Rut 1:22

1:22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. ¹  (Now they ²  arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.) ³ 

Rut 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ⁴  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ⁵  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ⁶ 

Rut 3:2

3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. ⁷  Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ⁸ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn Heb “and Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, the one who returned from the region of Moab.”

[1:22]  sn This summarizing statement provides closure to the first part of the story. By highlighting Ruth’s willingness to return with Naomi, it also contrasts sharply with Naomi’s remark about being empty-handed.

[1:22]  ² tn The pronoun appears to be third person masculine plural in form, but it is probably an archaic third person dual form (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 94).

[1:22]  ³ tn This statement, introduced with a disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) provides closure for the previous scene, while at the same time making a transition to the next scene, which takes place in the barley field. The reference to the harvest also reminds the reader that God has been merciful to his people by replacing the famine with fertility. In the flow of the narrative the question is now, “Will he do the same for Naomi and Ruth?”

[1:22]  sn The barley harvest began in late March. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 91.

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

[2:15]  ⁶ 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.

[3:2]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).