Kejadian 26:29

26:29 so that ¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ²  you, but have always treated you well ³  before sending you away ⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ⁵ 

Yudas 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁶ 

Rut 3:10

3:10 He said, “May you be rewarded ⁷  by the Lord, my dear! ⁸  This act of devotion ⁹  is greater than what you did before. ¹⁰  For you have not sought to marry ¹¹  one of the young men, whether rich or poor. ¹² 

Mazmur 115:15

115:15 May you be blessed by the Lord,

the creator ¹³  of heaven and earth!

Amsal 17:8

17:8 A bribe works like ¹⁴  a charm ¹⁵  for the one who offers it; ¹⁶ 

in whatever he does ¹⁷  he succeeds. ¹⁸ 

Amsal 18:16

18:16 A person’s gift ¹⁹  makes room for him,

and leads him ²⁰  before important people.

[26:29]  ¹ tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ² tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ³ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ⁵ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[3:10]  ⁷ tn Or “blessed” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “my daughter.” This form of address is a mild form of endearment, perhaps merely rhetorical. A few English versions omit it entirely (e.g., TEV, CEV). The same expression occurs in v. 11.

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “latter [act of] devotion”; NRSV “this last instance of your loyalty.”

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you have made the latter act of devotion better than the former”; NIV “than that which you showed earlier.”

[3:10]  sn Greater than what you did before. Ruth’s former act of devotion was her decision to remain and help Naomi. The latter act of devotion is her decision to marry Boaz to provide a child to carry on her deceased husband’s (and Elimelech’s) line and to provide for Naomi in her old age (see Ruth 4:5, 10, 15).

[3:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “by not going after the young men” (NASB similar); TEV “You might have gone looking for a young man.”

[3:10]  ¹² tn Heb “whether poor or rich” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); the more common English idiom reverses the order (“rich or poor”; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:10]  sn Whether rich or poor. This statement seems to indicate that Ruth could have married anyone. However, only by marrying a גֹּאֵל (go’el, “family guardian”; traditionally “redeemer”) could she carry on her dead husband’s line and make provision for Naomi.

[115:15]  ¹³ tn Or “maker.”

[17:8]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[17:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift”; but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”

[17:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”

[17:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”

[17:8]  ¹⁸ sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment – those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.

[18:16]  ¹⁹ sn The Hebrew term translated “gift” is a more general term than “bribe” (שֹׁחַד, shokhad), used in 17:8, 23. But it also has danger (e.g., 15:27; 21:14), for by giving gifts one might learn how influential they are and use them for bribes. The proverb simply states that a gift can expedite matters.

[18:16]  ²⁰ sn The two verbs here show a progression, helping to form the synthetic parallelism. The gift first “makes room” (יַרְחִיב, yarkhiv) for the person, that is, extending a place for him, and then “ushers him in” (יַנְחֵנּוּ, yakhenu) among the greats.