פּירוש אויף רות 2:20

“And Naomi said” [2:20]. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: blessed be God who has not failed in his grace to the living and the dead. Naomi said to her, he is a friend, the man who is our savior. Our sages say that it says here that he did an act of grace for the dead. This means that he provided shrouds for the dead. Some ask that the verse says, “the man is related to us” [2:20]. This means that he is our friend. It should have said that we are his friends. The custom is that when one is rich, people would say, I am his relative. Here Naomi makes herself important and said, Boaz is our friend.⁵⁵Ruth Rabbah, 5.10. However, the plain meaning is that the poor person who eats with the householder does him much good. His household is blessed through the poor person and that is why Naomi said he is our friend and made herself important.

With the living and with the deceased. That he feeds and sustains the living, and occupies himself with the needs of the deceased.²⁰The “needs of the deceased” refers to the kindness displayed by Bo’az to Elimelech and his sons. (Ibn Ezra) Alternatively, the “needs of the deceased” refers to the willingness of Bo’az to perform a levirate marriage and will thus do kindness to the memory of her deceased husband. (Alshich)

Blessed is the Lord who has not left off His steadfast love. This is a sign that He initially showed kindness to Elimelech and his sons, for he was a judge.