And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,
Let me now go to the field,
and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.
And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Ruth 2:2
What exactly, in historic context, was Ruth doing in the fields as a poor women in those days of Israel?
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 23:22