Ruth 2:15

“And when she was risen up to glean, etc.] After she had ate sufficiently, and refreshed herself, she rose up from her seat to go into the field and glean again; which shows her industry: Boaz commanded his young men; the reapers, or who gathered the handfuls, and bound them up in sheaves: saying, let her glean even among the sheaves; this she had requested of the reapers when she first came into the field, and it was granted her, (<080207>Ruth 2:7) but this, as it was granted by Boaz himself, so was still a greater favour; and there is some difference in the expression, for it may be rendered here, “among those sheaves” f48, pointing to a particular spot where might be the best ears of corn,…”

“2:15-16 Boaz’s instructions to his reapers as they returned to work after lunch made Ruth’s gleaning a great deal more productive. Boaz provided for Ruth much more than the law of gleaning required of him.”

“glean: The word glean comes from the French glaner to gather ears or grains of corn. This was formerly a general custom in England and Ireland. The poor went into the fields, and collected the straggling ears of corn after the reapers; and it was long supposed that this was their right, and that the law recognized it; but although it has been an old custom, it is now settled by a solemn judgment of the Court of Common Pleas, that a right to glean in the harvest field cannot be claimed by any person at common law. Any person may permit or prevent it on his own grounds. By the Irish Acts, 25; Henry VIII. c. 1, and 28; Henry VIII. c. 24, gleaning and leasing are so restricted as to be in fact…”

“When she rose up to glean again after eating, Boaz commanded his people, saying, "She may also glean between the shaves (which was not generally allowed), and ye shall not shame her (do her any injury, Jdg 18:7); and ye shall also draw out of the bundles for her, and let them lie (the ears drawn out), that she may glean them, and shall not scold her," sc., for picking up the ears that have been drawn out. These directions of Boaz went far beyond the bounds of generosity and compassion for the poor; and show that he felt a peculiar interest in Ruth, with whose circumstances he was well acquainted, and who had won his heart by her humility, her faithful attachment to her mother-in-law, and her…”