Genesis 38:8-10

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with ¹  your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise ²  up a descendant for your brother.” ³  38:9 But Onan knew that the child ⁴  would not be considered his. ⁵  So whenever ⁶  he had sexual relations with ⁷  his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely ⁸  so as not to give his brother a descendant. 38:10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord ⁹  killed him too.

Ruth 4:10-11

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 ¹⁰  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ¹¹  from among his relatives and from his village. ¹²  You are witnesses today.” 4:11 All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ¹³  you prosper ¹⁴  in Ephrathah and become famous ¹⁵  in Bethlehem. ¹⁶ 

Ruth 4:1

Boaz Settles the Matter

4:1 Now Boaz went up ¹⁷  to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian ¹⁸  whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! ¹⁹  Boaz said, “Come ²⁰  here and sit down, ‘John Doe’!” ²¹  So he came ²²  and sat down.

Ruth 2:1

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi ²³  had a relative ²⁴  on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. ²⁵ 

[38:8]  ¹ tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:8]  ² tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.

[38:8]  ³ sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.

[38:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “offspring.”

[38:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.

[38:9]  ⁶ tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.

[38:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.

[38:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

[4:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

[4:10]  ¹² 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.”

[4:11]  ¹³ tn Following the jussive, the imperative with prefixed vav indicates purpose or result.

[4:11]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase וַעֲשֵׂה־חַיִל (va’aseh-khayil, literally, “do strength”) has been variously translated: (1) financial prosperity: “may you become rich” (TEV), “may you be a rich man” (CEV), “may you achieve wealth” (NASB), “may you prosper” (NKJV, NJPS); (2) social prominence: “may you become powerful” (NCV), “may you have standing” (NIV), “may you be great” (NLT), “may you do well” (NAB); (3) reproductive fertility: “may you produce children” (NRSV); and (4) social activity: “may you do a worthy deed” (REB).

[4:11]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “and call a name.” This statement appears to be elliptical. Usually the person named and the name itself follow this expression. Perhaps וּקְרָא־שֵׁם (uqÿra’-shem) should be emended to וְיִקָּרֵא־שֵׁם (vÿyiqqare’-shem), “and your name will be called out,” that is, “perpetuated” (see Gen 48:16, cf. also Ruth 4:14b). The omission of the suffix with “name” could be explained as virtual haplography (note the letter bet [ב], which is similar to kaf [כ], at the beginning of the next word). The same explanation could account for the omission of the prefixed yod (י) on the verb “call” (yod [י] and vav [ו] are similar in appearance). Whether one reads the imperative (the form in the MT) or the jussive (the emended form), the construction indicates purpose or result following the earlier jussive “may he make.”

[4:11]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn The disjunctive clause structure (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) here signals the beginning of a new scene.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Sometimes translated “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “look, the guardian was passing by of whom Boaz had spoken.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “turn aside” (so KJV, NASB); NIV, TEV, NLT “Come over here.”

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “a certain one”; KJV, ASV “such a one.” The expression פְלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי (pÿloni ’almoni) is not the name of the nearest relative, but an idiom which literally means “such and such” or “a certain one” (BDB 811-12 s.v. פְלֹנִי), which is used when one wishes to be ambiguous (1 Sam 21:3; 2 Kgs 6:8). Certainly Boaz would have known his relative’s name, especially in such a small village, and would have uttered his actual name. However the narrator refuses to record his name in a form of poetic justice because he refused to preserve Mahlon’s “name” (lineage) by marrying his widow (see 4:5, 9-10). This close relative, who is a literary foil for Boaz, refuses to fulfill the role of family guardian. Because he does nothing memorable, he remains anonymous in a chapter otherwise filled with names. His anonymity contrasts sharply with Boaz’s prominence in the story and the fame he attains through the child born to Ruth. Because the actual name of this relative is not recorded, the translation of this expression is difficult since contemporary English style expects either a name or title. This is usually supplied in modern translations: “friend” (NASB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT), “so-and-so” (JPS, NJPS). Perhaps “Mr. So-And-So!” or “Mr. No-Name!” makes the point. For discussion see Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 99-101; R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 233-35; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 196-97. In the present translation “John Doe” is used since it is a standard designation for someone who is a party to legal proceedings whose true name is unknown.

[4:1]  ²² tn Heb “and he turned aside” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “And he went over.”

[2:1]  ²³ tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + prepositional phrase structure) provides background information essential to the following narrative.

[2:1]  ²⁴ 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.”

[2:1]  ²⁵ 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.”