Ruth 1:6

1:6 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 2:15

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ⁵  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ⁶  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ⁷ 

Ruth 3:2

3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. ⁸  Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ⁹ 

Ruth 3:14

3:14 So she slept beside him ¹⁰  until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. ¹¹  Boaz thought, ¹²  “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.” ¹³ 

Ruth 3:16

3:16 and she returned to her mother-in-law.

Ruth Returns to Naomi

When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi ¹⁴  asked, ¹⁵  “How did things turn out for you, ¹⁶  my daughter?” Ruth ¹⁷  told her about all the man had done for her. ¹⁸ 

Ruth 4:13

A Grandson is Born to Naomi

4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. ¹⁹  The Lord enabled her to conceive ²⁰  and she gave birth to a son.

Ruth 4:15

4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ²¹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ²²  is better to you than seven sons!”

[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.

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

[2:15]  ⁷ 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.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is not Boaz our close relative, with whose female servants you were?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see Ruth 2:8-9; 3:1) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “look, he is winnowing the barley threshing floor tonight.”

[3:14]  ¹³ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has the singular מַרְגְּלָתַו (margÿlatav, “his leg”), while the marginal reading (Qere) has the plural מַרְגְּלוֹתָיו (margÿlotayv, “his legs”).

[3:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and she arose before a man could recognize his companion”; NRSV “before one person could recognize another”; CEV “before daylight.”

[3:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). Some translate “he thought [to himself]” (cf. NCV).

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let it not be known that the woman came [to] the threshing floor” (NASB similar). The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah, “the woman”) is probably dittographic (note the final he on the preceding verb בָאָה [va’ah, “she came”]).

[3:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “said.” Since what follows is a question, the present translation uses “asked” here.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Who are you?” In this context Naomi is clearly not asking for Ruth’s identity. Here the question has the semantic force “Are you his wife?” See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 223-24, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 184-85.

[3:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ²¹ sn All that the man had done. This would have included his promise to marry her and his gift of barley.

[4:13]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”

[4:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”