Ruth 1:12

1:12 Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. ¹  Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, ² 

Ruth 2:2

2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ³  to the fields so I can gather ⁴  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ⁵  Naomi ⁶  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

Ruth 3:10

3:10 He said, “May you be rewarded ⁷  by the Lord, my dear! ⁸  This act of devotion ⁹  is greater than what you did before. ¹⁰  For you have not sought to marry ¹¹  one of the young men, whether rich or poor. ¹² 

[1:12]  ¹ sn Too old to get married again. Naomi may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Her point is clear, though: It is too late to roll back the clock.

[1:12]  ² tn Verse 12b contains the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, which is completed by the rhetorical questions in v. 13. For a detailed syntactical analysis, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 78-79.

[2:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[2:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:10]  ⁵ tn Or “blessed” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “my daughter.” This form of address is a mild form of endearment, perhaps merely rhetorical. A few English versions omit it entirely (e.g., TEV, CEV). The same expression occurs in v. 11.

[3:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “latter [act of] devotion”; NRSV “this last instance of your loyalty.”

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have made the latter act of devotion better than the former”; NIV “than that which you showed earlier.”

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “by not going after the young men” (NASB similar); TEV “You might have gone looking for a young man.”

[3:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “whether poor or rich” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); the more common English idiom reverses the order (“rich or poor”; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).