What Does Ruth 2:19 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew root for the one who “takes knowledge” of Ruth also names a “stranger,” joining her foreignness and her recognition in a single word family.
THE MEANING
Here, Ruth’s labor is met with provision and recognition at once. The verse speaks into your present need: being unfamiliar to others does not make you invisible, and help can take the concrete form of someone seeing you and your work.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that being an outsider makes you invisible is undone here: Ruth’s foreignness does not prevent her from being noticed and provided for.
THE ROOT
מַכִּירֵךְ
makhirekh
GROWS FROM
נכר
n-k-r
Recognize, distinguish, or acknowledge.
“take knowledge” in this verse is makhirekh. Ruth calls herself a stranger with another form from this same root in Ruth 2:10. English separates being foreign from being recognized, while the Hebrew word family holds them together: the person marked as unfamiliar can still be singled out and acknowledged.
ALSO GROWS
nokhriyah: Foreign woman; stranger.
נָכְרִיָּה
Ruth uses this word for herself in Ruth 2:10, linking her outsider status to the root behind “take knowledge” here.
hikkir: Recognize; identify.
הִכִּיר
This verbal form makes the root’s act of distinguishing someone explicit: Ruth is noticed as a particular person.
לִקַּטְתְּ
liqqatet
GROWS FROM
לקט
l-q-t
Gather, pick up, glean.
“gleaned” in this verse is liqqatet. The verb names what Ruth actively does: she gathers. Its related noun names the gleanings themselves, keeping her work visible within the provision that reaches her.
ALSO GROWS
leqet: Gleanings; gathered harvest remnants.
לֶקֶט
This related word names what is left to be gathered, illuminating the concrete source of Ruth’s food.
laqat: Gather; collect.
לָקַט
The root brings the active work of gathering back into the English word “gleaned.”
THE PATTERN
Provision makes room for the vulnerable when their needs and presence are recognized.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.THE THREAD
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?Ruth’s word for “stranger” and the phrase “take knowledge of me” share the Hebrew root נכר (n-k-r), meaning recognize or distinguish. This verse returns to that same root: the one who recognizes her is named, and her mother-in-law blesses him.
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