Rut 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ¹  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ²  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ³ 

Rut 3:5

3:5 Ruth replied to Naomi, ⁴  “I will do everything you have told ⁵  me ⁶  to do.” ⁷ 

Rut 3:17

3:17 She said, “He gave me these sixty pounds of barley, for he said to me, ⁸  ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” ⁹ 

[2:21]  ¹ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

[2:21]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “she said to her.” The referents (Ruth and Naomi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:5]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew imperfect is used, even though Naomi’s instructions appear to be concluded. The imperfect can sometimes express actions which although (strictly speaking) are already finished, yet are regarded as still lasting into the present, or continuing to operate in it (GKC 316 §107.h).

[3:5]  ⁶ tc The MT (Kethib) lacks the preposition אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) which is attested in the marginal reading (Qere). Many medieval Hebrew mss agree with the marginal reading (Qere) by including the phrase.

[3:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “everything which you are saying I will do.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes Ruth’s intention to follow Naomi’s instructions to the letter.

[3:17]  ⁸ tc The MT (Kethib) lacks the preposition אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) which is attested in the marginal reading (Qere).

[3:17]  ⁹ sn ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ In addition to being a further gesture of kindness on Boaz’s part, the gift of barley served as a token of his intention to fulfill his responsibility as family guardian. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 225-26, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 187.