50:4 When the days of mourning 12 had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, 13 “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, 14
33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ 15 but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, 16 and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me 17 your way, that I may know you, 18 that I may continue to find 19 favor in your sight. And see 20 that this nation is your people.”
2:10 Ruth 21 knelt before him with her forehead to the ground 22 and said to him, “Why are you so kind 23 and so attentive to me, 24 even though 25 I am a foreigner?” 26
2:1 Now Naomi 27 had a relative 28 on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. 29
31:2 The Lord says,
“The people of Israel who survived
death at the hands of the enemy 31
will find favor in the wilderness
as they journey to find rest for themselves.
1 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
2 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
3 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
4 sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
5 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
6 tn Heb “lest.”
7 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
8 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
9 tn Heb “days.”
10 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
11 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”
12 tn Heb “weeping.”
13 tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.”
14 tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.”
15 tn The Hiphil imperative is from the same verb that has been used before for bringing the people up from Egypt and leading them to Canaan.
16 tn That is, “chosen you.”
17 tn The prayer uses the Hiphil imperative of the verb “to know.” “Cause me to know” is “show me, reveal to me, teach or inform me.” Moses wanted to know more of God’s dealings with people, especially after all that has happened in the preceding chapter.
18 tn The imperfect tense of the verb “to know” with the vav follows the imperative of this root, and so this indicates the purpose clause (final imperfect): “in order that I may know you.” S. R. Driver summarizes it this way: that I may understand what your nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, so that I may find grace in your sight, and my future prayers may be answered (Exodus, 361).
19 tn The purpose clause simply uses the imperfect, “that I may find.” But since he already has found favor in God’s eyes, he is clearly praying that it be so in the future as well as now.
20 tn The verb “see” (an imperative) is a request for God to acknowledge Israel as his people by providing the divine leadership needed. So his main appeal will be for the people and not himself. To underscore this, he repeats “see” the way the section opened.
21 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Heb “she fell upon her face and bowed to the ground” (KJV, NASB similar).
23 tn Heb “Why do I find favor in your eyes…?” The expression מָצַא חֵן בְּעֵינֶי (matsa’ khen bÿ’eney, “to find favor in the eyes of [someone]”) is often characterized by the following features: (1) A subordinate or servant is requesting permission for something from a superior (master, owner, king). (2) The granting of the request is not a certainty but dependent on whether or not the superior is pleased with the subordinate to do so. (3) The granting of the request by the superior is an act of kindness or benevolence; however, it sometimes reciprocates loyalty previously shown by the subordinate to the superior (e.g., Gen 30:27; 32:6; 33:8, 10, 15; 34:11; 39:4; 47:25, 29; 50:4; Num 32:5; Deut 24:1; 1 Sam 1:18; 16:22; 20:3, 29; 27:3; 2 Sam 14:22; 16:4; 1 Kgs 11:19; Esth 5:8; 7:3; BDB 336 s.v. חֵן). While Boaz had granted her request for permission to glean in his field, she is amazed at the degree of kindness he had shown – especially since she had done nothing, in her own mind, to merit such a display. However, Boaz explains that she had indeed shown kindness to him indirectly through her devotion to Naomi (v. 11).
24 tn Heb “Why do I find favor in your eyes by [you] recognizing me.” The infinitive construct with prefixed לְ (lamed) here indicates manner (“by”).
25 tn Heb “and I am a foreigner.” The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav + subject + predicate nominative) here has a circumstantial (i.e., concessive) function (“even though”).
26 sn The similarly spelled Hebrew terms נָכַר (nakhar, “to notice”) and נָכְרִי (nokhriy, “foreigner”) in this verse form a homonymic wordplay. This highlights the unexpected nature of the attentiveness and concern Boaz displayed to Ruth.
27 tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + prepositional phrase structure) provides background information essential to the following narrative.
28 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is מוֹדַע (moda’, “relative”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְיֻדָּע (miyudda’, “friend”). The textual variant was probably caused by orthographic confusion between consonantal מְיֻדָּע and מוֹדַע. Virtually all English versions follow the marginal reading (Qere), e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV “kinsman”; NIV, NCV, NLT “relative.”
29 tn Heb “and [there was] to Naomi a relative, to her husband, a man mighty in substance, from the clan of Elimelech, and his name [was] Boaz.”
30 tn Heb “And Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died.” The vav (ו) functions in a consecutive sense (“then”), but the time-frame is not explicitly stated.
31 tn Heb “who survived the sword.”