Rut 3:1

Naomi Instructs Ruth

3:1 At that time, ¹  Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure. ² 

Rut 3:16

3:16 and she returned to her mother-in-law.

Ruth Returns to Naomi

When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi ³  asked, ⁴  “How did things turn out for you, ⁵  my daughter?” Ruth ⁶  told her about all the man had done for her. ⁷ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn The phrase “sometime later” does not appear in Hebrew but is supplied to mark the implicit shift in time from the events in chapter 2.

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “My daughter, should I not seek for you a resting place so that it may go well for you [or which will be good for you]?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see 2:8-9) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.” Since what follows is a question, the present translation uses “asked” here.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “Who are you?” In this context Naomi is clearly not asking for Ruth’s identity. Here the question has the semantic force “Are you his wife?” See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 223-24, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 184-85.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ⁷ sn All that the man had done. This would have included his promise to marry her and his gift of barley.