Genesis 24:49

24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” ¹ 

Genesis 47:29

47:29 The time ²  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ³  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ⁴  Do not bury me in Egypt,

Joshua 2:14

2:14 The men said to her, “If you ⁵  die, may we die too! ⁶  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ⁷  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ⁸  to you.” ⁹ 

Ruth 1:8

1:8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home! ¹⁰  May the Lord show ¹¹  you ¹²  the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands ¹³  and to me! ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 3:3

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy ¹⁵  leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. ¹⁶ 

[24:49]  ¹ tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.

[47:29]  ² tn Heb “days.”

[47:29]  ³ sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

[47:29]  ⁴ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “Our lives in return for you to die.” If the lives of Rahab’s family are not spared, then the spies will pay for the broken vow with their own lives.

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “each to the house of her mother.” Naomi’s words imply that it is more appropriate for the two widows to go home to their mothers, rather than stay with their mother-in-law (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75).

[1:8]  ¹¹ tc The MT (Kethib) has the imperfect יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “[the Lord] will do”), but the marginal reading (Qere) has the shortened jussive form יַעַשׂ (ya’as, “may [the Lord] do”), which is more probable in this prayer of blessing. Most English versions adopt the jussive form (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, JPS, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “do with you”; NRSV “deal kindly with you”; NLT “reward you for your kindness.” The pronominal suffix “you” appears to be a masculine form, but this is likely a preservation of an archaic dual form (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76).

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the dead” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “your husbands.” This refers to their deceased husbands.

[1:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “devotion as you have done with the dead and with me.” The noun חֶסֶד (khesed, “devotion”) is a key thematic term in the book of Ruth (see 2:20; 3:10). G. R. Clark suggests that חֶסֶד “is not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient”; an act of חֶסֶד is “a beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring commitment between two persons or parties, by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the circumstances is unable to help him – or herself” (The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible [JSOTSup], 267). HALOT 336-37 s.v. II חֶסֶד defines the word as “loyalty” or “faithfulness.” Other appropriate glosses might be “commitment” and “devotion.”

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn The two words חֶסֶד וֶאֶמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “mercy and truth”) form a nominal hendiadys, the second word becoming an adjective: “faithful covenant love” or “loyal [covenant] love and faithfulness.”

[3:3]  ¹⁶ sn This involves two implied comparisons (hypocatastasis). One is a comparison of living out the duties and responsibilities taught with binding a chain around the neck, and the other is a comparison of the inward appropriation of the teachings with writing them on a tablet. So the teachings are not only to become the lifestyle of the disciple but his very nature.