, you can rely upon him to care for you. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better for you than seven sons, bore him.

Naomi took the child, and she placed him in her bosom, despite the lack of any direct blood relationship between her and the boy, and was a nurse for him. She felt an unusual affinity to this boy for two reasons: First, he carried her deceased son’s legacy, and in a certain sense, his very existence. Second, he was the son of Ruth, who was like a daughter to her, and perhaps even closer than that, as Naomi considered Ruth her successor.

In fact, Naomi was treated as the mother of the child by those in her immediate surroundings. The women neighbors called him a name, saying: A son is born to Naomi. They called his name Oved; he is the father of Yishai, who was the father of David.

These are the generations of the family of Peretz: Peretz begot Hetzron;

and Hetzron begot Ram, and Ram begot Aminadav;

and Aminadav begot Nahshon, the prince of the tribe of Judah at the time of the exodus from Egypt, and Nahshon begot Salmon;

and Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Oved;

and Oved begot Yishai, and Yishai begot David.