Rut 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ¹  sir, ²  for you have reassured ³  and encouraged ⁴  me, your servant, ⁵  even though I am ⁶  not one of your servants!” ⁷ 

Rut 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ⁸  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ⁹  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ¹⁰ 

Rut 2:22

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. ¹¹  That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” ¹² 

Rut 3:2

3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. ¹³  Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ¹⁴ 

Rut 3:18

3:18 Then Naomi ¹⁵  said, “Stay put, ¹⁶  my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest until he has taken care of the matter today.”

Rut 4:14

4:14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ¹⁷  today! May he ¹⁸  become famous in Israel! ¹⁹ 

[2:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ³ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ 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.

[2:22]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “and they will not harm you in another field”; NRSV “otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”

[3:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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).

[3:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sit”; KJV “Sit still”; NAB “Wait here”; NLT “Just be patient.”

[4:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.

[4:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”