What Does Ruth 2:21 Mean?
And Ruth the Moabitess said, Also he said to me, You will cling to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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 KEY
“Keep fast” means cling: Ruth’s care takes the form of a place she can stay until the harvest is complete.
THE MEANING
You are shown care that lasts through a whole season: Ruth is told to stay close to the workers until their harvest is complete. “Keep fast” carries the force of clinging, so the provision includes sustained nearness, not just a single moment of favor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that care is only a brief favor, after which you are left alone, loosens here: Ruth’s place remains open until the harvest is complete.
THE ROOT
תִּדְבָּקִין
tidbaqin
GROWS FROM
דבק
דָּבַק (dabaq) means to cling, adhere, or hold fast.
“cling to” in this verse is tidbaqin. The Hebrew behind “keep fast” is תִּדְבָּקִין (tidbaqin, “you shall cling”), from דבק (dabaq, “cling, adhere”). Ruth already uses this root when she “clave” to Naomi; here, the same word makes staying with Boaz’s workers an attachment that lasts through the harvest.
ALSO GROWS
davqah: She clung or cleaved.
דָּבְקָה
The same root describes Ruth’s attachment to Naomi, linking her loyalty on the road with her continued closeness in the field.
tidbaq: You shall cling or cleave.
תִּדְבָּק
The same verb names steadfast attachment to God, showing that its force reaches beyond simply standing nearby.
THE PATTERN
Life within a bond is sustained by remaining attached.
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.Stand in awe of the LORD your God; him you serve, and to him you cling, and by his nature you swear.Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it stays in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.THE THREAD
And they lifted up their voice, and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.The same root דבק (dabaq, “cling”) appears in “clave” and “keep fast.” Ruth’s attachment to Naomi at the journey’s beginning echoes her continued closeness to the workers through the harvest.
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