Rut 2:3

2:3 So Ruth ¹  went and gathered grain in the fields ²  behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up ³  in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

Rut 2:2

2:2 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 1:6

1:6 Her rival wife used to upset her and make her worry, ⁸  for the Lord had not enabled her to have children.

Pengkhotbah 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ⁹  I observed this on the earth: ¹⁰ 

the race is not always ¹¹  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ¹²  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ¹³  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ¹⁴  them all.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “and she went and entered [a field] and gleaned in the field behind the harvesters.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the reapers”; TEV “the workers.”

[2:3]  ³ sn The text is written from Ruth’s limited perspective. As far as she was concerned, she randomly picked a spot in the field. But God was providentially at work and led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who, as a near relative of Elimelech, was a potential benefactor.

[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.

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and her rival wife grieved her, even [with] grief so as to worry her.”

[9:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:11]  ¹¹ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

[9:11]  ¹² tn Heb “bread.”

[9:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “favor.”

[9:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “happen to.”