Ruth 3:9

“And he said, who art thou? etc.] He spoke quick and short, as one displeased, or however surprised and frightened, just coming out of sleep, and in the night: and she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; that had gleaned in his fields with his maidens, and with whom he had conversed there, and knew her by name: spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid; which seems to account for the reason of her uncovering his feet, or turning up the skirt of his garment that was upon them; not through wantonness and immodesty, but to direct him, when opportunity offered, to spread it over her as a token of his taking her in marriage, and of her being under his care and protection, and of her subjection…”

“I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman--She had already drawn part of the mantle over her; and she asked him now to do it, that the act might become his own. To spread a skirt over one is, in the East, a symbolical action denoting protection. To this day in many parts of the East, to say of anyone that he put his skirt over a woman, is synonymous with saying that he married her; and at all the marriages of the modern Jews and Hindus, one part of the ceremony is for the bridegroom to put a silken or cotton cloak around his bride.”

“Spread thy skirt ... - The phrase indicates receiving and acknowledging her as a wife. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Spread thy Skirt - That is, take me to be thy wife, and perform the duty of an husband to me. Ruth 3:10”

“3:9 your servant: Ruth deliberately identified herself with the female workers. • Spread . . . your covering over me: This was a way of asking Boaz to marry her (cp. Ezek 16:8). • Ruth appealed to Boaz’s status as a family redeemer (Hebrew go’el) to persuade him to marry her (see Ruth 4:5; “The Family Redeemer” Theme Note).”

“Ruth: Rut 2:10-13; Sa1 25:41; Luk 14:11 spread therefore: Hebrew "spread thy wing;" the emblem of protection; and a metaphor taken from the young of fowls, which run under the wings of their mother from birds of prey. Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirts of his talith over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection. Eze 16:8 a near kinsman: or, one that has right to redeem, Rut 3:12, Rut 2:20 Ruth 3:10”

“In answer to his inquiry, "Who art thou?" she said, "I am Ruth, thine handmaid; spread thy wing over thine handmaid, for thou art a redeemer." כּנפך is a dual according to the Masoretic pointing, as we cannot look upon it as a pausal form on account of the position of the word, but it is most probably to be regarded as a singular; and the figurative expression is not taken from birds, which spread their wings over their young, i.e., to protect them, but refers, according to Deu 23:1; Deu 27:20, and Eze 16:8, to the wing, i.e., the corner of the counterpane, referring to the fact that a man spreads this over his wife as well as himself. Thus Ruth entreated Boaz to marry her because he was a…”