And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.

RUTH 3:6KJV
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Ruth 3:6 (KJV)

What does Ruth 3:6 mean?

Ruth 3:6 shows Ruth putting Naomi’s plan into action. Ruth goes to the place where Boaz is working and follows the directions her mother-in-law has given her. The narrator presents Ruth’s actions as a response to Naomi’s instructions.

The “floor” is a threshing floor, an outdoor place where harvested grain was separated from its stalks. After Naomi’s directions in the preceding verses, Ruth’s arrival there prepares the reader for her meeting with Boaz.

The Hebrew behind Ruth 3:6

  • “floor” — גֹּרֶן (goren): This word means a threshing floor. It points to a place connected with preparing the harvest, rather than the floor of a house.
  • “bade” — צָוָה (tsavah): This word carries the sense of instructing or directing. It shows that Naomi had given Ruth a plan to follow.

Why Ruth 3:6 matters

  • Ruth’s actions are deliberate, not accidental. The words “did according to all” connect what she does with the detailed directions Naomi gave her.
  • The narrator credits Ruth with carrying out the plan. Naomi gives the instructions, but the repeated actions in verse 6 belong to Ruth: “she went down” and “did.”
  • The setting helps explain why Ruth approaches Boaz there. Naomi has already said that Boaz would be working with barley at the threshing floor that night (Ruth 3:2).

Where else these words appear

“law” Hebrew H2545 · used in 10 verses

  • Ruth 1:14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
  • Ruth 2:19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
  • Ruth 3:16 And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

“floor” Hebrew H1637 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
  • 1 Samuel 23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
  • 1 Chronicles 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.