What does Ruth 2:4 mean?
If this book were a scripted film or television show, this would be the dramatic moment in which the hero enters the scene. Boaz is a well-respected and powerful man in Bethlehem. It's likely that he is a hero of the wars between the Israelites and their enemies. He is descended from the chief of the tribe of Judah during the time of the exodus (Numbers 2:3; Ruth 4:20–21). He is at least middle-aged, if not older (Ruth 3:10), but his nickname means "lively."The land around Bethlehem had been in famine for ten years, but now it is the barley harvest (Ruth 1:1, 4, 6, 22). It was this famine that led Boaz's kinsman Elimelech to take his wife and two sons into Moab to find food. Boaz has heard that Elimelech and his sons have died but his wife, Naomi, has returned. He's also heard that Naomi's Moabite daughter-in-law has come with her, abandoning her family, people, and gods to make sure Naomi is cared for (Ruth 2:11).
What Boaz doesn't know is that Ruth is gleaning in his field.
Before they entered the Promised Land, God told the Israelites that if they obeyed Him, He would bless their crops so much they would have to move the previous year's harvest to make room for the new (Leviticus 26:9–10). If they rebelled and worshiped foreign idols, He would harden the land and banish the rain, sending famine on the people (Leviticus 26:18–20). Apparently, after a time of rebellion, the people have repented and cried out for mercy. God has responded.
"The LORD be with you!" is a kind of prayer that God will fulfill His covenant promise of good harvest. In the book of Ruth, the narrator doesn't mention God much; God is recorded as acting directly only twice: when He brings Bethlehem food and Ruth a son (Ruth 1:6; 4:13). The characters, however, often ask God to bless each other (Ruth 1:8–9; 2:12, 19–20; 3:10).
