Rut 1:5

1:5 Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. ¹  So the woman was left all alone – bereaved of her two children ²  as well as her husband!

Rut 2:1

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi ³  had a relative ⁴  on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. ⁵ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and the two of them also died, Mahlon and Kilion.”

[1:5]  ² tn The term יֶלֶד (yeled, “offspring”), from the verb יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth to”), is used only here of a married man. By shifting to this word from the more common term בֵּן (ben, “son”; see vv. 1-5a) and then using it in an unusual manner, the author draws attention to Naomi’s loss and sets up a verbal link with the story’s conclusion (cf. 4:16). Although grown men, they were still her “babies” (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 56; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 66).

[2:1]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + prepositional phrase structure) provides background information essential to the following narrative.

[2:1]  ⁴ tc The marginal reading (Qere) is מוֹדַע (moda’, “relative”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְיֻדָּע (miyudda’, “friend”). The textual variant was probably caused by orthographic confusion between consonantal מְיֻדָּע and מוֹדַע. Virtually all English versions follow the marginal reading (Qere), e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV “kinsman”; NIV, NCV, NLT “relative.”

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and [there was] to Naomi a relative, to her husband, a man mighty in substance, from the clan of Elimelech, and his name [was] Boaz.”