Leviticus 23:29

23:29 Indeed, ¹  any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people. ² 

Deuteronomy 24:19-21

24:19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, ³  you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. ⁴  24:20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; ⁵  the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; ⁶  they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.

Ruth 2:2

2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ⁷  to the fields so I can gather ⁸  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ⁹  Naomi ¹⁰  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

Ruth 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ¹¹  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ¹²  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ¹³ 

[23:29]  ¹ tn The particular כִּי (ki) is taken in an asseverative sense here (“Indeed,” see the NJPS translation).

[23:29]  ² tn Heb “it [i.e., that person; literally “soul,” feminine] shall be cut off from its peoples [plural]”; NLT “from the community.”

[24:19]  ³ tn Heb “in the field.”

[24:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).

[24:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “knock down after you.”

[24:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “glean after you.”

[2:2]  ⁷ tn The cohortative here (“Let me go”) expresses Ruth’s request. Note Naomi’s response, in which she gives Ruth permission to go to the field.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “anyone in whose eyes I may find favor” (ASV, NIV similar). The expression אֶמְצָא־חֵן בְּעֵינָיו (’emtsa’-khen bÿ’enayv, “to find favor in the eyes of [someone]”) appears in Ruth 2:2, 10, 13. It is most often used when a subordinate or servant requests permission for something from a superior (BDB 336 s.v. חֵן). Ruth will play the role of the subordinate servant, seeking permission from a landowner, who then could show benevolence by granting her request to glean in his field behind the harvest workers.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

[2:15]  ¹² tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

[2:15]  ¹³ 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.