Lesson 6: Ruth 3:10-18
Notes
Transcript
From last week for context:
Ruth 3:7–9 (NASB)
7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.”
Ruth 3:10–18 (NASB)
10 Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. 12 “Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 “Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.” 14 So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. 17 She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” 18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”
A Woman of Excellence: (v. 10-14)
10 Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. 13 “Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.” 14 So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
Ruth’s “kindness” : (v. 10)
10 Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.
- Ruth’s frist kindess to Boaz was caring for Naomi, one of his close relatives.
- Ruth’s second kindness was her proposal to Boaz.
- For Ruth, it wasn’t about looks or age or the physical aspect of things.
- She didn’t care about the money, she could have had a rich young guy if she wanted.
- Ruth cared about character. And Boaz knew that because he knew what kind of woman she was and what Ruth did, by requesting Boaz redeem her, was give Boaz an amazing compliment. She could have had her pick of men in Bethlehem but she chose Boaz.
It again just speaks to her excellent character.
Speaking of her character, Boaz wanted to protect Ruth and make sure no one would have a reason to question her character. He did three things to ensure that…
1. Had here stay where it was safe and it kept her from being seen by others who might have questions.
(v. 13-14a) 13 “Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.” 14 So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another…
He also had her stay at his feet and not snuggle up to him.
2. He gave instructions to his servants to keep quiet.
(v. 14b) …and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
3. He gave her some grain to carry with her so that any questions could be easily answered.
(v. 15) 15 Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.
There was also likely another reason he gave her the grain, but we will look at that a bit later.
There is one very interesting thing regarding the Hebrew in verse 11.
11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
The Hebrew words “Issa (E-Shah) Hayil ( ” are only used together in 3 places in the Bible, and in one other place that are used closely together.
Issa means “woman/wife” and Hayil means “excellence of character”
One use is here in Ruth: (v. 11)
11 … all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
The second, third are both found in what other book?
Proverbs 12:4 (NASB)
4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband…
Proverbs 31:10, 23, 29-31 (NASB)
10 An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels…
23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land…
29 “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. 31 Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.
Ruth was the Great Great Grandmother of King Solomon and most likely the example he was thinking of when he wrote about the Issa Hayil in Proverbs 12 and 31. When you consider the original ordering of the Hebrew Bible, it becomes even more clear. The Talmud had the book of Ruth right after Proverbs, meaning that right after you read about the Issa Hayil, you then read the specific only example of one in the OT. Second, archeological evidence affirms this. For example, Ruth is situated AFTER Proverbs in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Six Measures of Barley: (v. 15-18)
15 Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. 17 She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” 18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”
How did it go?
(v. 16) “When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her.”
The Hebrew reads differently.
Ruth 3:16 (New English Translation of the Septuagint)
16 And Routh came in to her mother-in-law, and she said, “Who are you, daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her,
So the Hebrew actually reads, “who are you?” not “how did it go?”
Ruth 3:16 (KJV)
16 And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.
Ruth 3:16 (YLT)
16 And she cometh in unto her mother-in-law, and she saith, ‘Who art thou, my daughter?’ and she declareth to her all that the man hath done to her.
How does that make sense? Wouldn’t Naomi known who is was? Why do you think Naomi asked the question this way?
Yes, she knew it was Ruth. What she was asking is this, “Are you still Ruth, the Moabites, my daughter, or are you now betrothed to Boaz and no longer my daughter but rather Mrs. Boaz to be?”
The translators interpreted that for us and just ask, “so, how’d it go with Boaz” because that was the intent behind Naomi’s question.
How much Barley was this? (v. 15)
15 Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city…
There is some debate about how much barley this 6 measures is.
Some think it was 6 ephahs which would have been about 300 lbs. That amount of barley would have been equivalent to about 30 shekels of silver.
Leviticus 27:16 (NASB)
16 …a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.
A homer is the largest measurement and was equivalent to 10 ephahs.
Ezekiel 45:11 (NASB)
11 …the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer.
So clearly the measurement couldn’t have been a single homer weighs 500 lbs. 6 homers would have been 1.5 tons of grain.
According to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which is one of the oldest known written codes of law outside the Law of Moses, a year’s wages in Ruth’s day for a field worker was 10 shekels of silver. (This is the accepted value for this OT time period. There are not specifics about a day’s wages or a year’s wages in the OT).
The problem with using an ephah as the measurement is that 300 lbs. is a lot for a woman to carry, and wouldn’t have fit in a makeshift sack from her coat.
Some think the measurement was 6 seahs. A seah is about 1/3 an ephah. That would have made this about 100 lbs. of barley. The value of that much barley would have been about 10 shekels of silver. 6 seah’s of barley would have been a years worth of wages. A significant amount, especially in a land that had just been through years of famine.
Others believe that the measurement that makes the most sense is an omer. Not two be confused with homer. Remember, the homer is the largest measurement and was equivalent to 10 ephahs. In contrast, an omer was the smallest measurement and was just 1/10th of an ephah.
Exodus 16:36 (NASB)
36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
An omer would have only been about 30 lbs. of barley. It would have easily fit into her coat, and would have been worth about 3 shekels of silver or 4 months wages.
Conclusion: The measurement couldn’t have been an homer or an ephah, that was way too heavy for Ruth to carry. So Boaz sent her home with somewhere between 30-100 lbs. of barley that would have been worth somewhere between 3-10 shekels of silver which would have been somewhere between 4 months to a year’s worth of wages. For context, when Ruth gleaned in chapter 2, she came home with nearly an ephah of barley.
Ruth 2:17 (NASB)
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
Why do you think Boaz give her the 6 measures of barley?
17 She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”
It was a dowry price. The barely was a gift to Naomi after Ruth asked to be redeemed and Boaz was making his intentions clear. That’s why Naomi could respond the way she did in (v. 18).
18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”
And we can know that Naomi is right based on what Boaz told Ruth: (v. 11)
11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
One last side note:
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Ruth 3:14–18)
And the Chaldee says, Strength was given her from the Lord to carry it; and adds that now it was told her by the spirit of prophecy that from her should descend six of the most righteous men of their age, namely, David, Daniel, his three companions, and the king Messiah.
[The Chaldee is a Targum. It is called “the Chaldee” because that was the language it was in. The word Targum is a Hebrew word that just means, “interpretation’’ Targums were translations with interpretation from Rabbis that come from the time of Ezra. They are not inspired Scripture, but they are fairly dependable context and history. You could look at the Chaldee more like a 2,400 year old Jewish Study Bible. The Puritans were especially interested in the Chaldee.]
Lastly, we see a lesson in Trust and Obey.
18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”
Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
10 “Be still, and know that I am God...
Literally means, “cease striving”.