Ruth 2:14-16

2:14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have ¹  some food! Dip your bread ²  in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed ³  her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. ⁴  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  2:16 Make sure you pull out ⁸  ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” ⁹ 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “eat” (so KJV, NRSV).

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “your portion”; NRSV “your morsel.”

[2:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb צָבַט (tsavat) occurs only here in the OT. Cf. KJV, ASV “he reached her”; NASB “he served her”; NIV “he offered her”; NRSV “he heaped up for her.” For discussion of its meaning, including the etymological evidence, see BDB 840 s.v.; R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 174; and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 125-26.

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and she ate and she was satisfied and she had some left over” (NASB similar).

[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.

[2:16]  ⁸ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis. Here שָׁלַל (shalal, “pull out”) is a homonym of the more common Hebrew verb meaning “to plunder.” An Arabic cognate is used of drawing a sword out of a scabbard (see BDB 1021 s.v.).

[2:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not rebuke her” (so NASB, NRSV); CEV “don’t speak harshly to her”; NLT “don’t give her a hard time.”