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 

Genesis 34:11

34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s ⁶  father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me ⁷  I’ll give. ⁸ 

Genesis 39:3-5

39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ⁹  39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ¹⁰  Potiphar appointed Joseph ¹¹  overseer of his household and put him in charge ¹²  of everything he owned. 39:5 From the time ¹³  Potiphar ¹⁴  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ¹⁵  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ¹⁶  in his house and in his fields. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 39:21

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. ¹⁸  He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 47:25

47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ²⁰  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²¹ 

Exodus 3:21

3:21 “I will grant this people favor with ²²  the Egyptians, so that when ²³  you depart you will not leave empty-handed.

Numbers 11:11

11:11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted ²⁴  your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that ²⁵  you lay the burden of this entire people on me?

Numbers 11:15

11:15 But if you are going to deal ²⁶  with me like this, then kill me immediately. ²⁷  If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” ²⁸ 

Ruth 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ²⁹  sir, ³⁰  for you have reassured ³¹  and encouraged ³²  me, your servant, ³³  even though I am ³⁴  not one of your servants!” ³⁵ 

Ruth 2:1

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi ³⁶  had a relative ³⁷  on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. ³⁸ 

Ruth 1:22

1:22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. ³⁹  (Now they ⁴⁰  arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.) ⁴¹ 

Ruth 1:1

A Family Tragedy: Famine and Death

1:1 During the time of the judges ⁴²  there was a famine in the land of Judah. ⁴³  So a man from Bethlehem ⁴⁴  in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner ⁴⁵  in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. ⁴⁶ 

Ruth 1:19

1:19 So the two of them ⁴⁷  journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. ⁴⁸ 

Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem

When they entered ⁴⁹  Bethlehem, ⁵⁰  the whole village was excited about their arrival. ⁵¹  The women of the village said, ⁵²  “Can this be Naomi?” ⁵³ 

Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ⁵⁴  O Lord, listen attentively ⁵⁵  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁵⁶  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁵⁷  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁵⁸  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 2:5

2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ⁵⁹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

Daniel 1:9

1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. ⁶⁰ 

Acts 7:10

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ⁶¹  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

[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.”

[34:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “whatever you say.”

[34:11]  ⁸ tn Or “pay.”

[39:3]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:4]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.

[39:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:4]  ¹² tn Heb “put into his hand.”

[39:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ¹⁵ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ¹⁷ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.

[39:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”

[39:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).

[47:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ²¹ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[3:21]  ²² tn Heb “in the eyes of.” This idiom usually means that someone will be treated well by the observer. It is unlikely that it means here that the Egyptians will like the Hebrews. Rather, it means that the Egyptians will give things to the Hebrews free – gratis (see 12:35-36). Not only will God do mighty works to make the king yield, but also he will work in the minds of the Egyptian people so that they will be favorably disposed to give Israel wealth.

[3:21]  ²³ tn The temporal indicator (here future) with the particle ki (וְהָיָה כִּי, vÿhaya ki) introduces a temporal clause.

[11:11]  ²⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil of רָעַע (ra’a’, “to be evil”). Moses laments (with the rhetorical question) that God seems to have caused him evil.

[11:11]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition is expressing the result of not finding favor with God (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57). What Moses is claiming is that because he has been given this burden God did not show him favor.

[11:15]  ²⁶ tn The participle expresses the future idea of what God is doing, or what he is going to be doing. Moses would rather be killed than be given a totally impossible duty over a people that were not his.

[11:15]  ²⁷ tn The imperative of הָרַג (harag) is followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. The point is more that the infinitive adds to the emphasis of the imperative mood, which would be immediate compliance.

[11:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “my own ruin” (NIV). The word “trouble” here probably refers to the stress and difficulty of caring for a complaining group of people. The suffix on the noun would be objective, perhaps stressing the indirect object of the noun – trouble for me. The expression “on my trouble” (בְּרָעָתִי, bÿra’ati) is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the original reading in v. 15 was [to look] “on your evil” (בְּרָעָתֶךָ, bÿra’atekha), meaning “the calamity that you bring about” for Israel. However, since such an expression could be mistakenly thought to attribute evil to the Lord, the ancient scribes changed it to the reading found in the MT.

[2:13]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ³¹ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).

[2:1]  ³⁶ tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + prepositional phrase structure) provides background information essential to the following narrative.

[2:1]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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.”

[1:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, the one who returned from the region of Moab.”

[1:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The pronoun appears to be third person masculine plural in form, but it is probably an archaic third person dual form (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 94).

[1:22]  ⁴¹ tn This statement, introduced with a disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) provides closure for the previous scene, while at the same time making a transition to the next scene, which takes place in the barley field. The reference to the harvest also reminds the reader that God has been merciful to his people by replacing the famine with fertility. In the flow of the narrative the question is now, “Will he do the same for Naomi and Ruth?”

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “in the days of the judging of the judges.” The LXX simply reads “when the judges judged,” and Syriac has “in the days of the judges.” Cf. NASB “in the days when the judges governed (ruled NRSV).”

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in the land.” The phrase “of Judah” is supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ sn The name Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם, bet lekhem) is from “house, place” (בֵּית) and “bread, food” (לֶחֶם), so the name literally means “House of Bread” or “Place of Food.” Perhaps there is irony here: One would not expect a severe famine in such a location. This would not necessarily indicate that Bethlehem was under divine discipline, but merely that the famine was very severe, explaining the reason for the family’s departure.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “to live temporarily.” The verb גּוּר (gur, “sojourn”) may refer to (1) temporary dwelling in a location (Deut 18:6; Judg 17:7) or (2) permanent dwelling in a location (Judg 5:17; Ps 33:8). When used of a foreign land, it can refer to (1) temporary dwelling as a visiting foreigner (Gen 12:10; 20:1; 21:34; 2 Kgs 8:1-2; Jer 44:14) or (2) permanent dwelling as a resident foreigner (Gen 47:4; Exod 6:4; Num 15:14; Deut 26:5; 2 Sam 4:3; Jer 49:18,33; 50:40; Ezek 47:22-23). Although Naomi eventually returned to Judah, there is some ambiguity whether or not Elimelech intended the move to make them permanent resident foreigners. Cf. NASB “to sojourn” and NIV “to live for a while,” both of which imply the move was temporary, while “to live” (NCV, NRSV, NLT) is more neutral about the permanence of the relocation.

[1:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he and his wife and his two sons.” The LXX omits “two.”

[1:19]  ⁴⁷ tn The suffix “them” appears to be masculine, but it is probably an archaic dual form (E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76).

[1:19]  ⁴⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁴⁹ tn The temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was”) here introduces a new scene.

[1:19]  ⁵⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “because of them” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “excited to see them.”

[1:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “they said,” but the verb form is third person feminine plural, indicating that the women of the village are the subject.

[1:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Is this Naomi?” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The question here expresses surprise and delight because of the way Naomi reacts to it (F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 92).

[1:11]  ⁵⁴ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁵⁸ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.

[1:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.

[7:10]  ⁶¹ tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.