Ruth 1:8

1:8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home! ¹  May the Lord show ²  you ³  the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands ⁴  and to me! ⁵ 

Ruth 2:19

2:19 Her mother-in-law asked her, ⁶  “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” ⁷  So Ruth ⁸  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 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, ⁹ 

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! ¹⁰  I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! ¹¹ 

Ruth 1:22

1:22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. ¹²  (Now they ¹³  arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.) ¹⁴ 

Ruth 2:4

Boaz and Ruth Meet

2:4 Now at that very moment, ¹⁵  Boaz arrived from Bethlehem ¹⁶  and greeted ¹⁷  the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, ¹⁸  “May the Lord bless you!”

Ruth 2:6

2:6 The servant in charge of the harvesters replied, “She’s the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab.

Ruth 2:12

2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts! ¹⁹  May your acts of kindness be repaid fully ²⁰  by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” ²¹ 

Ruth 2:22

2:22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. ²²  That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” ²³ 

Ruth 2:8

2:8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, ²⁴  my dear! ²⁵  Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not ²⁶  go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside ²⁷  my female workers. ²⁸ 

Ruth 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ²⁹  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ³⁰  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ³¹ 

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 ³²  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ³³  from among his relatives and from his village. ³⁴  You are witnesses today.”

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “each to the house of her mother.” Naomi’s words imply that it is more appropriate for the two widows to go home to their mothers, rather than stay with their mother-in-law (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75).

[1:8]  ² tc The MT (Kethib) has the imperfect יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “[the Lord] will do”), but the marginal reading (Qere) has the shortened jussive form יַעַשׂ (ya’as, “may [the Lord] do”), which is more probable in this prayer of blessing. Most English versions adopt the jussive form (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, JPS, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “do with you”; NRSV “deal kindly with you”; NLT “reward you for your kindness.” The pronominal suffix “you” appears to be a masculine form, but this is likely a preservation of an archaic dual form (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76).

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the dead” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “your husbands.” This refers to their deceased husbands.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “devotion as you have done with the dead and with me.” The noun חֶסֶד (khesed, “devotion”) is a key thematic term in the book of Ruth (see 2:20; 3:10). G. R. Clark suggests that חֶסֶד “is not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient”; an act of חֶסֶד is “a beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring commitment between two persons or parties, by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the circumstances is unable to help him – or herself” (The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible [JSOTSup], 267). HALOT 336-37 s.v. II חֶסֶד defines the word as “loyalty” or “faithfulness.” Other appropriate glosses might be “commitment” and “devotion.”

[2:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “said to her.” Since what follows is a question, the translation uses “asked her” here.

[2:19]  ⁷ tn Or “blessed” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The same expression occurs in the following verse.

[2:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, the one who returned from the region of Moab.”

[1:22]  ²² tn The pronoun appears to be third person masculine plural in form, but it is probably an archaic third person dual form (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 94).

[1:22]  ²³ tn This statement, introduced with a disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) provides closure for the previous scene, while at the same time making a transition to the next scene, which takes place in the barley field. The reference to the harvest also reminds the reader that God has been merciful to his people by replacing the famine with fertility. In the flow of the narrative the question is now, “Will he do the same for Naomi and Ruth?”

[2:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and look”; NIV, NRSV “Just then.” The narrator invites the audience into the story, describing Boaz’s arrival as if it were witnessed by the audience.

[2:4]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “said to.” Context indicates that the following expression is a greeting, the first thing Boaz says to his workers.

[2:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “said to him.” For stylistic reasons “replied” is used in the present translation.

[2:12]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “under whose wings you have sought shelter”; NIV, NLT “have come to take refuge.”

[2:22]  ³⁶ tn Naomi uses the feminine form of the word “servant” (as Boaz did earlier, see v. 8), in contrast to Ruth’s use of the masculine form in the preceding verse. Since she is concerned for Ruth’s safety, she may be subtly reminding Ruth to stay with the female workers and not get too close to the men.

[2:22]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and they will not harm you in another field”; NRSV “otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”

[2:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 119, and GKC 474 §150.e).

[2:8]  ⁴² tn Heb “my daughter.” This form of address is a mild form of endearment, perhaps merely rhetorical. It might suggest that Boaz is older than Ruth, but not necessarily significantly so. A few English versions omit it entirely (e.g., TEV, CEV).

[2:8]  ⁴³ tn The switch from the negative particle אַל (’al, see the preceding statement, “do not leave”) to לֹא (lo’) may make this statement more emphatic. It may indicate that the statement is a policy applicable for the rest of the harvest (see v. 21).

[2:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and thus you may stay close with.” The imperfect has a permissive nuance here.

[2:8]  ⁴⁵ sn The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more grain than would normally be the case (see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 61, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 121).

[2:21]  ⁴⁶ tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

[2:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “with the servants who are mine you may stay close.” The imperfect has a permissive nuance here. The word “servants” is masculine plural.

[2:21]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”

[4:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

[4:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

[4:10]  ⁵³ 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.”