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Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Ruth 2:5

And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is this?"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ruth;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Reaping;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Farming;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Contribution;   Hospitality;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Economic Life;   Reap;   Ruth;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Gleaning;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Damsel;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Harvest;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Gleaning;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for July 24;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
Hebrew Names Version
Then said Bo`az to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose young lady is this?
King James Version
Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Lexham English Bible
And Boaz said to his servant in charge of the reapers, "To whom does this young woman belong?"
English Standard Version
Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
New Century Version
Then Boaz asked his servant in charge of the workers, "Whose girl is that?"
New English Translation
Boaz asked his servant in charge of the harvesters, "To whom does this young woman belong?"
Amplified Bible
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
New American Standard Bible
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then saide Boaz vnto his seruant that was appointed ouer the reapers, Whose maide is this?
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
Contemporary English Version
Then Boaz asked the man in charge of the harvest workers, "Who is that young woman?"
Complete Jewish Bible
Then Bo‘az asked his servant supervising the reapers, "Whose girl is this?"
Darby Translation
And Boaz said to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose maiden is this?
Easy-to-Read Version
Then Boaz spoke to his servant who was in charge of the workers. He asked, "Whose girl is that?"
George Lamsa Translation
Then Boaz said to the young man who was in charge of the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Good News Translation
Boaz asked the man in charge, "Who is that young woman?"
Literal Translation
And Boaz said to his young man who had been set over the reapers, Whose is this young woman?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Boos sayde vnto his yongman which had the ouersight of ye reapers. Whose damsell is this?
American Standard Version
Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Bible in Basic English
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is this?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde Booz vnto his young man that stode by the reapers? Whose damosel is this?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers: 'Whose damsel is this?'
King James Version (1611)
Then said Boaz vnto his seruant, that was set ouer the reapers, Whose damosell is this?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose is this damsel?
English Revised Version
Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? r
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Booz seide to the yong man that was souereyn to the reperis, Who is this damysel?
Young's Literal Translation
And Boaz saith to his young man who is set over the reapers, `Whose [is] this young person?'
Update Bible Version
Then Boaz said to his attendant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Boaz to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel [is] this?
World English Bible
Then said Boaz to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose young lady is this?
New King James Version
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
New Living Translation
Then Boaz asked his foreman, "Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?"
New Life Bible
Then Boaz said to his servant who was watching over those who gathered grain, "Whose young woman is this?"
New Revised Standard
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "To whom does this young woman belong?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Boaz to his young man, that was set over the reapers, - Whose is this maiden?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers: Whose maid is this?
Revised Standard Version
Then Bo'az said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose maiden is this?"
THE MESSAGE
Boaz asked his young servant who was foreman over the farm hands, "Who is this young woman? Where did she come from?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"

Contextual Overview

4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, "The LORD be with you." "The LORD bless you," they replied. 5And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is this?"6The foreman answered, "She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7She has said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter." 8Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls. 9Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled." 10At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?" 11Boaz replied, "I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before. 12May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge." 13"My lord," she said, "may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, 1 Chronicles 2:12

Reciprocal: Ruth 4:13 - the Lord

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:11
The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Genesis 2:12
And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.
Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Genesis 4:2
Later she gave birth to Cain's brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
Genesis 4:12
When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Job 5:10
He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
Psalms 104:14
He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.
Jeremiah 14:22
Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers,.... To direct them their work, what part each was to do, and to see that they did it well; to take care for provisions for them, and to pay them their wages when their work was done. Josephus t calls him

αγροκομος, that had the care of the field, and all things relative to it; the Jews u say, he was set over two and forty persons, whom he had the command of:

whose damsel is this? to whom does she belong? of what family is she? whose daughter is she? or whose wife? for he thought, as Aben Ezra notes, that she was another man's wife; the Targum is, of what nation is she? perhaps her dress might be somewhat different from that of the Israelitish women.

t Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 2. u Midrash Ruth, fol. 32. 1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ruth 2:5. His servant that was set over the reapers — This was a kind of steward or hind who had the under management of the estate. Some think that an officer of this kind is intended in the description given by Homer of the labours of a harvest field, as represented by Vulcan on one compartment of the shield which he made for Achilles: -

Εν δ' ετιθει τεμενος βαθυληΐον· ενθα δ εριθοι

Ἡμων, οξειας δρεπανας εν χερσιν εχοντες·

Δραγματα δ' αλλα μετ' ογμον επμον επητριμα πιπτον εραζε,

Αλλα δ' αμαλλοδετηρες εν ελλεδανοισι δεοντο.

Τρεις δ' αρ' αμαλλοδετηρες εφεστασαν· αυταρ οπισθε

Παιδες δραγμευοντες, εν αγκαλιδεσσι φεροντες,

Ασπερχες παρεχον· βασιλευς δ' εν τοισι σιωπῃ

Σκηπτρον εχων ἑστηκει επ' ογμου γηθοσυνος κηρ.

Κηρυκες δ' απανευθεν ὑπο δρυΐ δαιτα πενοντο·

Βουν δ' ἱερευσαντες μεγαν, αμφεπον· αἱ δε γυναικες

Δειπνον εριθοισιν, λευκ' αλφιτα πολλα παλυνον.

Iliad xviii., v. 550.

There too he form'd the likeness of a field

Crowded with corn, in which the reapers toil'd,

Each with a sharp-tooth'd sickle in his hand.

Along the furrow here, the harvest fell

In frequent handfuls; there, they bound the sheaves.

Three binders of the sheaves their sultry task

All plied industrious, and behind them boys

Attended, filling with the corn their arms,

And offering still their bundles to be bound.

Amid them, staff in hand, the master stood,

Enjoying, mute the order of the field:

While, shaded by an oak, apart his train

Prepared the banquet - a well thriven ox

New slain, and the attendant maidens mix'd

Large supper for the hinds, of whitest flour.

COWPER.


This scene is well described; and the person who acts as overseer is here called βασιλευς, king, and his staff is called σκηπτρον, a sceptre; and he stands in mute dignity, merely to see that the work is well done, and that each person performs his task; and there appear to me to be gleaners in the description, viz., the boys who gather the handfuls after the three binders. See the Greek.


 
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