Rut 2:2

2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ¹  to the fields so I can gather ²  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ³  Naomi ⁴  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

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 

[2:2]  ¹ tn The cohortative here (“Let me go”) expresses Ruth’s request. Note Naomi’s response, in which she gives Ruth permission to go to the field.

[2:2]  ² tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “anyone in whose eyes I may find favor” (ASV, NIV similar). The expression אֶמְצָא־חֵן בְּעֵינָיו (’emtsa’-khen bÿ’enayv, “to find favor in the eyes of [someone]”) appears in Ruth 2:2, 10, 13. It is most often used when a subordinate or servant requests permission for something from a superior (BDB 336 s.v. חֵן). Ruth will play the role of the subordinate servant, seeking permission from a landowner, who then could show benevolence by granting her request to glean in his field behind the harvest workers.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[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).