2:8Meaning
Boaz addresses Ruth and restricts her movement Boaz calls Ruth “my daughter,” a protective, older-to-younger form of address, and checks that she is listening. He tells her not to glean in another field and not to leave the area. Instead, she is to stay close beside his female workers. The logic is simple: staying with his workers keeps her within a zone he can oversee.
Unit 2 (v. 9a): Ruth is told how to glean safely in his operations
Boaz tells Ruth to watch the specific field his reapers are working and to go behind them, following the pattern of gleaning after the cutting is done. This directs her not only to a place but to a method—stay with the flow of his work crew rather than moving independently.
Unit 3 (v. 9b): Boaz establishes protection and provides water access
Boaz points to a prior order he has given the young men: they must not “touch” her, meaning they are not to interfere with or assault her. Then he addresses a basic need in field labor—thirst—and invites her to drink from the water containers supplied for workers, specifically what the young men have drawn. Protection and provision are paired: she is safer and also treated as someone allowed to share in the workplace resources.