Ruth 2:9
Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
The verse belongs to the brief, beautiful and wonderfully interesting pastoral story of Ruth set in the time of the judges, which brings a Moabite woman into the ancestry of the Lord Jesus with which the book closes; the book was written by Samuel in the early days of David, by Nathan the prophet. It concerns gleaning, in which grain left behind by the reapers in the harvest field could be gathered by someone overlooked or in need. In it Boaz permits Ruth to glean and remain in the field where his workers are harvesting, tells her to keep her eyes on that field and follow after the reapers, assures her he has charged the young men not to touch or harm her, and invites her when thirsty to drink from the vessels of water they have drawn, thereby giving her protection and access to the harvest and water through practical care and kindness.
In the verse Boaz is responding to having noticed Ruth's discreet and modest demeanor, her filial affection in supporting Naomi by daily toil, and her virtue and uncommon worth, by favoring her gleaning, protecting her from harm, and supplying her temporal necessities, including directing her to share the common meal and to eat and drink with his maidens. The verse exemplifies kindly Christian courtesy from an employer toward a poor laborer, given without selfish motive, and by contrast rebukes employers who grind down laborers.
Like Ruth gathering scattered sheaves, the verse teaches that a person should join in the work of God's harvest rather than remain idle, since even small and humble service in gathering a handful is worthwhile work for God. Such humble gleaning work may bring a troubled or neglected person within the care of the church. Since cutting down the grain is not enough and the loose grain lying after cutting must be bound into sheaves, the harvest field teaches that loose followers of Christ must be gathered and combined in Sabbath-schools, prayer-meetings, missionary associations and churches, with the army of God divided into working companies, regiments, battalions and active ranks instead of remaining idle in reserve, so that all the harvest is secured for King Immanuel.