Ruth 1:16

1:16 But Ruth replied,

“Stop urging me to abandon you! ¹ 

For wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you live, I will live.

Your people will become my people,

and your God will become my God.

Ruth 3:13

3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ²  fine, ³  let him do so. ⁴  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ⁵  Sleep here until morning.” ⁶ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “do not urge me to abandon you to turn back from after you.” Most English versions, following the lead of the KJV, use “leave” here. The use of עזב (“abandon”) reflects Ruth’s perspective. To return to Moab would be to abandon Naomi and to leave her even more vulnerable than she already is.

[3:13]  ² tn Heb “if he redeems you”; NIV “if he wants to redeem”; NRSV “if he will act as next-of-kin for you.” The verb גֹּאֵל (go’el) here refers generally to fulfilling his responsibilities as a guardian of the family interests. In this case it specifically entails marrying Ruth.

[3:13]  ³ tn Or “good” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “well and good.”

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “but if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, I, [as] the Lord lives” (NASB similar).

[3:13]  ⁶ sn Sleep here. Perhaps Boaz tells her to remain at the threshing floor because he is afraid she might be hurt wandering back home in the dark. See Song 5:7 and R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 218.