Matius 2:3

2:3 When King Herod ¹  heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Rut 1:19

1:19 So the two of them ²  journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. ³ 

Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem

When they entered ⁴  Bethlehem, ⁵  the whole village was excited about their arrival. ⁶  The women of the village said, ⁷  “Can this be Naomi?” ⁸ 

Rut 1:1

A Family Tragedy: Famine and Death

1:1 During the time of the judges ⁹  there was a famine in the land of Judah. ¹⁰  So a man from Bethlehem ¹¹  in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner ¹²  in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. ¹³ 

1 Samuel 16:4

16:4 Samuel did what the Lord told him. ¹⁴  When he arrived in Bethlehem, ¹⁵  the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They ¹⁶  said, “Do you come in peace?”

Yohanes 12:16-19

12:16 (His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, ¹⁷  but when Jesus was glorified, ¹⁸  then they remembered that these things were written about him and that these things had happened ¹⁹  to him.) ²⁰ 

12:17 So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it. ²¹  12:18 Because they had heard that Jesus ²²  had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. 12:19 Thus the Pharisees ²³  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

[2:3]  ¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[1:19]  ² tn The suffix “them” appears to be masculine, but it is probably an archaic dual form (E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76).

[1:19]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁴ tn The temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was”) here introduces a new scene.

[1:19]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “because of them” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “excited to see them.”

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “they said,” but the verb form is third person feminine plural, indicating that the women of the village are the subject.

[1:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Is this Naomi?” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The question here expresses surprise and delight because of the way Naomi reacts to it (F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 92).

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the days of the judging of the judges.” The LXX simply reads “when the judges judged,” and Syriac has “in the days of the judges.” Cf. NASB “in the days when the judges governed (ruled NRSV).”

[1:1]  sn Many interpreters, reading this statement in the light of the Book of Judges which describes a morally corrupt period, assume that the narrator is painting a dark backdrop against which Ruth’s exemplary character and actions will shine even more brightly. However, others read this statement in the light of the book’s concluding epilogue which traces the full significance of the story to the time of David, the chosen king of Judah (4:18-22).

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the land.” The phrase “of Judah” is supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn The name Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם, bet lekhem) is from “house, place” (בֵּית) and “bread, food” (לֶחֶם), so the name literally means “House of Bread” or “Place of Food.” Perhaps there is irony here: One would not expect a severe famine in such a location. This would not necessarily indicate that Bethlehem was under divine discipline, but merely that the famine was very severe, explaining the reason for the family’s departure.

[1:1]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:1]  ¹² tn Or “to live temporarily.” The verb גּוּר (gur, “sojourn”) may refer to (1) temporary dwelling in a location (Deut 18:6; Judg 17:7) or (2) permanent dwelling in a location (Judg 5:17; Ps 33:8). When used of a foreign land, it can refer to (1) temporary dwelling as a visiting foreigner (Gen 12:10; 20:1; 21:34; 2 Kgs 8:1-2; Jer 44:14) or (2) permanent dwelling as a resident foreigner (Gen 47:4; Exod 6:4; Num 15:14; Deut 26:5; 2 Sam 4:3; Jer 49:18,33; 50:40; Ezek 47:22-23). Although Naomi eventually returned to Judah, there is some ambiguity whether or not Elimelech intended the move to make them permanent resident foreigners. Cf. NASB “to sojourn” and NIV “to live for a while,” both of which imply the move was temporary, while “to live” (NCV, NRSV, NLT) is more neutral about the permanence of the relocation.

[1:1]  sn Some interpreters view Elimelech’s departure from Judah to sojourn in Moab as lack of faith in the covenant God of Israel to provide for his family’s needs in the land of promise; therefore his death is consequently viewed as divine judgment. Others note that God never prohibited his people from seeking food in a foreign land during times of famine but actually sent his people to a foreign land during a famine in Canaan on at least one occasion as an act of deliverance (Gen 37-50). In this case, Elimelech’s sojourn to Moab was an understandable act by a man concerned for the survival of his family, perhaps even under divine approval, so their death in Moab was simply a tragedy, a bad thing that happened to a godly person.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “he and his wife and his two sons.” The LXX omits “two.”

[16:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[16:4]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:4]  ¹⁶ tc In the MT the verb is singular (“he said”), but the translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss and ancient versions in reading the plural (“they said”).

[12:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “did not understand these things at first”; Grk “formerly.”

[12:16]  ¹⁸ sn When Jesus was glorified, that is, glorified through his resurrection, exaltation, and return to the Father. Jesus’ glorification is consistently portrayed this way in the Gospel of John.

[12:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and that they had done these things,” though the referent is probably indefinite and not referring to the disciples; as such, the best rendering is as a passive (see ExSyn 402-3; R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:458).

[12:16]  ²⁰ sn The comment His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened (a parenthetical note by the author) informs the reader that Jesus’ disciples did not at first associate the prophecy from Zechariah with the events as they happened. This came with the later (postresurrection) insight which the Holy Spirit would provide after Jesus’ resurrection and return to the Father. Note the similarity with John 2:22, which follows another allusion to a prophecy in Zechariah (14:21).

[12:17]  ²¹ tn The word “it” is not included in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[12:18]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:19]  ²³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.