Ruth 1:6
Context1:6 So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, 1 because while she was living in Moab 2 she had heard that the Lord had shown concern 3 for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops. 4
Ruth 1:9
Context1:9 May the Lord enable each of you to find 5 security 6 in the home of a new husband!” 7 Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. 8
Ruth 2:18
Context2:18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw 9 how much grain 10 she had gathered. Then Ruth 11 gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. 12
Ruth 3:17
Context3:17 She said, “He gave me these sixty pounds of barley, for he said to me, 13 ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” 14
Ruth 4:7
Context4:7 (Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: 15 A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. 16 This was a legally binding act 17 in Israel.)
Ruth 4:12-13
Context4:12 May your family 18 become like the family of Perez 19 – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants 20 the Lord gives you by this young woman.”
4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. 21 The Lord enabled her to conceive 22 and she gave birth to a son.


[1:6] 1 tn Heb “and she arose, along with her daughters-in-law, and she returned from the region of Moab.”
[1:6] 2 tn Heb “in the region of Moab”; KJV, NRSV “in the country of Moab.” Since this is a repetition of the phrase found earlier in the verse, it has been shortened to “in Moab” in the present translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:6] 3 tn Heb “had visited” or “taken note of.” The basic meaning of פָּקַד (paqad) is “observe, examine, take note of” (T. F. Williams, NIDOTTE 3:658), so it sometimes appears with זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”; Pss 8:4 [MT 5]; 106:4; Jer 14:10; 15:15; Hos 8:13; 9:9) and רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”; Exod 4:31; Ps 80:14 [MT 15]; NIDOTTE 3:659). It often emphasizes the cause/effect response to what is seen (NIDOTTE 3:659). When God observes people in need, it is glossed “be concerned about, care for, attend to, help” (Gen 21:1; 50:24, 25; Exod 4:31; Ruth 1:6; 1 Sam 2:21; Jer 15:15; Zeph 2:7; Zech 10:3b; NIDOTTE 3:661). When humans are the subject, it sometimes means “to visit” needy people to bestow a gift (Judg 15:1; 1 Sam 17:18). Because it has such a broad range of meanings, its use here has been translated variously: (1) “had visited” (KJV, ASV, NASV, RSV; so BDB 823-24 s.v. פָּקַד); (2) “had considered” (NRSV) and “had taken note of” (TNK; so HALOT 955-57 s.v. פקד); and (3) “had come to the aid of” (NIV), “had blessed” (TEV), and “had given” (CEV; so NIDOTTE 3:657). When God observed the plight of his people, he demonstrated his concern by benevolently giving them food.
[1:6] 4 tn Heb “by giving to them food.” The translation “reversing the famine and providing abundant crops” attempts to clarify the referent of לֶחֶם (lekhem, “food”) as “crops” and highlights the reversal of the famine that began in v. 1. The infinitive construct לָתֵת לָהֶם לָחֶם (latet lahem lakhem) may denote (1) purpose: “[he visited his people] to give them food” or (2) complementary sense explaining the action of the main verb: “[he visited his people] by giving them food.” The term לֶחֶם (lakhem) here refers to agricultural fertility, the reversal of the famine in v. 1.
[1:9] 5 tn Heb “may the
[1:9] 6 tn Heb “rest.” While the basic meaning of מְנוּחָה (mÿnukhah) is “rest,” it often refers to “security,” such as provided in marriage (BDB 629-30 s.v.; HALOT 600 s.v.). Thus English versions render it in three different but related ways: (1) the basic sense: “rest” (KJV, ASV, NASV, NIV); (2) the metonymical cause/effect sense: “security” (NRSV, NJPS, REB, NLT, GW); and (3) the referential sense: “home” (RSV, TEV, CEV, NCV).
[1:9] 7 tn Heb “in the house of her husband” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “your husband.”
[1:9] 8 tn Heb “they lifted their voice[s] and wept” (KJV, ASV, NASB all similar). This refers to loud weeping characteristic of those mourning a tragedy (Judg 21:2; 2 Sam 13:36; Job 2:12).
[2:18] 9 tc MT vocalizes ותרא as the Qal verb וַתֵּרֶא (vattere’, “and she saw”), consequently of “her mother-in-law” as subject and “what she gathered” as the direct object: “her mother-in-law saw what she gathered.” A few medieval Hebrew
[2:18] 10 tn Heb “that which”; the referent (how much grain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:18] 11 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:18] 12 tn Heb “and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left over from her being satisfied.”
[3:17] 13 tc The MT (Kethib) lacks the preposition אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) which is attested in the marginal reading (Qere).
[3:17] 14 sn ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ In addition to being a further gesture of kindness on Boaz’s part, the gift of barley served as a token of his intention to fulfill his responsibility as family guardian. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 225-26, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 187.
[4:7] 17 tn Heb “and this formerly in Israel concerning redemption and concerning a transfer to ratify every matter.”
[4:7] 18 tn Heb “a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his companion”; NASB “gave it to another”; NIV, NRSV, CEV “to the other.”
[4:7] 19 tn Heb “the legal witness”; KJV “a testimony”; ASV, NASB “the manner (form NAB) of attestation.”
[4:12] 21 tn Heb “your house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[4:12] 22 tn Heb “and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the offspring whom the
[4:12] 23 tn Heb “from the seed” (KJV, ASV both similar); NASB, NIV “through the offspring”; NRSV “through the children.”
[4:13] 25 tn Heb “and Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went in to her.” Here the phrase “went in to her” (so NASB) is a euphemism for having sexual relations (cf. NCV); NLT “When he slept with her.”
[4:13] 26 tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”