At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
Parallel translations
- WEB At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left some of it.
- KJV And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
- NKJV Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back.
- NASB And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.
- NLT At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At mealtime Boaz invites Ruth to eat with the reapers and gives her more than enough. His generosity includes her at the table and provides abundantly.
Overview
Boaz welcomes the foreign widow to share the workers' meal, an act of inclusion and honor. She eats until satisfied and even has leftovers, a sign of his lavish provision. This table fellowship, extended to an outsider, anticipates the gospel feast to which Christ welcomes the once-excluded.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ruth 2:18She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.
- Deut 8:10When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
- Matt 14:20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
- Luke 14:12–14Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid.
- 2 Kgs 4:43–44But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
- Isa 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
- 1 Sam 17:17One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
- Isa 58:10–11and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
- Isa 32:8But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.
- 1 Sam 25:18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys
- Deut 11:15And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
- Job 31:16–22If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
- Prov 11:24–25One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- 2 Sam 17:28They brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,
- Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
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Christ at the center
Boaz the kinsman-redeemer who buys back the destitute and takes a bride foreshadows Christ, our Redeemer who pays the price to make a people his own; and from Ruth's line comes David, and David's greater Son.
How Ruth 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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