룻기 3:4 해설: Tze'enah Ure'enah

“When he lies down” [3:4]. There will be a time when he will lie down and you should know the place where he will lie down and you should come and uncover his feet. You should lie down next to him and he will tell you what to do. She said to her: I will do everything you tell me. She went down to the barn and did everything that her mother-in-law had asked her. Some ask about this verse, why is the word “elay” not written, but it says, “I will do everything you tell me” [3:4]. The verse contains the vowels of “elay,” but not the word itself. However, the verse shows us that Ruth spoke to Naomi, why do you teach me to dress beautifully? Perhaps people will encounter me and think I am a prostitute. Therefore, she said, I will go to the barn and I will dress there in the barn.⁶⁰Rashi, Ruth, 3:4. That is why the verse says, “she went down to the barn and did as her mother-in-law commanded her” [3:6]. That is to say, she first went down to the barn, and then she did what her mother-in-law told her to do. Therefore, the word “elay” is not mentioned. That is to say, I will do everything you told me. From these verses we learn that if a person can accomplish a good thing, but it requires a bit of impudence at the same time, that is, one has to be somewhat impudent, because one can accomplish it, therefore, he should not let the impudence stop him. Thus, Ruth went to Boaz at night in the barn, to his bed. This seems to be an act of impudence, but she thought to herself, I will do it since good may come of it. However, as far as she could cover up the matter, she did and she went to Boaz in a way that nobody learned of it.