Kejadian 11:30

11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

Kejadian 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ²  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ³  Abram did what ⁴  Sarai told him.

Rut 4:13

A Grandson is Born to Naomi

4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. ⁵  The Lord enabled her to conceive ⁶  and she gave birth to a son.

Rut 4:1

Boaz Settles the Matter

4:1 Now Boaz went up ⁷  to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian ⁸  whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! ⁹  Boaz said, “Come ¹⁰  here and sit down, ‘John Doe’!” ¹¹  So he came ¹²  and sat down.

1 Samuel 1:19

1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with ¹³  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ¹⁴  her.

Mazmur 127:3

127:3 Yes, ¹⁵  sons ¹⁶  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

[16:2]  ¹ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ² tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[16:2]  sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.

[4:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went in to her.” Here the phrase “went in to her” (so NASB) is a euphemism for having sexual relations (cf. NCV); NLT “When he slept with her.”

[4:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause structure (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) here signals the beginning of a new scene.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Sometimes translated “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9.

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “look, the guardian was passing by of whom Boaz had spoken.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “turn aside” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, TEV, NLT “Come over here.”

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a certain one”; KJV, ASV “such a one.” The expression פְלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי (pÿloni ’almoni) is not the name of the nearest relative, but an idiom which literally means “such and such” or “a certain one” (BDB 811-12 s.v. פְלֹנִי), which is used when one wishes to be ambiguous (1 Sam 21:3; 2 Kgs 6:8). Certainly Boaz would have known his relative’s name, especially in such a small village, and would have uttered his actual name. However the narrator refuses to record his name in a form of poetic justice because he refused to preserve Mahlon’s “name” (lineage) by marrying his widow (see 4:5, 9-10). This close relative, who is a literary foil for Boaz, refuses to fulfill the role of family guardian. Because he does nothing memorable, he remains anonymous in a chapter otherwise filled with names. His anonymity contrasts sharply with Boaz’s prominence in the story and the fame he attains through the child born to Ruth. Because the actual name of this relative is not recorded, the translation of this expression is difficult since contemporary English style expects either a name or title. This is usually supplied in modern translations: “friend” (NASB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT), “so-and-so” (JPS, NJPS). Perhaps “Mr. So-And-So!” or “Mr. No-Name!” makes the point. For discussion see Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 99-101; R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 233-35; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 196-97. In the present translation “John Doe” is used since it is a standard designation for someone who is a party to legal proceedings whose true name is unknown.

[4:1]  ¹² tn Heb “and he turned aside” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “And he went over.”

[1:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[1:19]  ¹⁴ sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.

[127:3]  ¹⁵ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ¹⁶ tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.