The second chapter of Rus is quite eventful. The Navi begins by introducing the main players.
History is about to occur.
The beginning of the history of the Messiah. A specific judicial enactment was required to permit this form of greeting. Prior to the time of Boaz people never greeted each other in this way, and subsequent to the time of Boaz we no longer perform this enactment. At this particular time, the Jewish people were in a sorry state. There was a terrible famine.