And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
Ruth 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
Ruth 2:18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
Ruth 2:19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
Ruth 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
Ruth 2:21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
The verse centers on "mother", "said", "where", "hast", "thou", "gleaned", and "wroughtest". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mother" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And she took it up and went..." into verse 20's "And Naomi said unto her daughter in...", so "mother" and "said" 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 "mother" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.