Rut 2:14

2:14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have ¹  some food! Dip your bread ²  in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed ³  her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. ⁴ 

Rut 3:10

3:10 He said, “May you be rewarded ⁵  by the Lord, my dear! ⁶  This act of devotion ⁷  is greater than what you did before. ⁸  For you have not sought to marry ⁹  one of the young men, whether rich or poor. ¹⁰ 

Rut 3:12

3:12 Now yes, it is true that ¹¹  I am a guardian, ¹²  but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.

Rut 4:4

4:4 So I am legally informing you: ¹³  Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! ¹⁴  If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. ¹⁵  But if not, then tell me ¹⁶  so I will know. ¹⁷  For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” ¹⁸  He replied, “I will redeem it.”

Rut 4:15

4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ¹⁹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ²⁰  is better to you than seven sons!”

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “eat” (so KJV, NRSV).

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “your portion”; NRSV “your morsel.”

[2:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb צָבַט (tsavat) occurs only here in the OT. Cf. KJV, ASV “he reached her”; NASB “he served her”; NIV “he offered her”; NRSV “he heaped up for her.” For discussion of its meaning, including the etymological evidence, see BDB 840 s.v.; R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 174; and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 125-26.

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and she ate and she was satisfied and she had some left over” (NASB similar).

[3:10]  ⁵ tn Or “blessed” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “my daughter.” This form of address is a mild form of endearment, perhaps merely rhetorical. A few English versions omit it entirely (e.g., TEV, CEV). The same expression occurs in v. 11.

[3:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “latter [act of] devotion”; NRSV “this last instance of your loyalty.”

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have made the latter act of devotion better than the former”; NIV “than that which you showed earlier.”

[3:10]  sn Greater than what you did before. Ruth’s former act of devotion was her decision to remain and help Naomi. The latter act of devotion is her decision to marry Boaz to provide a child to carry on her deceased husband’s (and Elimelech’s) line and to provide for Naomi in her old age (see Ruth 4:5, 10, 15).

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “by not going after the young men” (NASB similar); TEV “You might have gone looking for a young man.”

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “whether poor or rich” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); the more common English idiom reverses the order (“rich or poor”; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:10]  sn Whether rich or poor. This statement seems to indicate that Ruth could have married anyone. However, only by marrying a גֹּאֵל (go’el, “family guardian”; traditionally “redeemer”) could she carry on her dead husband’s line and make provision for Naomi.

[3:12]  ¹¹ tc The sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי אִם (ki ’omnam ki ’im; Kethib) occurs only here in the OT, as does the sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי (Qere). It is likely that כִּי אִם is dittographic (note the preceding sequence כִּי אָמְנָם). The translation assumes that the original text was simply the otherwise unattested וְעַתָּה כִּי אָמְנָם, with אָמְנָם and כִּי both having an asseverative (or emphatic) function.

[3:12]  ¹² tn Sometimes translated “redeemer” (also later in this verse). See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in v. 9.

[4:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I said [or perhaps, “thought to myself”], ‘I will [or “must”] uncover your ear, saying’”; NAB “So I thought I would inform you”; NIV “I thought I should bring the matter to your attention.”

[4:4]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people” appears to refer to the leaders who were specially chosen as witnesses (v. 2) and the larger group of community leaders standing by. It is possible, however, that the phrases “before those sitting here” and “before the leaders of my people” are appositional and that both refer to the ten leaders mentioned in v. 2 (cf. NLT “in the presence of these witnesses”).

[4:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “if you will redeem, redeem” (KJV, NASB, NRSV all similar); NCV “If you want to buy back the land, then buy it.”

[4:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but if he will not redeem, tell me.” Most English versions emend the third person verb form (“he”) to the second person form because Boaz is addressing the closer relative. But it is possible that he briefly addresses the witnesses and refers to the closer relative in the third person. See J. M. Sasson, Ruth, 118.

[4:4]  ¹⁷ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verb form with vav indicates purpose or result.

[4:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for there is no one besides you to redeem, and I am after you” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”