Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Ruth 2:2

CHAPTER 2

Ru 2:1-3. Ruth Gleans in the Field of Boaz.

2. Ruth ... said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean--The right of gleaning was conferred by a positive law on the widow, the poor, and the stranger (see on Le 19:9 and De 24:19). But liberty to glean behind the reapers [Ru 2:3] was not a right that could be claimed; it was a privilege granted or refused according to the good will or favor of the owner.