Ruth 1:4

1:4 So her sons ¹  married ²  Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) ³  And they continued to live there about ten years.

Ruth 4:17

4:17 The neighbor women named him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. ⁴  Now he became the father of Jesse – David’s father!

Ruth 1:2

1:2 (Now the man’s name was Elimelech, ⁵  his wife was Naomi, ⁶  and his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. ⁷  They were of the clan of Ephrath ⁸  from Bethlehem in Judah.) They entered the region of Moab and settled there. ⁹ 

Ruth 2:1

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

2:1 Now Naomi ¹⁰  had a relative ¹¹  on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. ¹² 

Ruth 4:10

4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property ¹³  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ¹⁴  from among his relatives and from his village. ¹⁵  You are witnesses today.”

Ruth 4:5

4:5 Then Boaz said, “When ¹⁶  you acquire the field ¹⁷  from Naomi, ¹⁸  you must also ¹⁹  acquire Ruth the Moabite, ²⁰  the wife of our deceased relative, ²¹  in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” ²² 

Ruth 4:14

4:14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ²³  today! May he ²⁴  become famous in Israel! ²⁵ 

Ruth 2:19

2:19 Her mother-in-law asked her, ²⁶  “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” ²⁷  So Ruth ²⁸  told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Ruth 4:11

4:11 All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ²⁹  you prosper ³⁰  in Ephrathah and become famous ³¹  in Bethlehem. ³² 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “they.” The verb is 3rd person masculine plural referring to Naomi’s sons, as the translation indicates.

[1:4]  ² tn Heb “and they lifted up for themselves Moabite wives.” When used with the noun “wife,” the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up, carry, take”) forms the idiom “to take a wife,” that is, to marry (BDB 673 s.v. Qal.3.d; 2 Chr 11:21; 13:21; 24:3; Ezra 9:2,12; 10:44; Neh 13:25).

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “the name of the one [was] Orpah and the name of the second [was] Ruth.”

[4:17]  ⁴ tn The name “Obed” means “one who serves,” perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi (see v. 15).

[1:2]  ⁷ sn The name “Elimelech” literally means “My God [is] king.” The narrator’s explicit identification of his name seems to cast him in a positive light.

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the name of his wife [was] Naomi.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the name[s] of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Kilion.”

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[They were] Ephrathites.” Ephrathah is a small village (Ps 132:6) in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Gen 35:16), so close in proximity that it is often identified with the larger town of Bethlehem (Gen 35:19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2 [MT 5:1]; HALOT 81 s.v. אֶפְרָתָה); see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 64. The designation “Ephrathites” might indicate that they were residents of Ephrathah. However, the adjectival form אֶפְרָתִים (ephratim, “Ephrathites”) used here elsewhere refers to someone from the clan of Ephrath (cf. 1 Chr 4:4) which lived in the region of Bethlehem: “Now David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah whose name was Jesse” (1 Sam 17:12; cf. Mic 5:2 [MT 5:1]). So it is more likely that the virtually identical expression here – “Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah” – refers to the clan of Ephrath in Bethlehem (see R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth [NICOT], 91).

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and were there”; KJV “continued there”; NRSV “remained there”; TEV “were living there.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + prepositional phrase structure) provides background information essential to the following narrative.

[2:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.”

[4:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

[4:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

[4:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and from the gate of his place” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “from the court of his birth place”; NIV “from the town records.”

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the day”; NASB, NIV “On the day.”

[4:5]  ¹⁷ sn Acquire the field. This probably refers to the right to redeem and use the field. See the note on the word “selling” in v. 3.

[4:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the hand of Naomi” (so NASB, NRSV).

[4:5]  ¹⁹ tc The MT וּמֵאֵת (ume’et) may be understood in two ways: (1) “and from” (vav conjunction “and,” plus preposition מִן [min] “from,” plus definite direct object marker אֵת) parallel to the preceding מִיַד (miyyad, “from [the hand of]”), suggesting the field would be purchased from Naomi and from Ruth; or (2) “and” (vav [ו] conjunction “and,” plus enclitic mem [ם], plus direct object marker [אֵת]) introducing the second part of the acquisition: the nearest kinsman would be acquiring the field and Ruth (for discussion see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 202). However, the BHS editors suggest reading גם את־ (“as well as…”; emphatic particle גם [“also”] and the definite direct object marker אֵת) introducing the second part of the acquisition: He would be acquiring the field and Ruth. This alternate reading is reflected in the Vulgate reading quoque (“and also”) and supported by parallel usage in v. 9, “I am acquiring the field from Naomi, and also (גָּם אֵת־, gam ’et) Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased.”

[4:5]  ²⁰ tc The MT (Kethib) reads קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I acquire,” Qal perfect 1st person common singular): “When you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, I acquire Ruth the Moabitess…” However, the marginal reading (Qere) is קָנִיתָה (qanitah, “you acquire,” Qal perfect 2nd person masculine singular, reflected in 2nd person masculine singular forms in Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and Syriac): “When you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess…” The Qere is probably original because the Kethib is too difficult syntactically and contextually, while the Qere makes perfect sense: (1) Boaz stated in 3:13 that the nearest kinsman had the first right to acquire Ruth if he wanted to do so, and only the Qere reading here presents him with that option; and (2) Boaz announces in 4:9-10 that he was acquiring the field and Ruth as a package deal in 4:9-10, and only the Qere reading here presents the nearest kinsman with the same package deal. The Kethib probably arose by a scribe trying to harmonize 4:5 with the 1st person common singular form in 4:9-10 without fully understanding the ploy of Boaz in 4:5. See F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 216-17.

[4:5]  ²¹ tc The presence of two difficult textual problems in this line (see two preceding notes) has produced a combination of four different ways in which this line can be rendered: (1) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must acquire [it] from Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (KJV, NKJV); (2) “When you acquire the field from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you must acquire the wife of the deceased” (JPS, NJPS, NIV); (3) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (NASB, NCV, TEV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); and (4) “When you acquire the field from Naomi, then I acquire Ruth the Moabitess the wife of the deceased” (REB). The third option is adopted here.

[4:5]  ²² tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar); NRSV “to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”

[4:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.

[4:14]  ²⁰ tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.

[4:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”

[2:19]  ²² tn Heb “said to her.” Since what follows is a question, the translation uses “asked her” here.

[2:19]  ²³ tn Or “blessed” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The same expression occurs in the following verse.

[2:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ²⁵ tn Following the jussive, the imperative with prefixed vav indicates purpose or result.

[4:11]  ²⁶ tn The phrase וַעֲשֵׂה־חַיִל (va’aseh-khayil, literally, “do strength”) has been variously translated: (1) financial prosperity: “may you become rich” (TEV), “may you be a rich man” (CEV), “may you achieve wealth” (NASB), “may you prosper” (NKJV, NJPS); (2) social prominence: “may you become powerful” (NCV), “may you have standing” (NIV), “may you be great” (NLT), “may you do well” (NAB); (3) reproductive fertility: “may you produce children” (NRSV); and (4) social activity: “may you do a worthy deed” (REB).

[4:11]  ²⁷ tc Heb “and call a name.” This statement appears to be elliptical. Usually the person named and the name itself follow this expression. Perhaps וּקְרָא־שֵׁם (uqÿra’-shem) should be emended to וְיִקָּרֵא־שֵׁם (vÿyiqqare’-shem), “and your name will be called out,” that is, “perpetuated” (see Gen 48:16, cf. also Ruth 4:14b). The omission of the suffix with “name” could be explained as virtual haplography (note the letter bet [ב], which is similar to kaf [כ], at the beginning of the next word). The same explanation could account for the omission of the prefixed yod (י) on the verb “call” (yod [י] and vav [ו] are similar in appearance). Whether one reads the imperative (the form in the MT) or the jussive (the emended form), the construction indicates purpose or result following the earlier jussive “may he make.”

[4:11]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.