Ruth 2:16 (LSB)

Passage

Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Nearby Context

Ruth 2:14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.

Ruth 2:15 Then she rose to glean, and Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not dishonor her.

Ruth 2:16 Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Ruth 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

Ruth 2:18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "purpose", "shall", "purposely", "pull", "some", "grain", "bundles", and "leave". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "purpose" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Then she rose to glean and Boaz..." into verse 17's "So she gleaned in the field until...", so "purpose" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Ruth context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "purpose" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.