Ruth 1:9

1:9 May the Lord enable each of you to find ¹  security ²  in the home of a new husband!” ³  Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. ⁴ 

Ruth 2:2

2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ⁵  to the fields so I can gather ⁶  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ⁷  Naomi ⁸  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

Ruth 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, ⁹  sir, ¹⁰  for you have reassured ¹¹  and encouraged ¹²  me, your servant, ¹³  even though I am ¹⁴  not one of your servants!” ¹⁵ 

Ruth 3:1

Naomi Instructs Ruth

3:1 At that time, ¹⁶  Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure. ¹⁷ 

Ruth 3:8

3:8 In the middle of the night he was startled ¹⁸  and turned over. ¹⁹  Now ²⁰  he saw a woman ²¹  lying beside him! ²² 

Ruth 3:18

3:18 Then Naomi ²³  said, “Stay put, ²⁴  my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest until he has taken care of the matter today.”

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “may the Lord give to you, and find rest, each [in] the house of her husband.” The syntax is unusual, but following the jussive (“may he give”), the imperative with vav (ו) conjunctive (“and find”) probably indicates the purpose or consequence of the preceding action: “May he enable you to find rest.”

[1:9]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “in the house of her husband” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “your husband.”

[1:9]  ⁴ 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).

[2:2]  ⁵ tn The cohortative here (“Let me go”) expresses Ruth’s request. Note Naomi’s response, in which she gives Ruth permission to go to the field.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[2:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “anyone in whose eyes I may find favor” (ASV, NIV similar). The expression אֶמְצָא־חֵן בְּעֵינָיו (’emtsa’-khen bÿ’enayv, “to find favor in the eyes of [someone]”) appears in Ruth 2:2, 10, 13. It is most often used when a subordinate or servant requests permission for something from a superior (BDB 336 s.v. חֵן). Ruth will play the role of the subordinate servant, seeking permission from a landowner, who then could show benevolence by granting her request to glean in his field behind the harvest workers.

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

[2:13]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:13]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).

[3:1]  ¹³ tn The phrase “sometime later” does not appear in Hebrew but is supplied to mark the implicit shift in time from the events in chapter 2.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “My daughter, should I not seek for you a resting place so that it may go well for you [or which will be good for you]?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see 2:8-9) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “trembled, shuddered”; CEV, NLT “suddenly woke up.” Perhaps he shivered because he was chilled.

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn The verb לָפַת (lafat) occurs only here, Job 6:18, and Judg 16:29 (where it seems to mean “grab hold of”). Here the verb seems to carry the meaning “bend, twist, turn,” like its Arabic cognate (see HALOT 533 s.v. לפת, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 163).

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, NASB). The narrator invites the reader to view the situation through Boaz’s eyes.

[3:8]  ²⁰ sn Now he saw a woman. The narrator writes from Boaz’s perspective. Both the narrator and the reader know the night visitor is Ruth, but from Boaz’s perspective she is simply “a woman.”

[3:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “[at] his legs.” See the note on the word “legs” in v. 4.

[3:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ²² tn Heb “sit”; KJV “Sit still”; NAB “Wait here”; NLT “Just be patient.”