(1) God said to Moses on Mt. Sinai: What is the connection between Shemittah and Mt. Sinai? etc. The meaning is that when Moses went up Mount Sinai after seven weeks, that Israel counted 49 days from Pesach to Shavuot, then that mountain was sanctified, and forbidden from ploughing and sowing on the 50th day, on which the Torah was given. And this is the length of time of the Jubilee, to call for liberty and freedom to all of Israel, freedom on the tablets, by means of the voice of the shofar of the giving of the Torah. At that moment God told Moses the matter of Shemittah and the Jubilee, saying that through the number 7 and the number 49 I am giving this holiness to all the land of Israel. For this has a similarity and connection with Mt. Sinai from the side of there being an air that makes people wise (B. Baba Batra 158b). And the Torah [in general] is not like the Torah of the land of Israel and Mt. Sinai. Therefore it was appropriate to give also to that land the holiness of Mount Sinai after the number 49 years, and thus with the number 7. Or in order to make a memorial of the standing at Sinai through the calling of liberty and the blowing of the shofar. This joins to all the other reasons that there is to this mitzvah. Therefore it was said on Mount Sinai, and this is the correct meaning.

(2)For you are a near kinsman. To redeem my husband’s inheritance, as it is stated, “and a close relative comes and redeems, etc.”10Vayikra 25:25. And my mother-in-law and I must sell our inheritance, and now it is incumbent upon you to buy it. Acquire [i.e., marry] me also, along with it,11The Torah requires only that he redeem the relative’s property, but it does not require that he redeem his relative’s wife. She therefore asked him to marry her. so that the name of the deceased be remembered upon his estate, so that when I come to the field they will say, “this is Machlon’s wife.”

(2)“Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moavite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the field of Moav, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest” (Ruth 1:22).
“Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moavite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the field of Moav” – it was she who returned from the field of Moav.147She was the first Moavite woman to marry into Israel. “And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Wherever “barley harvest” is stated, the verse is referring to the cutting of the omer. “Wheat harvest” – the verse is referring to the offering of the two loaves.148The omer offering, brought on the sixteenth of Nisan, was made from barley flour. The offering of the two loaves, brought on Shavuot, was made from wheat flour. [The term] harvest without specification can be used for this or for that.

(1)At the start of the barley harvest. The verse speaks about the harvest of the Omer.32The barley for the omer was harvested on the second night of Pesach and offered on the following day.

(2)For wherever you go, I shall go. From here our Rabbis of blessed memory derived24In Maseches Yevamos 47b. that if a [prospective] proselyte comes to convert, we inform him of some of the punishments [for violating the commandments] so that is he decides to renege [from his intention to convert], he can renege; for out of the words of Rus, you can learn what Naomi said to her. [Naomi said.] “We may not venture outside the boundary [of 2000 cubits beyond city limits] on Shabbos.” She [Rus] replied to her, “For wherever you go I shall go.”25Alternatively, just as you are going to Eretz Yisroel for the sake of your religion, so it is my purpose to go there in order to be able to keep the Torah’s commandments. (Malbim) [Naomi then said,] “We are prohibited to allow a woman to be secluded with a man who is not her husband.” She [Rus] replied, “Where you lodge, I will lodge.” [Naomi said,] “Our nation is separated from other nations by 613 commandments,” [and Rus replied,] “Your people are my people.” [Naomi said,] “Idolatry is forbidden to us,”26Although idolatry is forbidden to Noahites, they are forbidden to worship idols only if they do so exclusively, but not if they worship God in conjunction with their idolatry. (Torah Temimah) [to which Rus replied,] “Your God is my God.” [Naomi then said,] “Four [types of] death penalties were delegated to Beis Din [to punish transgressors],” [and Rus replied,] “Where you die, I will die.” [Naomi continued,] “Two burial plots were delegated to Beis Din [to bury those executed], one for those stoned and those burned, and one for those decapitated and those strangled.” She [Rus] replied, “And there I shall be buried.”