the city in the dark at midnight; but, as is shown in Rth 3:14, she did not stay till actual daybreak, but “before one could know another, she rose up, and he said (i.e., as Boaz had said), It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor.” For this would have injured the reputation not only of Ruth, but also of Boaz himself.
Verse 15
Rth 3:15
He then said, “Bring the cloak that thou hast on, and lay hold of it” (to hold it open), and measured for her six measures of barley into it as a present, that she might not to back empty to her mother-in-law (Rth 3:17). מטפּחת, here and Isa 3:22, is a broad upper garment, pallium, possibly only a large shawl. “As the cloaks worn by the ancients were so full, that one part was thrown upon the shoulder, and another gathered up under the arm, Ruth, by holding a certain part, could receive into her bosom the corn which Boaz gave her” (Schröder, De vestit. mul. p. 264). Six (measures of) barley: the measure is not given. According to the Targum and the Rabbins, it was six seahs = two ephahs. This is certainly incorrect; for Ruth would not have been able to carry that quantity of barley home. When Boaz had given her the barley he measured out, and had sent here away, he also went into the city. This is the correct rendering, as given by the Chaldee, to the words העיר ויּבא; though Jerome referred the words to Ruth, but certainly without any reason, as יבא cannot stand for תּבא. This reading is no doubt found in some of the MSS, but it merely owes its origin to a mistaken interpretation of the words.
Verses 16-18
Rth 3:16-18
When Ruth returned home, her mother-in-law asked her, “Who art thou?” i.e., as what person, in what circumstances dost thou come? The real meaning is, What hast thou accomplished? Whereupon she related all that the man had done (cf. Rth 3:10-14), and that he had given her six measures of barley for her mother. The Masorites have supplied אלי after אמר, as at Rth 3:5, but without any necessity. The mother-in-law drew from this the hope that Boaz would now certainly carry out the matter to the desired end. “Sit still,” i.e., remain quietly at home (see Gen 38:11), “till thou hearest how the affair turn out,” namely, whether the nearer redeemer mentioned by Boaz, or Boaz himself, would grant her the Levirate marriage. The expression “fall,” in this sense, is founded upon the idea of the falling of the lot to the ground; it is different in Ezr 7:20. “For the man will not rest unless he has carried the affair to an end this day.” כּי־אם, except that, as in Lev 22:6, etc. (see Ewald, §356, b).
