רות ג׳

מדעתנו קרובינו:

Our kinsman. Our relative.

הנה הוא זורה. המוץ ווונטו"ר בלע"ז:

Behold, he will be winnowing. The chaff, vraner in O.F.

הלילה. שהיה הדור פרוץ בגנבה וגזל והיה ישן בגורנו לשמור גורנו:

Tonight. Because the generation was unrestrained in theft and robbery; he would sleep in his granary to guard his granary.

ורחצת. מטנוף ע"ז שלך:

[And you shall] bathe. From the contamination of your [past] idolatry.¹Rus, obviously does not have to be told to do such a basic thing (i.e., to bathe), therefore it must allude for her to remove the contamination of her past idolatry.

וסכת. אלו מצות:

And scent yourself. These are the [Torah’s] precepts.

ושמת שמלותיך. בגדים של שבת:

Dress [yourself] in your finest garb. Shabbos garments.²Maseches Shabbos 113b. The word שמלה rather than בגד or לבוש indicates especially fine clothing of Shabbos or Yom Tov. Malbim Alternatively, the mere mention to put on clothes is superfluous, it therefore must refer to Shabbos clothing. (Sifsei Chachomim)

וירדת הגורן. וירדתי כתיב זכותי תרד עמך:

And go down to the threshing floor. It is written וְיָרַדְתִּי [=and I will go down]; [i.e.,] my merit will go down with you.³And protect you from any mishap.

אל תודעי לאיש. לבועז:

But do not identify yourself to the man. To Bo’az.

ותרד הגורן ותעש. היא אמרה לה ורחצת וסכת ושמת שמלותיך עליך ואחר כך וירדת הגורן והיא לא עשתה כן אלא אמרה אם ארד כשאני מקושטת הפוגע בי והרואה אותי יאמר שאני זונה לפיכך ירדה בתחלה הגורן ואחר כך קשטה את עצמה כאשר צותה חמותה:

So she went down to the threshing floor and she did. She [Naomi] said to her, “Bathe and scent yourself, dress yourself in the finest garb,” and afterwards, “and go down to the threshing floor.” But she [Rus] did not do so, but [instead] she said, “If I go down when I am dressed up, whoever meets me or sees me will think that I am a harlot.” She therefore first went down to the threshing floor and afterwards adorned herself, as her mother-in-law had instructed.⁴Maseches Shabbos 113b.

וייטב לבו. עסק בתורה:

And his heart was jubilant. Because he engaged in Torah [study].⁵Alternatively, he was happy that his prayers were accepted and the famine ended. (Targum)

ותבא בלט. בנחת:

And she came in softly. בַלָּט =] silently.⁶Alternatively, slowly. (Radak)

ויחרד האיש. כסבור שד הוא ובקש לזעוק והיא אחזתו ולפפתו בזרועותיה:

The man was startled. He thought it was a demon and wanted to scream, but she held him and encompassed him with her arms.

וילפת. ואחז כמו (שופטים טז) וילפת שמשון:

And [he] turned about. וַיִּלָּפֵת =] and he was seized, as in, “And Shimshon grasped וַיִּלְפֹּת.”⁷Shoftim 16:29. Alternatively, “his skin Hardened [like a turnip= לפת] from fright.” (Maseches Sanhedrin 19b)

והנה אשה. נתן ידו על ראשה והכיר שהיא אשה:

And behold there was a woman. He placed his hand on her head and recognized that it was a woman [and not a demon].⁸Because demons have no hair. Alternatively, he realized from her voice that she was a woman, or he saw her by the light of the moon.

ופרשת כנפך. כנף בגדך לכסותי בטליתך והוא לשון נישואין:

Spread your mantle. The corner of your garment to cover me with your cloak; and this is an expression of marriage.⁹An expression taken from birds who spread their wings [כנף] when they mate. (Malbim)

כי גואל אתה. לגאול נחלת אישי כמו שנאמר (ויקרא כה) בא גואלו הקרוב אליו וגאל וגומר וחמותי ואני צריכות למכור נחלתנו ועתה עליך לקנות קנה גם אותי עמה שיזכר שם המת על נחלתו כשאבא על השדה יאמרו זאת אשת מחלון:

For you are a near kinsman. To redeem my husband’s inheritance, as it is stated, “and a close relative comes and redeems, etc.”¹⁰Vayikra 25:25. And my mother-in-law and I must sell our inheritance, and now it is incumbent upon you to buy it. Acquire [i.e., marry] me also, along with it,¹¹The Torah requires only that he redeem the relative’s property, but it does not require that he redeem his relative’s wife. She therefore asked him to marry her. so that the name of the deceased be remembered upon his estate, so that when I come to the field they will say, “this is Machlon’s wife.”

מן הראשון. אשר עשית עם חמותך:

[Your] earlier [kindness]. That you did for your mother-in-law.¹²When you abandoned your home and fortune to stay with your mother-in-law. Your last act of kindness, i.e., your willingness to marry an older man to perpetuate your late husband’s name is a greater sacrifice on your part.

ועתה כי אמנם. אם כתיב ולא קרי כלומר משמע ספק ודאי יש גואל קרוב ממנו, (ס"א אם משמע ספק והוא ודאי), אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי שלמון ואלימלך וטוב אחים היו ומהו אשר לאחינו לאלימלך לעולם קורא אדם את דודו אחיו כענין שנאמר (בראשית יד) וישמע אברם כי נשבה אחיו והלא אברהם דודו היה כך היה בועז לאלימלך בן אחיו קרובו של מחלון אבל טוב היה קרוב יותר:

Now, though it is true that. אִם [=if] is written but not read, i.e., it conveys uncertainty [who will be the actual redeemer], for there is surely a redeemer closer than I.¹³The kinsman was Elimelech’s brother whereas Bo’az was only his nephew. (Another version: “כִּי אִם” conveys doubt, but it is certain [that he was a definite redeemer]).¹⁴I.e., without the word אם to indicate that there was actually no uncertainty, i.e., that Bo’az knew that he would indeed be the one to redeem her. Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Leivi said, “Salmone, Elimelech, and Tov were brothers. Then what is the meaning [of the statement by Bo’az], “which belonged to our brother, to Elimelech”? A person always refers to his uncle as his brother, as the matter is stated, “And Avrom heard that his brother was captured.”¹⁵Bereishis 14:14. Now was not Avrohom his [Lot’s] uncle?¹⁶Lot’s father Haran, was Avrohom’s brother; see Bereishis 11:27. So was Bo’az, Elimelech’s nephew, a relative of Machlon, but Tov was more closely related.

קרוב ממני. שהוא אח ואני בן אח:

Even closer than I. For he [Tov] is a brother, and I am a brother’s son [i.e., nephew].¹⁷And therefore he has priority.

ליני הלילה. ליני בלא איש:

Stay the night. Stay over [one more night] without a husband.

חי ה'. אמרה לו בדברים אתה מוציאני קפץ ונשבע לה שאינה מוציאה בדברים ויש מרבותינו אמרו ליצרו נשבע שהיה יצרו מקטרגו אתה פנוי והיא פנויה בא עליה ונשבע שלא יבא עליה אלא על ידי נישואין:

As Adonoy lives. She said to him, “You are dismissing me with words [i.e., excuses].” He jumped up and swore to her¹⁸‘חי ה is the Biblical form of an oath, as in I Shmuel 19:6. that he would not dismiss her with words. Some of our Rabbis said that he swore to his evil inclination, for his evil inclination was inciting him [by saying], “You are not married and she is not married; be intimate with her.” So he swore that he would not be intimate with her except with marriage.

ויאמר אל יודע. מוסב על ותקם בטרם יכיר הוא זרז לקום כי אמר בלבו אין כבודי שיודע כי באה האשה הגורן:

For he said, “It must not be known.” This refers back to “and she arose before one could recognize [another].” He hurried her to rise because he said in his heart, “It does not befit my honor that it should be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”¹⁹According to the Alshich, Bo’az was concerned with Rus’ reputation rather than his own, because his righteousness was well known and nobody would suspect him of acting immorally.

שש שעורים. אי אפשר לומר שש סאין שאין דרכה של אשה לשאת כמשאוי זה אלא שש שעורים ממש ורמז לה שעתיד לצאת ממנה בן שמתברך בשש ברכות רוח חכמה ובינה עצה וגבורה רוח דעת ויראת ה':

Six measures of barley. It is impossible to say [that it means] six se’ah, because it is not customary for a woman to carry such a [large] load; rather, [it means] literally, six barleycorns; and he hinted to her that there was destined to emerge from her a son who would be blessed with six blessings: “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Adonoy.”²⁰Yeshaya 11:2. Alternatively, this is the equivalent of a kav which is one sixth of a se’ah, also referred to as a שש and mentioned in Yechezkel 45:13. The Mishnah in Maseches Pe’ah (8:7) states that a poor person who is traveling from place to place must be given not less than a half kav of wheat from which to make bread. Bo’az therefore gave Naomi a whole kav, one half for Rus and the other half for herself. (Malbim) The six barleycorns may allude to the six righteous men, each blessed with six virtues are destined to descend from this marriage: Dovid, Daniel, Chananya, Mishaeil, Azaryah and Moshiach. (Targum)

כי אם כלה האיש את הדבר היום:

Until he settles. [I.e., until] the man [settles] the matter today.