Salutations
Ruth 2:4—And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.
PROF. J. L. PORTER, M. A.—The plain was all astir with bands of reapers, men and women; and close behind them the gleaners, mostly young girls, reminding one of the faithful Ruth. The great proprietors were there too, moving about, like Boaz, from field to field among their laborers, clad in their scarlet cloaks. As we passed each group Selim saluted them with an Ulla makum—" The Lord be with you;" and they returned the invariable response, The Lord bless thee." Not only are the manners and customs unchanged in this land, but the very words of salutation are what they were three thousand years ago.—Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 197.
The Overseer
Ruth 2:5.—Then said Boaz unto his servant, that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
DR. JOHN KITTO, F. S. A.—This officer, "the servant," was well known in the ancient harvest. In the Egyptian sculptures he is often seen, as he is described by Homer, “leaning upon his staff, and enjoying mute the order of the field."—Pict. Bib. In loco.
The Threshing-Floor
Ruth 3:2, 7. —And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wart? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn.
DR. ROBINSON. —The fine grassy slope on which we were encamped (in the neighborhood of Hebron), besides the cemetery on the north, was occupied on the south by threshing-floors, where the various processes of threshing, or rather treading out the grain, were continually going on. The wheat harvest, here in the mountains, had not yet arrived; but they were threshing barley, 'Adas or lentils, and also vetches, called by the Arabs Kersenna, which are raised chiefly for camels. The various parcels had apparently lain here for several days; the people would come with their cattle and work for three or four hours, and then go away. Some had three animals, some four, and once I saw two young cattle and a donkey driven round together. In several of the floors they were now winnowing the grain, by tossing it up against the wind. Here we needed no guard around our tent. The owners of the crops came every night and slept upon their threshing-floors; and this we found to be universal in all the regions of Gaza. We were in the midst of scenes precisely like those of the Book of Ruth, where Boaz winnowed barley in his threshing-floor, and laid himself down at night to guard the heap of corn.—Journal, May 24.
Ruth 3:7.—And she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
DR. JOHN KITTO, F. S. A.—Servants in the East often sleep in this manner, as to position. They frequently sleep in the same apartment or tent with their master; and when they do so, invariably lie at his feet, in the position described; and if on a journey, or otherwise, when the weather is cold, the servant has not sufficient covering of his own, usage allows him to avail himself of the covering at the foot of his master's bed. The writer has himself known servants take this liberty, during a journey, as a matter of course.—Pictorial Bible, In loco.