John Gill Commentary Ruth 2:5

"Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?" — Ruth 2:5 (ASV)

Then said Boaz to his servant who was set over the reapers ,
&c.] To direct them their work, what part each was to do, and to see that they did it well; to take care for provisions for them, and to pay them their wages when their work was done. Josephus ^F20 calls him (agrokomov) , that had the care of the field, and all things relative to it; the Jews ^F21 say, he was set over two and forty persons, whom he had the command of.

whose damsel is this ?
to whom does she belong? of what family is she? whose daughter is she? or whose wife? for he thought, as Aben Ezra notes, that she was another man's wife; the Targum is, of what nation is she? perhaps her dress might be somewhat different from that of the Israelitish women.

---

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 2.
• F21: Midrash Ruth, fol. 32. 1.