Rut 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ¹  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ²  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ³ 

Rut 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ⁴  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ⁵  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ⁶ 

[2:15]  ¹ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

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

[2:15]  ³ 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.

[2:21]  ⁴ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

[2:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the servants who are mine you may stay close.” The imperfect has a permissive nuance here. The word “servants” is masculine plural.

[2:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”