So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.
Parallel translations
- WEB She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
- KJV And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
- BSB So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
- NKJV Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
- NASB So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
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
Ruth 'happens' to glean in a field belonging to Boaz. What looks like chance is God's hidden providence.
Overview
The narrator's understated 'she happened to come' is rich with irony: from the human side it is coincidence, but the reader knows Boaz is the very kinsman who can redeem her. This is one of Scripture's clearest pictures of God's unseen governance over ordinary events. The same providence that guided Ruth to that field steers all history toward redemption in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Th 3:12Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
- Luke 10:31By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
- Matt 10:29“Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father’s will,
- 1 Th 4:11–12and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you;
- 2 Kgs 8:5As he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, begged the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
- Esth 6:1–2On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.
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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 2:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.