The custom of Israel was that a man was to take his

[Mary Naeem]

The custom of Israel was that a man was to take his deceased brother’s wife in order to continue the family line. Since Ruth’s husband’s only brother had also died, she and Naomi would have to take care of themselves. Ruth went out every day to glean fields to provide food for herself and Naomi. She found work in Boaz's field, not knowing that he was a relative of Naomi's. When Boaz returned home, he noticed Ruth and asked the man in charge of the reapers about her. The servant told Boaz about Ruth's faithfulness to Naomi and her hard work in the fields. Boaz personally told Ruth to remain in his fields and stay close to the other women, also telling her that he'd warned the young men not to touch her and inviting her to drink freely of the water the men had drawn anytime she was thirsty (Ruth 2:8–9). Ruth responded in humility and appreciation, asking why he would show such favor to her, a foreigner, at which point Boaz told her he'd heard of her sacrifice for her mother-in-law (Ruth 2:10–13). Boaz continued to show her every courtesy, providing a meal to her and instructing his reapers to purposefully leave some grain behind for her to glean (Ruth 2:14–16).