Rut 2:8

2:8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, ¹  my dear! ²  Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not ³  go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside ⁴  my female workers. ⁵ 

Rut 2:22-23

2:22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. ⁶  That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” ⁷  2:23 So Ruth ⁸  worked beside ⁹  Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. ¹⁰  After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law. ¹¹ 

Rut 3:13

3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ¹²  fine, ¹³  let him do so. ¹⁴  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ¹⁵  Sleep here until morning.” ¹⁶ 

Rut 2:9

2:9 Take note of ¹⁷  the field where the men ¹⁸  are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. ¹⁹  I will tell the men ²⁰  to leave you alone. ²¹  When you are thirsty, you may go to ²²  the water jars ²³  and drink some of the water ²⁴  the servants draw.” ²⁵ 

Rut 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ²⁶  sir, ²⁷  for you have reassured ²⁸  and encouraged ²⁹  me, your servant, ³⁰  even though I am ³¹  not one of your servants!” ³² 

Rut 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ³³  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ³⁴  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ³⁵ 

Rut 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ³⁶  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ³⁷  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ³⁸ 

Rut 2:12

2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts! ³⁹  May your acts of kindness be repaid fully ⁴⁰  by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” ⁴¹ 

Rut 3:2

3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. ⁴²  Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ⁴³ 

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 119, and GKC 474 §150.e).

[2:8]  ² tn Heb “my daughter.” This form of address is a mild form of endearment, perhaps merely rhetorical. It might suggest that Boaz is older than Ruth, but not necessarily significantly so. A few English versions omit it entirely (e.g., TEV, CEV).

[2:8]  ³ tn The switch from the negative particle אַל (’al, see the preceding statement, “do not leave”) to לֹא (lo’) may make this statement more emphatic. It may indicate that the statement is a policy applicable for the rest of the harvest (see v. 21).

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and thus you may stay close with.” The imperfect has a permissive nuance here.

[2:8]  ⁵ sn The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more grain than would normally be the case (see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 61, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 121).

[2:22]  ⁶ tn Naomi uses the feminine form of the word “servant” (as Boaz did earlier, see v. 8), in contrast to Ruth’s use of the masculine form in the preceding verse. Since she is concerned for Ruth’s safety, she may be subtly reminding Ruth to stay with the female workers and not get too close to the men.

[2:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they will not harm you in another field”; NRSV “otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”

[2:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “and she stayed close with”; NIV, NRSV, CEV “stayed close to”; NCV “continued working closely with.”

[2:23]  ¹⁰ sn Barley was harvested from late March through late April, wheat from late April to late May (O. Borowski, Agriculture in Ancient Israel, 88, 91).

[2:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she lived with her mother-in-law” (so NASB). Some interpret this to mean that she lived with her mother-in-law while working in the harvest. In other words, she worked by day and then came home to Naomi each evening. Others understand this to mean that following the harvest she stayed at home each day with Naomi and no longer went out looking for work (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 140). Others even propose that she lived away from home during this period, but this seems unlikely. A few Hebrew mss (so also Latin Vulgate) support this view by reading, “and she returned to her mother-in-law.”

[3:13]  ¹² tn Heb “if he redeems you”; NIV “if he wants to redeem”; NRSV “if he will act as next-of-kin for you.” The verb גֹּאֵל (go’el) here refers generally to fulfilling his responsibilities as a guardian of the family interests. In this case it specifically entails marrying Ruth.

[3:13]  ¹³ tn Or “good” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “well and good.”

[3:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “but if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, I, [as] the Lord lives” (NASB similar).

[3:13]  ¹⁶ sn Sleep here. Perhaps Boaz tells her to remain at the threshing floor because he is afraid she might be hurt wandering back home in the dark. See Song 5:7 and R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 218.

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “let your eyes be upon” (KJV, NASB similar).

[2:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they.” The verb is masculine plural, indicating that the male workers are the subject here.

[2:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and go after them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, indicating that the female workers are referred to here.

[2:9]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn The juxtaposition of two perfects, each with vav consecutive, here indicates a conditional sentence (see GKC 337 §112.kk).

[2:9]  ²³ tn Heb “vessels (so KJV, NAB, NRSV), receptacles”; NCV “water jugs.”

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “drink [some] of that which” (KJV similar); in the context “water” is implied.

[2:9]  ²⁵ 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).

[2:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I am finding favor in your eyes.” In v. 10, where Ruth uses the perfect, she simply states the fact that Boaz is kind. Here the Hebrew text switches to the imperfect, thus emphasizing the ongoing attitude of kindness displayed by Boaz. Many English versions treat this as a request: KJV “Let me find favour in thy sight”; NAB “May I prove worthy of your kindness”; NIV “May I continue to find favor in your eyes.”

[2:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “spoken to the heart of.” As F. W. Bush points out, the idiom here means “to reassure, encourage” (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124).

[2:13]  ³⁰ tn Ruth here uses a word (שִׁפְחָה, shifkhah) that describes the lowest level of female servant (see 1 Sam 25:41). Note Ruth 3:9 where she uses the word אָמָה (’amah), which refers to a higher class of servant.

[2:13]  ³¹ tn The imperfect verbal form of הָיָה (hayah) is used here. F. W. Bush shows from usage elsewhere that the form should be taken as future (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124-25).

[2:13]  ³² tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).

[2:15]  ³³ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

[2:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

[2:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “do not humiliate her”; cf. KJV “reproach her not”; NASB “do not insult her”; NIV “don’t embarrass her.” This probably refers to a verbal rebuke which would single her out and embarrass her (see v. 16). See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 176-77, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 126.

[2:21]  ³⁶ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

[2:21]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”

[2:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “repay your work”; KJV, ASV “recompense thy work.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the jussive form in the next clause).

[2:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “may your wages be complete”; NCV “May your wages be paid in full.” The prefixed verbal form is a distinct jussive form, indicating that this is a prayer for blessing.

[2:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “under whose wings you have sought shelter”; NIV, NLT “have come to take refuge.”

[3:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “Is not Boaz our close relative, with whose female servants you were?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see Ruth 2:8-9; 3:1) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “look, he is winnowing the barley threshing floor tonight.”

[3:2]  sn Winnowing the threshed grain involved separating the kernels of grain from the straw and chaff. The grain would be thrown into the air, allowing the wind to separate the kernels (see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 65-66). The threshing floor itself was usually located outside town in a place where the prevailing west wind could be used to advantage (Borowski, 62-63).