Septuagint (LXX): oi opthalmoi sou eis ton agron ou ean therizosin (3PPAS) kai poreuse (2SFMI) katopisthen auton idou eneteilamen (1SAMI) tois paidariois tou me apsasthai sou kai o ti dipseseis (2SFAI) kai poreuthese (2SFPI) eis ta skeue kai piesai (2SFMI) othen an hudreuontai (3PPMS) ta paidaria

"Watch to see which fields they go to and follow them" (ICB)

"Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls" (NIV)

"Take note of the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the female workers." (NET)

"Keep your eyes on the field they are cutting, and go after them" (BBE)

In other words, Ruth had first chance at the best of the gleanings! Boaz encouraged her, not to go to other fields to glean, but to remain with his servant girls and work alongside them. The men wielded the sickles, and the women followed along, tying the sheaves in bundles (v. 9).

INDEED I HAVE COMMANDED THE SERVANTS NOT TO TOUCH YOU: (Genesis 20:6; Job 19:21; Psalms 105:15; Proverbs 6:29; 1 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 5:18)

"I have warned the young men not to bother you." (ICB)

"I have ordered my men not to molest you." (TEV)

"I have forbidden my men to molest you." (NJB)

"have I not given orders to the young men not to put a hand on you?" (BBE)

"Servants" (servants) is the Hebrew noun na'ar used to describe a youth or young man as contrasted with an older man. Vine says that na'ar denoted one "who is of marriageable age but is still a bachelor."

"Touch" (05060)  (naga') is used in (Ex 19:15) where it is translated "do not go near a woman"  (NASB) and more descriptively as "abstain from sexual relations" (NIV). Clearly then, Boaz is alluding to sexual contact (cf use of naga' in Pr 6:29).The servants were charged by their master not to lay a hand upon Ruth. In those days women obviously were in danger of being raped while working in the fields (cf note Ruth 2:22). God, using Boaz as His instrument, was protecting Ruth and God at the same time was protecting the seed of Obed and the integrity of the line of the Messiah from being "defiled", just as He had protected Abraham's wife Sarah from the Philistine King Abimelech (cf Gen 20:6 20:7). Once again the narrator gives us the sense that Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz live in an "oasis of peace" in the midst of the dark "days of the judges".

Ruth had a Biblical sanction to glean but could not necessarily expect protection, which makes Boaz’s offer exceeding abundantly beyond all that she ask or think, especially given her Moabite background. We do know that Boaz’s mother, Rahab, (cf Mt 1:5) was from the despised Canaanites and this would undoubtedly in part explain Boaz’s desire to protect Ruth, not to mention that it clearly has affection for her.

WHEN YOU ARE THIRSTY GO TO THE WATER JARS AND DRINK FROM WHAT THE SERVANTS DRAW:

Israel is a dry land, with some desert regions and hot dry summers. Whoever travels in this land, experiences parching thirst. One of the ways to show hospitality was to give the thirsty visitor a drink.

Boaz also gave Ruth permission to drink from the "water jars" that the young male servants had filled for their use. This was a privilege not ordinarily permitted the gleaners, another manifestation of the undeserved favor (grace) that Boaz choose to bestow on Ruth (click here). What a picture of the amazing grace of God. Ruth had no idea why Boaz had commanded his workers to be so generous to her, but she believed his word and found that her needs were met.

Devotional from  Today in the Word

Rental centers have been popular for a long time. Many people who cannot afford to buy merchandise, or who choose not to buy it, rent items such as furniture, appliances, and electronic equipment. Now, some centers even rent engagement rings just the thing for people who aren’t sure of their commitment. (Today it seems that) "Commitment" is something a person makes until he or she finds something better. Boaz of Bethlehem offers a refreshing contrast to the shallowness of many modern day commitments. In Ruth 2 he also reveals himself to be a person of integrity and generosity, taking a protective stance toward Ruth and making sure she was provided for in the gleaning and at mealtime. It’s also obvious that Boaz had the spiritual sensitivity to realize and appreciate what Ruth had done in leaving her homeland. He praised her, not just for remaining loyal to Naomi, but also for her commitment to the God of Israel (Ruth 2:11-12)... Would we be willing to pursue an issue to a right and fair resolution, even if it meant personal disappointment for us? We don’t always know what the pay-off will be for doing the right thing. But we can be sure that God will honor us when He is free to take delight in our way, as today’s verse promises.

Septuagint (LXX): kai epesen (3SAAI) epi prosopon autes kai prosekunesen (3SAAI) epi ten gen kai eipen (3SAAI) pros auton ti hoti heuron (1SAAI) charin en opthalmois sou tou epignonai (AAN) me kai ego eimi (1SPAI) xene 

Ruth in great humility and with a deep sense of the gratitude threw herself on the ground and bowed before Boaz, asking with surprise why she, a foreigner, had found such favor in his eyes. What did the master of the field see in her?

Years later Scripture gives an almost identical description of another godly woman recording that

"When Abigail (source of joy) saw David (Ruth's great grandson), she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David, and bowed herself to the ground." (1Sa 25:23)

We see a similar exchange recorded again before David when

"Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, "Mephibosheth." And he said, "Here is your servant!" And David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness (hesed -  steadfast love, unfailing love, the kind God shows) to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly." (2Sa 9:6 9:7)

Here we see Boaz's great grandson manifesting a kind and gracious spirit just as Boaz himself had shown to Ruth in the barley fields.

Boaz was a man of God and would have been very familiar with the charge that

"The stranger (alien, sojourner, foreigner) who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:34)

But clearly as the story unfolds Boaz went beyond the letter of the Law to bestow abundant unmerited favor on this stranger and as we see he also gleans grace beyond what he could ever have imagined. Jesus encouraged us to

"Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." (Lu 6:38)

Solomon wrote "He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses." (Pr 28:27)

Finally Paul reiterated the principle that

"whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Gal 6:7)

"Bowing" (07812) (shachah) means to assume a prostrate position as would in paying homage to royalty or to God. For example, when Abraham saw

"three men (one of Whom was most likely the pre-incarnate Christ)...standing opposite him...he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed (shachah) himself to the earth" (Gen 18:2)

n some connotation shachah even conveys the idea of "worship" as we hear Abraham say to his men as he takes Isaac to the mount to sacrifice him -- "Abraham said to his young men,

"Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship (shachah) and return to you." (Gen 22:5).

The verb pictures the bowing down in homage of an inferior before a superior as when David

"David... prostrated (shachah) himself" (1Sa 24:8) before King Saul. 

"Bowing" is translated in the Septuagint with the picturesque Greek verb proskuneo (from pros = toward or facing + kuneo = kiss, adore) which pictures the practice among the Orientals (especially the Persians) of falling upon their knees and touching the ground with their forehead as an expression of profound reverence.

Falling down and "Bowing" gives a clear indication of Ruth's humility and respect for authority. It behooves all of us to emulate Ruth's attitude and action and

"with humility of mind (to) ...regard one another as more important than" ourselves, which was the "attitude... which was also in Christ Jesus...Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant and... humbled Himself." (see notes Philippians 2:3; 2:4; 2:5; 2:6; 2:7; 2:8)

Warren Wiersbe adds that

"Ruth neither looked back at her tragic past nor did she look at herself and consider her sorry plight. She fell at the feet of the master and submitted herself to him. She looked away from her poverty and focused on his riches. She forgot her fears and rested on his promises. What an example for God’s people today to follow! "that many people are miserable because they don’t obey the admonition of Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus.” (see note) They spend so much time looking at themselves, their circumstances, and other people that they fail to do what Ruth did, namely, center their attention on their Master. Instead of resting in His perfections, they focus on their own imperfections. Instead of seeing His spiritual riches, they complain about their bankruptcy. They go to church “to get their needs met,” instead of going to church to worship the God Who is greater than any need. They need to heed the counsel of the little poem a radio listener sent me years ago..." (Wiersbe, W: Be Committed: An Old Testament Study. Ruth and Esther. Victor. 1993)