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ויהי בימי שפוט השופטים. לפני מלוך מלך שאול שהיו הדורות מתפרנסים על ידי שופטים ובימי אבצן היה שאמרו רבותינו אבצן זה בועז:

And it happened in the days when judges judged. [During the period] before King Shaul reigned, when the generations were administered by judges;¹There was no individual judge who could exercise control over all of Yisroel, rather there were many judges. (Malbim) Alternatively, this was a period when God judged the judges. (Gra) and this occurred in the days of Ivtzan, as our sages said, “Ivtzan is Bo’az.”²Maseches Bava Basra 91a; and Bo’az is a central figure in Megillas Rus.

וילך איש. עשיר גדול היה ופרנס הדור ויצא מארץ ישראל לחוצה לארץ מפני צרות העין שהיתה עינו צרה בעניי' הבאים לדוחקו לכך נענש:

And a man went. He was very wealthy,³איש denotes an important person, as Targum renders, גברא רבא, “a great man.” and the leader of the generation. He left Eretz Yisroel for regions out of the land because of stinginess, for he was miserly toward the poor who came to press him;⁴He was the only man to leave Eretz Yisroel because of the famine. Because of his stature and greatness he was severely punished for leaving Eretz Yisroel and remaining in Mo’av. (Malbim) therefore he was punished.⁵He was afraid that the poor would unite and confiscate all of his possessions. (Malbim)

אפרתים. חשובים וכן (שמואל א א) בן תוחו בן צוף אפרתי אבגי"נוס, ראה חשיבותו שהרי השיא עגלון מלך מואב את בתו למחלון דאמר מר רות בתו של עגלון היתה, ד"א אפרתים בית לחם קרויה אפרת:

Ephrathites. Important people, and similarly, “the son of Tochu, the son of Tzuph, an Ephrathite,”⁶I Shmuel 1:1. [meaning] an aristocrat. Look how important they were, for Eglon the King of Mo’av married off his daughter to Machlon, as the Master said, “Rus was the daughter of Eglon.”⁷Maseches Sanhedrin 105b. Another explanation of “Ephratites,” [they were from Beis Lechem,] because Beis Lechem is called Ephros.⁸See Bereishis 48:7, “and I buried her [Rachel] on the way to Ephros which is Beis Lechem.”

איש נעמי. למה נאמר מכאן אמרו אין איש מת אלא לאשתו (ואמר איש נעמי כלומר לפי שהוא היה איש נעמי ושולט עליה והיא טפלה לו לכן פגעה בו מדת הדין ולא בה):

Naomi’s husband. Why is this stated again? From here they derived, “A man does not die except for his wife [i.e., she feels the loss more than anyone].⁹Maseches Sanhedrin 22b. ([Another interpretation:] And it states, “Naomi’s husband,” i.e., that because he was Naomi’s husband and ruled over her¹⁰See Rashi in Bereishis 9:20. and she was subordinate to him, therefore the Divine Attribute of Justice struck him and not her.)¹¹Because once he decided to leave, his wife and two sons were compelled to follow.

גם שניהם. מהו גם בתחלה לקו בממונם ומתו גמליהם ומקניהם אח"כ מתו גם הם:

Both. What is the meaning of “also” גַם? First they were struck by financial loss and their camels and their cattle died; afterwards they “also” died.¹²When God punishes man He first deprives him of his property, and if he does not repent, God smites him in person. Alternatively, “also” indicates that their death was punishment “also” for having remained outside of Eretz Yisroel.

ותצא מן המקום. למה נאמר הרי כבר נאמר ותשב משדה מואב ומהיכן תשוב אם לא תצא מן המקום שהיתה שם אלא מגיד שיציאת צדיק מן המקום ניכרת ועושה רושם פנה זיוה פנה הדרה פנה שבחה של עיר וכן (בראשית כה) ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע:

She left the place. Why is this stated? It is already stated, “and she returned from the fields of Mo’av,”¹³Above, verse 6. and from where could she return if not from the place where she had been? Rather the phrase tells us that the departure of a righteous person from a place is noticeable and makes an impression; its splendor departs, its glory departs, the praise of the city departs. And similarly, “And Yaakov left Be’er Sheva.”¹⁴Bereishis 28:10.

כי זקנתי מהיות לאיש. שאנשא לו ואוליד בנים ותנשאו להם שאינם אסורים לכם ואינכם אסורים להם משום אשת אחיו שלא היה בעולמו שאינה זקוקה ליבם לפי שלא היו למחלון וכליון קדושין בהן שנכריות היו ולא נתגיירו ועכשיו הן באות להתגייר כמו שנאמר כי אתך נשוב לעמך מעתה נהיה לעם אחד:

For I am too old to have a husband. That I should marry him and bear sons, that you would marry them, for they would not be forbidden to you [to marry] and you would not be forbidden to them as far as [the prohibition against marrying] the wife of an older brother who died before he was born, for she [the widow] does require a levirate marriage because Machlon and Chilyon were not [halachically] married to them because they were gentiles and had not converted,¹⁵Had they converted before, their marriage would be binding and Rus would be prohibited from marrying Machlon’s yet unborn brother. The law of levirate marriage does not apply to a person born after his brother’s death. Marrying one’s brother’s wife constitutes incest when levirate marriage does not apply. However, since there was no binding marriage, Rus would be permitted to marry Machlon’s yet unborn brother. and now they were coming to convert as it is stated, “We will return with you to your people.”¹⁶Above, verse 10. From now on we will become one people.

כי אמרתי יש לו תקוה. כי אפילו אמר לי לבי יש לי תקוה לינשא עוד וללדת בנים:

Even if I could say, “I have yet hope.” For even if my heart told me that I have hope to marry again and to bear sons.

וגם הייתי הלילה לאיש. ויותר מכן אפילו הריתי הלילה זכרים:

Even if I were to have a husband tonight. And more than this, even if I were to conceive male offspring tonight.

וגם ילדתי בנים. או אפילו כבר ילדתי בנים:

And even if I were to bear sons. Or even if I had already borne sons.

הלהן תשברנה. בתמיה שמא להם תצפנה עד אשר יגדלו לשון (תהלים קמו) שברו על ה' אלהיו:

Would you wait for them. This is a question posed in wonder, “Would you perhaps wait for them until they grew up?”¹⁷The feminine form of them [להן] is used, because Naomi was hinting that perhaps she would bear daughters instead of sons, so why wait for “them”? This תְּשַׂבֵּרְנָה is an expression similar to, “whose hope שִׂבְרוֹ is in Adonoy his God.”¹⁸Tehillim 146:5. Also, see Megillas Esther 9:1.

תעגנה. לשון אסור כלא כמו עג עוגה ועמד בתוכה ויש פותרין לשון עיגון ולא יתכן שאם כן היה לו לינקד הנו"ן דגש או לכתוב שני נוני"ן:

Would you shut yourselves in. An expression of עוֹג, being bound and imprisoned, as in, “He made a [confining] circle and stood within it.”¹⁹Maseches Ta’anis 19a. Others interpret it as an expression of עִגּוּן, anchoring [i.e., being unable to marry], but that cannot be, for if so the nun should have been punctuated with a dagesh or it should have been spelled with two nuns.²⁰See Maseches Bava Basra 73a and Rashi’s commentary there.

כי יצאה בי יד ה'. אמר רבי לוי כל מקום שנאמר יד ה' מכת דבר היא ובנין אב לכולם (שמות ט) הנה יד ה' הויה:

For against me is directed the hand of Adonoy. Rabbi Leivi said, “Wherever it mentions “the hand of Adonoy,” it refers to a plague of pestilence, and the classic example is, “Behold the hand of Adonoy is directed [at your livestock ... a very heavy pestilence].”²¹Shemos 9:3.

הנה שבה יבמתך. זה טעמו למעלה תחת השי"ן לפי שהוא לשון עבר (אסתר ב) ובבקר היא שבה טעמו למטה בבי"ת לפי שהוא לשון הווה וכן כל כיוצא בהם:

See, your sister-in-law has gone back. In this [word], the accent is at the beginning [on the first syllable] under the shin, because it is in the past tense. [But,] “and in the morning she would return,”²²Megillas Esther 2:14. the accent is at the end [on the last syllable], on the bais, because it is in the present tense, and so it is in all similar cases.²³See Rashi in Bereishis 29:6.

אל תפגע בי. אל תפצרי בי:

Do not urge me. Do not press me.

כי אל אשר תלכי אלך. מכאן אמרו רבותינו ז"ל גר שבא להתגייר מודיעים לו מקצת עונשים שאם בא לחזור בו יחזור שמתוך דברים של רות אתה למד שאמרה לה נעמי אסור לנו לצאת חוץ לתחום בשבת א"ל באשר תלכי אלך, אסור לנו להתייחד נקבה עם זכר שאינה אישה אמרה לה באשר תליני אלין, עמנו מובדלים משאר עמים בשש מאות ושלש עשרה מצות עמך עמי, אסור לנו ע"א אלהיך אלהי, ארבע מיתות נמסרו לבית דין באשר תמותי אמות, שני קברים נמסרו לבית דין אחד לנסקלין ונשרפין ואחד לנהרגין ונחנקין אמרה לה ושם אקבר:

For wherever you go, I shall go. From here our Rabbis of blessed memory derived²⁴In Maseches Yevamos 47b. that if a [prospective] proselyte comes to convert, we inform him of some of the punishments [for violating the commandments] so that is he decides to renege [from his intention to convert], he can renege; for out of the words of Rus, you can learn what Naomi said to her. [Naomi said.] “We may not venture outside the boundary [of 2000 cubits beyond city limits] on Shabbos.” She [Rus] replied to her, “For wherever you go I shall go.”²⁵Alternatively, just as you are going to Eretz Yisroel for the sake of your religion, so it is my purpose to go there in order to be able to keep the Torah’s commandments. (Malbim) [Naomi then said,] “We are prohibited to allow a woman to be secluded with a man who is not her husband.” She [Rus] replied, “Where you lodge, I will lodge.” [Naomi said,] “Our nation is separated from other nations by 613 commandments,” [and Rus replied,] “Your people are my people.” [Naomi said,] “Idolatry is forbidden to us,”²⁶Although idolatry is forbidden to Noahites, they are forbidden to worship idols only if they do so exclusively, but not if they worship God in conjunction with their idolatry. (Torah Temimah) [to which Rus replied,] “Your God is my God.” [Naomi then said,] “Four [types of] death penalties were delegated to Beis Din [to punish transgressors],” [and Rus replied,] “Where you die, I will die.” [Naomi continued,] “Two burial plots were delegated to Beis Din [to bury those executed], one for those stoned and those burned, and one for those decapitated and those strangled.” She [Rus] replied, “And there I shall be buried.”

כה יעשה ה' לי. כאשר התחיל להרע שיצאה בי ידו להמית אישי ולירד מנכסי:

So may Adonoy do to me. As He has begun to afflict [me], for His hand has gone forth against me to kill my husband and to cause me to lose my possessions.

וכה יוסיף. אם יפריד ביני וביניך כי אם המות:

And even more. If anything but death separates me from you.

ותחדל לדבר אליה. מכאן אמרו אין מרבין עליו ואין מדקדקין עליו:

She refrained from further discussion with her. From here they derived, “we neither overburden him [a prospective convert], nor are we meticulous with him.”²⁷Maseches Yevamos 47b; i.e., we neither persuade nor dissuade him too much.

ותלכנה שתיהם. אמר רבי אבהו בא וראה כמה חביבים הגרים לפני הקב"ה כיון שנתנה דעתה להתגייר השוה אותה הכתוב לנעמי:

So the two of them went on. Rabbi Abahu said, “Come and see how dear the proselytes are before the Holy One, Blessed Is He. As soon as she decided to convert, Scripture compared her to Naomi [by stating, “the two of them...”].²⁸Despite leaving her home and family, Rus’ determination was so strong that Scripture ranks her equally with Naomi.

ותהם כל העיר. נעשית הומיה כל העיר כולם נתקבצו לקבור אשתו של בועז שמתה בו ביום:

The whole city was astir. The whole city became astir. They had all gathered to bury the wife of Bo’az, who had died that very day.²⁹Apparently the people of the city were gathered together because “the whole city” learned so quickly of their return. Rashi therefore explains why they had gathered.

הזאת נעמי. ה"א נקודה חטף מפני שהיא בתמיה הזאת נעמי שרגילה לצאת בצבים ובפרדים חזיתם מה עלתה לה על אשר יצאתה לחוצה לארץ:

Is this [really] Naomi. The hai is vowelized with a chataf because it is in the interrogative. Is this Naomi who was accustomed to travel in covered wagons and with the mules?³⁰Because of the affliction and the hunger that she endured, Naomi’s appearance changed so drastically that they were hardly able to recognize her. Have you seen what has befallen her because she went abroad [i.e., outside Eretz Yisroel]?

מלאה הלכתי. בעושר ובנים, ד"א שהיתה מעוברת:

I had gone forth full. With wealth and sons. Another interpretation [of “full”] is that she was pregnant.

ענה בי. העיד עלי שהרשעתי לפניו, ד"א ענה בי מדת הדין כמו וענה גאון ישראל:

Has testified against me. Has testified against me that I had sinned before Him. Another explanation is that the Divine Attribute of Justice has humbled me, as in, “And the pride of Yisroel shall be עָנָה humbled.”³¹Hoshe’a 5:5.

בתחלת קציר שעורים. בקצירת העומר הכתוב מדבר:

At the start of the barley harvest. The verse speaks about the harvest of the Omer.³²The barley for the omer was harvested on the second night of Pesach and offered on the following day.