Ruth 1:7

Ruth Returns with Naomi

1:7 Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah, ¹ 

Ruth 1:11

1:11 But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! ²  I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! ³ 

Ruth 1:19

1:19 So the two of them ⁴  journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. ⁵ 

Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem

When they entered ⁶  Bethlehem, ⁷  the whole village was excited about their arrival. ⁸  The women of the village said, ⁹  “Can this be Naomi?” ¹⁰ 

Ruth 2:12-13

2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts! ¹¹  May your acts of kindness be repaid fully ¹²  by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” ¹³  2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ¹⁴  sir, ¹⁵  for you have reassured ¹⁶  and encouraged ¹⁷  me, your servant, ¹⁸  even though I am ¹⁹  not one of your servants!” ²⁰ 

Ruth 3:2

3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. ²¹  Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ²² 

Ruth 3:4

3:4 When he gets ready to go to sleep, ²³  take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs, ²⁴  and lie down ²⁵  beside him. ²⁶  He will tell ²⁷  you what you should do.”

Ruth 4:12-13

4:12 May your family ²⁸  become like the family of Perez ²⁹  – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants ³⁰  the Lord gives you by this young woman.”

A Grandson is Born to Naomi

4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. ³¹  The Lord enabled her to conceive ³²  and she gave birth to a son.

Ruth 4:15

4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ³³  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ³⁴  is better to you than seven sons!”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “and she went out from the place she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.”

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “Why would you want to come with me?” Naomi’s rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The phrase “to Judah” is added in the translation for clarification.

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “Do I still have sons in my inner parts that they might become your husbands?” Again Naomi’s rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

[1:19]  ³ tn The suffix “them” appears to be masculine, but it is probably an archaic dual form (E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76).

[1:19]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁵ tn The temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was”) here introduces a new scene.

[1:19]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “because of them” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “excited to see them.”

[1:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “they said,” but the verb form is third person feminine plural, indicating that the women of the village are the subject.

[1:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is this Naomi?” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The question here expresses surprise and delight because of the way Naomi reacts to it (F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 92).

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “repay your work”; KJV, ASV “recompense thy work.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the jussive form in the next clause).

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “may your wages be complete”; NCV “May your wages be paid in full.” The prefixed verbal form is a distinct jussive form, indicating that this is a prayer for blessing.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “under whose wings you have sought shelter”; NIV, NLT “have come to take refuge.”

[2:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am finding favor in your eyes.” In v. 10, where Ruth uses the perfect, she simply states the fact that Boaz is kind. Here the Hebrew text switches to the imperfect, thus emphasizing the ongoing attitude of kindness displayed by Boaz. Many English versions treat this as a request: KJV “Let me find favour in thy sight”; NAB “May I prove worthy of your kindness”; NIV “May I continue to find favor in your eyes.”

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “spoken to the heart of.” As F. W. Bush points out, the idiom here means “to reassure, encourage” (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124).

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Ruth here uses a word (שִׁפְחָה, shifkhah) that describes the lowest level of female servant (see 1 Sam 25:41). Note Ruth 3:9 where she uses the word אָמָה (’amah), which refers to a higher class of servant.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form of הָיָה (hayah) is used here. F. W. Bush shows from usage elsewhere that the form should be taken as future (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124-25).

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).

[3:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “look, he is winnowing the barley threshing floor tonight.”

[3:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and let it be when he lies down”; NAB “But when he lies down.”

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Some define the noun מַרְגְּלוֹת (margÿlot) as “the place for the feet” (see HALOT 631 s.v.; cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), but in Dan 10:6 the word refers to the legs, or “region of the legs.” For this reason “legs” or “lower body” is the preferred translation (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 152). Because “foot” is sometimes used euphemistically for the genitals, some feel that Ruth uncovered Boaz’s genitals. For a critique of this view see Bush, 153. While Ruth and Boaz did not actually have a sexual encounter at the threshing floor, there is no doubt that Ruth’s actions are symbolic and constitute a marriage proposal.

[3:4]  ⁹ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has וְשָׁכָבְתִּי (vÿshakhavtiy, “then I will lie down”; Qal perfect 1st person common singular), while the marginal reading (Qere) is וְשָׁכָבְתְּ (vÿshakhavt, “then you lie down”; Qal perfect 2nd person feminine singular) which makes more sense. It is possible that the Kethib preserves an archaic spelling of the 2nd person feminine singular form (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 144-45).

[3:4]  ¹⁰ tn The words “beside him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NLT “lie down there.”

[3:4]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) highlights this final word of instruction or signals the conclusion of the instructions.

[4:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “your house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[4:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the offspring whom the Lord gives to you from this young woman.”

[4:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the seed” (KJV, ASV both similar); NASB, NIV “through the offspring”; NRSV “through the children.”

[4:13]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”