Ruth 1:5

1:5 Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. ¹  So the woman was left all alone – bereaved of her two children ²  as well as her husband!

Ruth 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ³  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ⁴  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ⁵ 

Ruth 1:12

1:12 Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. ⁶  Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, ⁷ 

Ruth 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ⁸  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ⁹  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “and the two of them also died, Mahlon and Kilion.”

² tn The term יֶלֶד (yeled, “offspring”), from the verb יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth to”), is used only here of a married man. By shifting to this word from the more common term בֵּן (ben, “son”; see vv. 1-5a) and then using it in an unusual manner, the author draws attention to Naomi’s loss and sets up a verbal link with the story’s conclusion (cf. 4:16). Although grown men, they were still her “babies” (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 56; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 66).

³ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

⁴ tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

⁵ 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.

⁵ sn Too old to get married again. Naomi may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Her point is clear, though: It is too late to roll back the clock.

⁶ tn Verse 12b contains the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, which is completed by the rhetorical questions in v. 13. For a detailed syntactical analysis, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 78-79.

⁷ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”