Rut 1:17
Konteks1:17 Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried.
May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! 1
Only death will be able to separate me from you!” 2
Rut 2:14
Konteks2:14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have 3 some food! Dip your bread 4 in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed 5 her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. 6
Rut 3:15
Konteks3:15 Then he said, “Hold out the shawl 7 you are wearing 8 and grip it tightly.” As she held it tightly, he measured out about sixty pounds 9 of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders. Then he 10 went into town,
Rut 4:15
Konteks4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, 11 for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She 12 is better to you than seven sons!”
[1:17] 1 tn Heb “Thus may the
[1:17] 2 tn Heb “certainly death will separate me and you.” Ruth’s vow has been interpreted two ways: (1) Not even death will separate her from Naomi – because they will be buried next to one another (e.g., NRSV, NCV; see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 74-75). However, for the statement to mean, “Not even death will separate me and you,” it would probably need to be introduced by אִם (’im, “if”) or negated by לֹא (lo’, “not”; see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 83). (2) Nothing except death will separate her from Naomi (e.g., KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV, TEV, NJPS, REB, NLT, GW; see Bush, 83). The particle כִּי introduces the content of the vow, which – if violated – would bring about the curse uttered in the preceding oath (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.c; e.g., Gen 42:16; Num 14:22; 1 Sam 20:3; 26:16; 29:6; 2 Sam 3:35; 1 Kgs 2:23; Isa 49:18). Some suggest that כּי is functioning as an asseverative (“indeed, certainly”) to express what the speaker is determined will happen (Bush, 83; see 1 Sam 14:44; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 2:23; 19:2). Here כִּי probably functions in a conditional sense: “if” or “if…except, unless” (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי2.b). So her vow may essentially mean “if anything except death should separate me from you!” The most likely view is (2): Ruth is swearing that death alone will separate her from Naomi.
[1:17] sn Ruth’s devotion to Naomi is especially apparent here. Instead of receiving a sure blessing and going home (see v. 8), Ruth instead takes on a serious responsibility and subjects herself to potential divine punishment. Death, a power beyond Ruth’s control, will separate the two women, but until that time Ruth will stay by Naomi’s side and she will even be buried in the same place as Naomi.
[2:14] 3 tn Heb “eat” (so KJV, NRSV).
[2:14] 4 tn Heb “your portion”; NRSV “your morsel.”
[2:14] 5 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] 6 tn Heb “and she ate and she was satisfied and she had some left over” (NASB similar).
[3:15] 7 tn Or “cloak” (so NAB, NRSV, NLT); CEV “cape.” The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Isa 3:22.
[3:15] 8 tn Heb “which [is] upon you”; NIV, NRSV “you are wearing.”
[3:15] 9 tn Heb “and she gripped it tightly and he measured out six of barley and placed upon her.” The unit of measure is not indicated in the Hebrew text, although it would probably have been clear to the original hearers of the account. Six ephahs, the equivalent of 180-300 pounds, is clearly too heavy, especially if carried in a garment. Six omers (an omer being a tenth of an ephah) seems too little, since this would have amounted to six-tenths of an ephah, less than Ruth had gleaned in a single day (cf. 2:17). Thus a seah (one third of an ephah) may be in view here; six seahs would amount to two ephahs, about 60 pounds (27 kg). See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 222, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 178.
[3:15] 10 tc The MT preserves the 3rd person masculine singular form וַיָּבֹא (vayyavo’, “then he went”; cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT), while many medieval
[4:15] 11 tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).