Teks -- Ruth 2:4 (NET)

Boaz and Ruth Meet

2:4 Now at that very moment, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, “May the Lord bless you!”

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Rut 2:4 - Said, &c

They expressed their piety, even in their civil conversation, and worldly transactions; which now so many are ashamed of.

JFB: Rut 2:4 - Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you

This pious salutation between the master and his laborers strongly indicates the state of religious feeling among the rural population of Israel at that time, as well as the artless, happy, and unsuspecting simplicity which characterized the manners of the people. The same patriarchal style of speaking is still preserved in the East.

Clarke: Rut 2:4 - Boaz came from Beth-lehem

Boaz came from Beth-lehem - This salutation between Boaz and his reapers is worthy of particular regard; he said, יהוה עמחם Yehovah immachem , "Jehovah be with you!"They said, יברכך יהוה yebarechecha Yehovah , "May Jehovah bless thee!"Can a pious mind read these godly salutations without wishing for a return of those simple primitive times? The words may be thus paraphrased: "May God be with you, to preserve you from accidents, and strengthen you to accomplish your work!""May God bless Thee with the increase of the field, and grace to use his bounty to the glory of the Giver!"

TSK: Rut 2:4 - The Lord // And they

The Lord : Psa 118:26, Psa 129:7, Psa 129:8; Luk 1:28; 2Th 3:16; 2Ti 4:22; 2Jo 1:10, 2Jo 1:11

And they : Rth 4:11; Gen 18:19; Jos 24:15; Psa 133:1-3; 1Ti 6:2

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Rut 2:4

They expressed and professed their piety, even in their civil conversation and worldly transactions; which now so many are ashamed of, and call it hypocrisy or vain ostentation thus to do.

Haydock: Rut 2:4 - With you

With you. This blessing the Church still adopts in her service. (Worthington) ---

It was customary to bless one another during harvest, Psalm cxxviii. 5, 8. (Calmet) ---

Booz did, as Cato advises, Ne opera parcas visere; "See what is going forward." The master's eye makes the servants diligent. (Haydock).

Gill: Rut 2:4 - And, behold, Boaz came to Bethlehem // and said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you // and they answered him, the Lord bless you

And, behold, Boaz came to Bethlehem,.... Into the field, to see how his workmen went on, and performed their service, and to encourage them in it by his presence, and by his courteous language and behaviour, and to see what provisions were wanting, that he might take care and give orders for the sending of them, it being now near noon, as it may be supposed; and though he was a man of great wealth, he did not think it below him to go into his field, and look after his servants, which was highly commendable in him, and which showed his diligence and industry, as well as his humility. So a king in Homer ^q is represented as among his reapers, with his sceptre in his hand, and cheerful. Pliny ^r relates it, as a saying of the ancients, that the eye of the master is the most fruitful thing in the field; and Aristotle ^s reports, that a Persian being asked what fattened a horse most, replied, the eye of the master; and an African being asked what was the best dung for land, answered, the steps of his master:

and said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you; to give them health, and strength, and industry in their work; the Targum is,"may the Word of the Lord be your help:"

and they answered him, the Lord bless you; with a good harvest, and good weather to gather it in; and though these salutations were of a civil kind, yet they breathe the true spirit of sincere and undissembled piety, and show the sense that both master and servants had of the providence of God attending the civil affairs of life, without whose help, assistance, and blessing, nothing succeeds well.