1:1 During the time of the judges 8 there was a famine in the land of Judah. 9 So a man from Bethlehem 10 in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner 11 in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. 12
132:6 Look, we heard about it 16 in Ephrathah, 17
we found it in the territory of Jaar. 18
5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 19
seemingly insignificant 20 among the clans of Judah –
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, 21
one whose origins 22 are in the distant past. 23
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem 24 in Judea, in the time 25 of King Herod, 26 wise men 27 from the East came to Jerusalem 28
2:16 When Herod 29 saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men 30 to kill all the children in Bethlehem 31 and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.
2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud wailing, 32
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted, because they were 33 gone.” 34
1 tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
3 sn The name “Elimelech” literally means “My God [is] king.” The narrator’s explicit identification of his name seems to cast him in a positive light.
4 tn Heb “and the name of his wife [was] Naomi.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “and the name[s] of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Kilion.”
6 tn Heb “[They were] Ephrathites.” Ephrathah is a small village (Ps 132:6) in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Gen 35:16), so close in proximity that it is often identified with the larger town of Bethlehem (Gen 35:19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2 [MT 5:1]; HALOT 81 s.v. אֶפְרָתָה); see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 64. The designation “Ephrathites” might indicate that they were residents of Ephrathah. However, the adjectival form אֶפְרָתִים (ephratim, “Ephrathites”) used here elsewhere refers to someone from the clan of Ephrath (cf. 1 Chr 4:4) which lived in the region of Bethlehem: “Now David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah whose name was Jesse” (1 Sam 17:12; cf. Mic 5:2 [MT 5:1]). So it is more likely that the virtually identical expression here – “Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah” – refers to the clan of Ephrath in Bethlehem (see R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth [NICOT], 91).
7 tn Heb “and were there”; KJV “continued there”; NRSV “remained there”; TEV “were living there.”
8 tn Heb “in the days of the judging of the judges.” The LXX simply reads “when the judges judged,” and Syriac has “in the days of the judges.” Cf. NASB “in the days when the judges governed (ruled NRSV).”
9 tn Heb “in the land.” The phrase “of Judah” is supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
10 sn The name Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם, bet lekhem) is from “house, place” (בֵּית) and “bread, food” (לֶחֶם), so the name literally means “House of Bread” or “Place of Food.” Perhaps there is irony here: One would not expect a severe famine in such a location. This would not necessarily indicate that Bethlehem was under divine discipline, but merely that the famine was very severe, explaining the reason for the family’s departure.
11 tn Or “to live temporarily.” The verb גּוּר (gur, “sojourn”) may refer to (1) temporary dwelling in a location (Deut 18:6; Judg 17:7) or (2) permanent dwelling in a location (Judg 5:17; Ps 33:8). When used of a foreign land, it can refer to (1) temporary dwelling as a visiting foreigner (Gen 12:10; 20:1; 21:34; 2 Kgs 8:1-2; Jer 44:14) or (2) permanent dwelling as a resident foreigner (Gen 47:4; Exod 6:4; Num 15:14; Deut 26:5; 2 Sam 4:3; Jer 49:18,33; 50:40; Ezek 47:22-23). Although Naomi eventually returned to Judah, there is some ambiguity whether or not Elimelech intended the move to make them permanent resident foreigners. Cf. NASB “to sojourn” and NIV “to live for a while,” both of which imply the move was temporary, while “to live” (NCV, NRSV, NLT) is more neutral about the permanence of the relocation.
12 tn Heb “he and his wife and his two sons.” The LXX omits “two.”
13 tn Heb “said to her.” Since what follows is a question, the translation uses “asked her” here.
14 tn Or “blessed” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The same expression occurs in the following verse.
15 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Rather than having an antecedent, the third feminine singular pronominal suffix here (and in the next line) appears to refer to the ark of the covenant, mentioned in v. 8. (The Hebrew term אָרוֹן [’aron, “ark”] is sometimes construed as grammatically feminine. See 1 Sam 4:17; 2 Chr 8:11.)
17 sn Some understand Ephrathah as a reference to Kiriath-jearim because of the apparent allusion to this site in the next line (see the note on “Jaar”). The ark was kept in Kiriath-jearim after the Philistines released it (see 1 Sam 6:21-7:2). However, the switch in verbs from “heard about” to “found” suggests that Ephrathah not be equated with Jair. The group who is speaking heard about the ark while they were in Ephrath. They then went to retrieve it from Kiriath-jearim (“Jaar”). It is more likely that Ephrathah refers to a site near Bethel (Gen 35:16, 19; 48:7) or to Bethlehem (Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2).
18 tn Heb “fields of the forest.” The Hebrew term יָעַר (ya’ad, “forest”) is apparently a shortened alternative name for קִרְיַת יְעָרִים (qiryat yÿ’arim, “Kiriath-jearim”), the place where the ark was kept after it was released by the Philistines and from which David and his men retrieved it (see 1 Chr 13:6).
19 sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.
20 tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.
21 tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”
22 tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.
23 tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.
24 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
25 tn Grk “in the days.”
26 sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37
27 sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (L&N 32.40).
28 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
29 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.
30 tn Or “soldiers.”
31 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
32 tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later
33 tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.
34 sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.