Ruth 1:3

1:3 Sometime later ¹  Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone.

Ruth 3:13

3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ²  fine, ³  let him do so. ⁴  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ⁵  Sleep here until morning.” ⁶ 

Ruth 4:10

4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property ⁷  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ⁸  from among his relatives and from his village. ⁹  You are witnesses today.”

¹ 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.

² tn Heb “if he redeems you”; NIV “if he wants to redeem”; NRSV “if he will act as next-of-kin for you.” The verb גֹּאֵל (go’el) here refers generally to fulfilling his responsibilities as a guardian of the family interests. In this case it specifically entails marrying Ruth.

³ tn Or “good” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “well and good.”

⁴ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

⁵ tn Heb “but if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, I, [as] the Lord lives” (NASB similar).

⁶ sn Sleep here. Perhaps Boaz tells her to remain at the threshing floor because he is afraid she might be hurt wandering back home in the dark. See Song 5:7 and R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 218.

³ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

⁴ tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

⁵ tn Heb “and from the gate of his place” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “from the court of his birth place”; NIV “from the town records.”