BY NAOMI'S INSTRUCTIONS, RUTH LIES AT BOAZ'S FEET, WHO ACKNOWLEDGES THE DUTY OF A KINSMAN. (Rut 3:1-13)
he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor--The winnowing process is performed by throwing up the grain, after being trodden down, against the wind with a shovel. The threshing-floor, which was commonly on the harvest-field, was carefully leveled with a large cylindric roller and consolidated with chalk, that weeds might not spring up, and that it might not chop with drought. The farmer usually remained all night in harvest-time on the threshing-floor, not only for the protection of his valuable grain, but for the winnowing. That operation was performed in the evening to catch the breezes which blow after the close of a hot day, and which continue for the most part of the night. This duty at so important a season the master undertakes himself; and, accordingly, in the simplicity of ancient manners, Boaz, a person of considerable wealth and high rank, laid himself down to sleep on the barn floor, at the end of the heap of barley he had been winnowing.
{"api_compact_wrapper_recipe":"native-api-generated-wrapper-v1","api_source_document_ref":"69d22ce553f6d18177632da3ce8f7503aa296f577ba875b08ade117eecdb147e","id":"sermonindex-native-api:api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/RUT/3.json#$/chapter/introduction","native_JSON_pointer":"$/chapter/introduction","native_content_joiner":"\n\n","native_content_part_lengths":[1080],"native_reference":{"book":{"context_sha256":"25e330807fe5087cdf5545942b918ae4eb43a126467490f8f51189339ae630ed","native_id":"RUT"},"chapter":3,"unit_number":null,"unit_type":"native-chapter-introduction"},"native_unit_metadata":{"type":"native-chapter-introduction"},"native_unit_payload_sha256":"e716055d1445265456f656ab7542c9f10e495af8628b92bc4a17a45402507eb1","original_identifier_basis":"existing native API member + JSON pointer","public_import_allowed":false,"reading_text_policy":"Native full content strings preserved, with explicit double-newline joins and exact part lengths; no stripping, snippet recursion, canonical verse inference or translation.","record_type":"native-commentary-introduction-unreviewed","references":[],"review_status":"structural-native-unit-unreviewed","semantic_kind_reviewed":false}