Study Desk

When her husband got up, opened the doors of the house, and went out to go on his way, he saw the woman lying there with her hands stretched out toward the door.

He said to her, "Get up! Let's go!" But there was no answer. So he loaded her body on the donkey and began his trip home.

On arrival at his house, he got a knife, took hold of his concubine's body, cut her up into twelve pieces, and sent them to all the regions of Isra'el.

All the people stood up in agreement and said, "None of us will go home to his tent or his house.

The men of Isra'el had sworn in Mitzpah that none of them would let his daughter marry a man from Binyamin.

The people of Isra'el then left that place, each man returned to his tribe and family, and each man went out from there to the land he had inherited.

Back in the days when the judges were judging, at a time when there was a famine in the land, a certain man from Beit-Lechem went to live in the territory of Mo'av — he, his wife and his two sons.

The man's name was Elimelekh, his wife's name was Na‘omi, and his two sons were named Machlon and Kilyon; they were Efratim from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah. They arrived in the plain of Mo'av and settled there.

So she prepared to return with her daughters-in-law from the plain of Mo'av; for in the plain of Mo'av she had heard how Adonai had paid attention to his people by giving them food.

Then Bo‘az asked his servant supervising the reapers, "Whose girl is this?"

When she got up to glean, Bo‘az ordered his young men, "Let her glean even among the sheaves themselves, without making her feel ashamed.

Na‘omi said to Rut her daughter-in-law, "It's good, my daughter, for you to keep going out with his girls; so that you won't encounter hostility in some other field."

Now there's Bo‘az our relative — you were with his girls. He's going to be winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor.

Then, when he lies down, take note of where he's lying; later, go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what to do."

After Bo‘az was through eating and drinking and was feeling good, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of grain. She stole in, uncovered his feet and lay down.

In the middle of the night the man was startled and turned over, and — there was a woman lying at his feet!

She lay at his feet until morning; then, before [it was light enough that] people could recognize each other, she got up; because he said, "No one should know that the woman came to the threshing-floor."

Then Bo‘az said, "The same day you buy the field from Na‘omi, you must also buy Rut the woman from Mo'av, the wife of the deceased [son], in order to raise up in the name of the deceased an heir for his property."

In the past, this is what was done in Isra'el to validate all transactions involving redemption and exchange: a man took off his shoe and gave it to the other party; this was the form of attestation in Isra'el.

So the redeemer said to Bo‘az, "Buy it for yourself," and took off his shoe.