“Under whose wings you have taken refuge”
Ruth 2:12
Figure of speechWell-supportedBoaz
May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge. (Ruth 2:12 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A gentle blessing picturing God as a sheltering mother bird.
The cultural key
The image is a bird covering its chicks with its wings (kanaf), a common Hebrew figure for God's protection (Psalm 91:4). But kanaf also means the corner or hem of a garment, and many read the repetition ahead as deliberate: the same Hebrew word returns in chapter 3, where Ruth asks Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her. Boaz prays that God will shelter this Moabite convert, not yet knowing he is naming the means by which the prayer gets answered.
Recovered meaning
Boaz blesses Ruth for taking refuge under God's wings, and by the next chapter that shelter takes the shape of Boaz's own garment. In Hebrew, the prayer and its answer are the same word, kanaf.
Parallels: Ruth 3:9