Verse 11:[1] And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, (Ruth 1:14, 16, 17) all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
Which thou knewest not; of whom thou hadst no experience; for otherwise in general she could not be ignorant of this people.
Verse 12:[2] (1 Sam. 24:19) The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, (Ruth 1:16; Ps. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7) under whose wings thou art come to trust.
[The Lord recompense thee according to thy work] He will repay (I prefer, let Him repay [Piscator]) thy work (Junius and Tremellius), that is, all that thou hast done for thy mother-in-law and husband (Drusius). Work, that is, the recompense of thy work (Vatablus, Piscator).
[And mayest thou receive a full reward] May it be (or, it shall be [Junius and Tremellius]) thy full reward from the Lord (Drusius, Junius and Tremellius). May He reward thee most abundantly (Drusius). May He reward thy work in this age; may thy recompense be full in the coming age (Jonathan).
[Unto whom thou hast come, and under whose wings thou hast fled] By the term wings he denotes guardianship and protection (Drusius, Munster); as it is evident from Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 36:7; 61:4; 91:4 (Serarius). It is a Metaphor taken from the chicks of hens, which hide under the wings of their mothers (Drusius, Piscator, Munster). Or he had regard to the wings of the Cherubim, by which the Ark is covered. This appears closer to the truth (Drusius). The great piety of Boaz appears, who both admires the piety of this foreign woman, and liberally rewards it. This man, so regal of soul, was worthy to be the father of the King. Such was Cimon of Athens,[3] who tore down the walls of his fields, so that whoever desired might enjoy the things grown there (Grotius).
Wings, that is, protection and care, as Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 91:4. An allusion either to hens, which protect and cherish their young ones under their wings; or to the wings of the cherubims, between which God dwelt.
[1] Hebrew: וַיַּ֤עַן בֹּ֙עַז֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָ֔הּ הֻגֵּ֙ד הֻגַּ֜ד לִ֗י כֹּ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂית֙ אֶת־חֲמוֹתֵ֔ךְ אַחֲרֵ֖י מ֣וֹת אִישֵׁ֑ךְ וַתַּֽעַזְבִ֞י אָּבִ֣יךְ וְאִמֵּ֗ךְ וְאֶ֙רֶץ֙ מֽוֹלַדְתֵּ֔ךְ וַתֵּ֣לְכִ֔י אֶל־עַ֕ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־יָדַ֖עַתְּ תְּמ֥וֹל שִׁלְשֽׁוֹם׃
[2] Hebrew: יְשַׁלֵּ֥ם יְהוָ֖ה פָּעֳלֵ֑ךְ וּתְהִ֙י מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּ֜ךְ שְׁלֵמָ֗ה מֵעִ֤ם יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֖את לַחֲס֥וֹת תַּֽחַת־כְּנָפָֽיו׃
[3] Cimon was a fifth century BC Athenian statesman and general.
Alexander McLeod's True Godliness: 'Encouraged by the promise of protection, the saints present their petitions to God, Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. [Psalm 17:8-9] They truly are safe who have fled to this refuge. If the Father of eternity, who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, spread around us the wings of his own almighty love, we shall have cause to rejoice, whatever may have been the sacrifices of worldly ease, of comfort, of connections, and of property, that the interests of true religion required at our hands. The words of a virtuous Israelite, Boaz the son of Salmon, to the piou…
Jonathan Edwards' "Ruth's Resolution": 'I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this her resolution consists, viz. that it was for the sake of the God of Israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she was thus resolved to cleave to Naomi: Ruth 1:16, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." It was for God's sake that she did thus; and therefore her so doing is afterwards spoken of as a virtuous behaviour in her, Ruth 2:11-12, "And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father…
Matthew Henry: 'Boaz was hereupon extremely civil to her in divers instances.... He commended her for her dutiful respect to her mother-in-law, which, though he did not know her by sight, yet he had heard of (Ruth 2:11): It has been fully shown me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law. Note, Those that do well ought to have the praise of it. But that which especially he commended her for was that she had left her own country, and had become a proselyte to the Jewish religion; for so the Chaldee expounds it: "Thou hast come to be proselyted, and to dwell among a people whom thou knowest not." Those that leave all, to embrace the true religion…