Rut 2:20
Konteks2:20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he 1 has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” 2 Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.” 3
Rut 2:2
Konteks2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go 4 to the fields so I can gather 5 grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” 6 Naomi 7 replied, “You may go, my daughter.”
1 Samuel 2:5
Konteks2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.
Even 8 the barren woman gives birth to seven, 9
but the one with many children withers away. 10
[2:20] 1 tn Many English versions translate this statement, “May he [Boaz] be blessed by the
[2:20] 2 tn Heb “to the living and the dead” (so KJV, NASB).
[2:20] 3 tn The Hebrew term גָּאַל (ga’al) is sometimes translated “redeemer” here (NIV “one of our kinsman-redeemers”; NLT “one of our family redeemers”). In this context Boaz, as a “redeemer,” functions as a guardian of the family interests who has responsibility for caring for the widows of his deceased kinsmen.
[2:2] 4 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] 5 tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.
[2:2] 6 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] 7 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:5] 8 tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.
[2:5] 9 sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.