Shared ground
The text presents a careful, quiet ending to the threshing-floor encounter. Ruth remains “at his feet” until morning and then leaves while it is still too dark for easy recognition. Boaz explicitly says he does not want it publicly known that “the woman” came to the threshing floor. That line makes reputation and public talk part of the story’s immediate concerns.
Boaz also gives Ruth a concrete gift: he has her hold out her outer garment and he measures out “six measures” of barley and puts it on her. Explicitly, this is provision that she carries away from the private scene.
Where interpretation differs (only where needed)
Who went into the city. The closing line can be read as either Boaz going into town (to move the matter forward publicly) or Ruth going back into town (returning to Naomi). Many readers take it as Boaz because he has just promised action and the next scene shifts toward a public decision. Others take it as Ruth because she is the one who has just received the barley and is physically traveling.
What the barley means beyond provision. Everyone agrees the barley is a real, counted gift. Some interpreters also see it as a signal: Boaz’s seriousness, a pledge of continued help, or a way to show Naomi that Ruth did not come back “empty.” That goes beyond what the verses directly state, but it fits the plot movement toward the town-gate resolution.
Why the disagreement exists
The Hebrew pronoun in “and he went into the city” is short and can be attached to the nearest male subject (“he” = Boaz), but the narrative action (Ruth receiving the grain and departing) can make readers expect the traveler to be Ruth. The amount “six measures” is also not specified in modern units, which leaves room for different estimates of size and therefore different views of how heavy or symbolic the gift might be.
What this passage clearly contributes
These verses bridge the private nighttime request to the upcoming public process in town. They underline that the encounter ends without exposure or scandal (explicitly: Boaz wants secrecy), and they add a material gift that keeps Ruth and Naomi supplied and keeps the story moving toward resolution. Read within the chapter, the scene supports the theme that providence in Ruth often works through ordinary actions—careful timing, guarded speech, and practical generosity—rather than through dramatic intervention (compare the story’s “ordinary means” emphasis in Ruth 2:3).
