What Does Ruth 2:9 Mean in the King James?
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 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 same sentence that bars unwanted touch opens the water vessels: safety includes access to what sustains you.
THE MEANING
You can keep your eyes on the work, move behind the workers, remain beyond their touch, and drink from water they have drawn. Your bodily safety and your thirst both receive attention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Safety is only the absence of harm. Here it also includes access to water that answers thirst.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁאֲבוּן
yish'avun
GROWS FROM
שאב
sha'av
To draw water up.
“drawn” in this verse is yish'avun. The verb names the work of drawing water up, while Ruth is given the result: drink from what the young men draw. The root keeps the provision concrete, their labor has brought water within her reach.
ALSO GROWS
sho'ev: A drawer of water.
שֹׁאֵב
This names the person whose work is embedded in “have drawn.”
vatish'av: And she drew water.
וַתִּשְׁאַב
In Genesis 24:20, Rebekah draws water; here, Ruth is welcomed to drink from water drawn by others.
נָגְעֵךְ
nog'eikh
GROWS FROM
נגע
nagaʿ
To touch or reach; the same root also forms a word for a stroke or affliction.
“touch” in this verse is nog'eikh. The root ranges from reaching or touching to a stroke or affliction, so the boundary around contact carries the possibility of harm. Here that boundary stands alongside movement through the field and access to water: protection does not mean being shut away.
ALSO GROWS
noge'a: Touching; one who touches.
נֹגֵעַ
It keeps the line grounded in physical contact and the boundary placed around it.
nega: A stroke, affliction, or plague.
נֶגַע
This branch shows how the same root can name contact that becomes harmful.
עֵינַיִךְ
ʿeinayikh
GROWS FROM
עין
ʿayin
Eye; also a spring or source of water.
Hebrew uses עַיִן for both an eye and a spring. As the verse moves from where your eyes rest to thirst and drinking, gaze and water-source echo each other within one scene of protection and provision.
ALSO GROWS
ʿayin: An eye; also a spring or source of water.
עַיִן
The shared word lets the verse’s focus on eyes resonate with its water provision.
ʿeinot: Springs or fountains.
עֵינוֹת
This plural form makes the water-source meaning of the eye-word visible.
THE PATTERN
Care takes shape as protected access to what sustains life.
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.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:THE THREAD
And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.“Drew” in Genesis and “have drawn” in Ruth come from שאב, the root for drawing water. Genesis shows the labor of drawing; Ruth shows someone welcomed to drink from water another person has drawn.
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