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Artwork for Handfuls on Purpose

Ruth 2:14-23

Handfuls on Purpose

Lyrics · Ruth

Handfuls on Purpose

Ruth 2:14-23

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Ruth collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Ruth
Collection
Ruth
Musical styles
World Music
[Verse 1] At the meal Boaz called Ruth closer, gave her bread and parched grain, She ate until her hunger quieted and saved a portion for Naomi. Then she rose again to labor where the reapers bound the sheaves, And the master spoke behind her so no one would make her ashamed. [Pre-Chorus] Let her gather near the bundles, Pull out grain and leave it there. [Chorus] Handfuls on purpose falling in her path, Mercy made visible in barley on the ground. More than Ruth could carry home, More than Naomi dared expect, Kindness for the living and the dead was found. [Verse 2] All day long she gleaned beneath the heat until the evening came, Beat the barley from the husks and measured out an ephah. She lifted up the heavy yield and carried it through Bethlehem, Then gave Naomi what remained from what she saved beside the workers. [Bridge] “Where did you glean, and who took notice?” Naomi asked with sudden hope. Ruth replied, “The owner's name is Boaz,” and the old grief changed its sound. “Blessed be the man whose kindness has not left the dead or living; He is near to us, a kinsman,” and the harvest stretched ahead. [Final Chorus] Handfuls on purpose falling in her path, Mercy made visible in barley on the ground. More than Ruth could carry home, More than Naomi dared expect, Kindness for the living and the dead was found. [Outro] Through barley and through wheat, She stayed where kindness placed her.

Named in this songBoazRuthNaomiBethlehem

About the passage

Ruth 2: Gleaning becomes a place of protection and provision

The Book of Ruth moves from famine and bereavement into the working life of a harvest field. Ruth goes to glean, a provision already built into Israel’s law for vulnerable people, and her “hap” brings her to land belonging to Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. Boaz’s response turns generosity into a set of concrete protections: Ruth may remain with his women workers, drink freely, eat at his table, gather without rebuke, and work under an explicit order that the young men not touch her. He also has extra grain dropped deliberately for her. Ruth returns to Naomi with abundance and with food saved from the meal. When she names Boaz, Naomi sees more than a successful day. She recognizes covenant kindness and identifies him as one of their redeemers. Hope is returning, but the chapter lets it ripen through both barley and wheat harvests rather than forcing a quick resolution.

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