Rut 1:9

1:9 May the Lord enable each of you to find ¹  security ²  in the home of a new husband!” ³  Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. ⁴ 

Rut 2:9

2:9 Take note of ⁵  the field where the men ⁶  are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. ⁷  I will tell the men ⁸  to leave you alone. ⁹  When you are thirsty, you may go to ¹⁰  the water jars ¹¹  and drink some of the water ¹²  the servants draw.” ¹³ 

Rut 2:21-22

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ¹⁴  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ¹⁵  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ¹⁶  2:22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. ¹⁷  That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” ¹⁸ 

Rut 3:14

3:14 So she slept beside him ¹⁹  until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. ²⁰  Boaz thought, ²¹  “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.” ²² 

Rut 4:6

4:6 The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance ²³  in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.” ²⁴ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “may the Lord give to you, and find rest, each [in] the house of her husband.” The syntax is unusual, but following the jussive (“may he give”), the imperative with vav (ו) conjunctive (“and find”) probably indicates the purpose or consequence of the preceding action: “May he enable you to find rest.”

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “rest.” While the basic meaning of מְנוּחָה (mÿnukhah) is “rest,” it often refers to “security,” such as provided in marriage (BDB 629-30 s.v.; HALOT 600 s.v.). Thus English versions render it in three different but related ways: (1) the basic sense: “rest” (KJV, ASV, NASV, NIV); (2) the metonymical cause/effect sense: “security” (NRSV, NJPS, REB, NLT, GW); and (3) the referential sense: “home” (RSV, TEV, CEV, NCV).

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “in the house of her husband” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “your husband.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “they lifted their voice[s] and wept” (KJV, ASV, NASB all similar). This refers to loud weeping characteristic of those mourning a tragedy (Judg 21:2; 2 Sam 13:36; Job 2:12).

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “let your eyes be upon” (KJV, NASB similar).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “they.” The verb is masculine plural, indicating that the male workers are the subject here.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and go after them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, indicating that the female workers are referred to here.

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Male servants are in view here, as the masculine plural form of the noun indicates (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “the young men”).

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Have I not commanded the servants not to touch [i.e., “harm”] you?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see v. 8). The perfect is either instantaneous, indicating completion of the action concurrent with the statement (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 107, 121-22, who translates, “I am herewith ordering”) or emphatic/rhetorical, indicating the action is as good as done.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn The juxtaposition of two perfects, each with vav consecutive, here indicates a conditional sentence (see GKC 337 §112.kk).

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “vessels (so KJV, NAB, NRSV), receptacles”; NCV “water jugs.”

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “drink [some] of that which” (KJV similar); in the context “water” is implied.

[2:9]  ¹³ tn The imperfect here either indicates characteristic or typical activity, or anterior future, referring to a future action (drawing water) which logically precedes another future action (drinking).

[2:21]  ¹⁴ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

[2:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with the servants who are mine you may stay close.” The imperfect has a permissive nuance here. The word “servants” is masculine plural.

[2:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”

[2:22]  ¹⁷ tn Naomi uses the feminine form of the word “servant” (as Boaz did earlier, see v. 8), in contrast to Ruth’s use of the masculine form in the preceding verse. Since she is concerned for Ruth’s safety, she may be subtly reminding Ruth to stay with the female workers and not get too close to the men.

[2:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they will not harm you in another field”; NRSV “otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”

[3:14]  ¹⁹ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has the singular מַרְגְּלָתַו (margÿlatav, “his leg”), while the marginal reading (Qere) has the plural מַרְגְּלוֹתָיו (margÿlotayv, “his legs”).

[3:14]  tn Heb “[at] his legs.” See the note on the word “legs” in v. 4.

[3:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and she arose before a man could recognize his companion”; NRSV “before one person could recognize another”; CEV “before daylight.”

[3:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he said” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). Some translate “he thought [to himself]” (cf. NCV).

[3:14]  ²² tn Heb “let it not be known that the woman came [to] the threshing floor” (NASB similar). The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah, “the woman”) is probably dittographic (note the final he on the preceding verb בָאָה [va’ah, “she came”]).

[4:6]  ²³ sn I would ruin my own inheritance. It is not entirely clear how acquiring Ruth and raising up an heir for the deceased Elimelech would ruin this individual’s inheritance. Perhaps this means that the inheritance of his other children would be diminished. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 245-46.

[4:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “redeem for yourself, you, my right of redemption for I am unable to redeem.”

[4:6]  sn Here it appears that the acquisition of Ruth along with the land was an obligatory package deal (“When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth…”). On the other hand, Boaz viewed marriage to Ruth as voluntary in 3:13 (“If he does not want to redeem you, I will redeem you”), and presented the acquisition of the field as voluntary in 4:4 (“If you want to exercise your right…but if not, tell me!”). Initially, Boaz makes the transaction appear to be a mere land deal in 4:4. When the nearest relative jumped at the land offer, Boaz confronted him with the attendant social/family obligation of marrying Ruth to raise up an heir for the deceased to inherit this very land. By conducting the transaction in public where the close relative would need to save face, Boaz forced him either to reject the offer entirely or to include Ruth in the deal – but he could not take the land and reject Ruth. Either way, Ruth would be cared for and Elimelech’s line continued. But if he took Ruth, the acquisition of the land would be more economically burdensome than beneficial, so he yielded his purchase option to Boaz. For discussion, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 229-33.