Chapter 3:15
"Provision"
J. Deering, AncientPath.net

MASTER STUDY
Introduction, Visualized Text with Commentary and Q&A, Charts

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS:

Boaz is a man of character who keeps giving and giving. This time it is probably a gift of grain for Naomi. He does this as a "thank-you" and also as an indication that Ruth has gone to see Boaz and he wants Naomi to get the message that he is going to "provide" the right answer for Ruth's problem one way or another.

Ruth now returns home. The translator says she went "into" the city. The Hebrew word means to go, into, forth, in, to pass, call, carry, and both the KJV and the NASB translators have chosen "into." As I read this translation it calls to mind a young lady, moving quickly in the early dark morning, going deep into the city as if to get lost or at least out of sight.
 

THE VISUALIZED TEXT (NASB)  (conjunctions & prepositions (and other important words) underlined, words not in original text in italics)  (alternate text in purple)

(3:15)

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.

Brief Commentary on Ruth 3:15

Boaz speaks "again." He tells her to "hold it." She's wearing the cloak and she stretches forth a portion of it and forms it into a bag where Boaz loads several handfuls of clean winnowed grain. It could be that this bundle of barley could be a gift to Naomi, one that tells her that the law has been kept during this night.

Deuteronomy 8:6-8
"Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley…."

Then without hesitation, or last goodbyes, she leaves and goes into the city. Deep into the city where she is no longer a woman returning from a mission, but just another dark figure on an early morning, in the semi dark away from prying eyes and suspicious minds.

Questions and Answers about Ruth 3:15

1. What is "Again"?
   (He is not saying something a second time – He is for the second time "saying")

2. Who said?
   (Boaz)

3. Paraphrase the verse.
   (He said, "give me your coat and hold it out." She did that and he put barley grain into it and left for Bethlehem.")

4. Why did he do that?
   (So that Naomi would know that Ruth had actually gone to Boaz and that Ruth was still in his favor. The grain was probably a gift to Naomi for sending Ruth to him and an assurance that "more" was to follow.)

5. How much grain did he give her?
   (It is doubtful that Boaz measured out six ephahs of grain. At minimum that would be around 125 Lbs of grain which would be a little too much for a young lady to carry alone back to the city of Bethlehem. The more likely idea would be six (ish) double handfuls of grain. Six measures (the measure unknown) rather than six full "Grain Field" measuring containers.)

6. Where did she go then?
   (Back to Bethlehem, back to Naomi, back home)

7. Why did she do that?
   (She does not yet belong to Boaz, but possibly another.)

 Horizontal Chart for Ruth 3:15

Ruth 3:15

The Provision

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."

Verse Percentage Chart for Ruth 3:15

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2012-11-20