Genesis 18:3

18:3 He said, “My lord, ¹  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ² 

Genesis 33:15

33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” ³  “Why do that?” Jacob replied. ⁴  “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” ⁵ 

Ruth 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ⁶  sir, ⁷  for you have reassured ⁸  and encouraged ⁹  me, your servant, ¹⁰  even though I am ¹¹  not one of your servants!” ¹² 

[18:3]  ¹ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ² tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[33:15]  ³ tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help.

[33:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “I am finding favor in your eyes.” In v. 10, where Ruth uses the perfect, she simply states the fact that Boaz is kind. Here the Hebrew text switches to the imperfect, thus emphasizing the ongoing attitude of kindness displayed by Boaz. Many English versions treat this as a request: KJV “Let me find favour in thy sight”; NAB “May I prove worthy of your kindness”; NIV “May I continue to find favor in your eyes.”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “spoken to the heart of.” As F. W. Bush points out, the idiom here means “to reassure, encourage” (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124).

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Ruth here uses a word (שִׁפְחָה, shifkhah) that describes the lowest level of female servant (see 1 Sam 25:41). Note Ruth 3:9 where she uses the word אָמָה (’amah), which refers to a higher class of servant.

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verbal form of הָיָה (hayah) is used here. F. W. Bush shows from usage elsewhere that the form should be taken as future (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124-25).

[2:13]  ¹² tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).