Ruth 1:4

1:4 So her sons ¹  married ²  Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) ³  And they continued to live there about ten years.

Ruth 1:9

1:9 May the Lord enable each of you to find ⁴  security ⁵  in the home of a new husband!” ⁶  Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. ⁷ 

Ruth 2:4

Boaz and Ruth Meet

2:4 Now at that very moment, ⁸  Boaz arrived from Bethlehem ⁹  and greeted ¹⁰  the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, ¹¹  “May the Lord bless you!”

Ruth 2:21

2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ¹²  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ¹³  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ¹⁴ 

Ruth 4:17

4:17 The neighbor women named him, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. ¹⁵  Now he became the father of Jesse – David’s father!

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¹ tn Heb “they.” The verb is 3rd person masculine plural referring to Naomi’s sons, as the translation indicates.

² tn Heb “and they lifted up for themselves Moabite wives.” When used with the noun “wife,” the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up, carry, take”) forms the idiom “to take a wife,” that is, to marry (BDB 673 s.v. Qal.3.d; 2 Chr 11:21; 13:21; 24:3; Ezra 9:2,12; 10:44; Neh 13:25).

³ tn Heb “the name of the one [was] Orpah and the name of the second [was] Ruth.”

sn The name Orpah (עָרְפָּה, ’orpah) is from the noun עֹרֶף (’oref, “back of the neck”) and the related verb (“to turn one’s back”). The name Ruth (רוּת, rut) is from the noun רְעוּת (rÿ’ut, “friendship”), derived from the root רֵעַ (rea’, “friend, companion”). Ironically, Orpah will eventually turn her back on Naomi, while Ruth will display extraordinary friendship as her life-long companion (see 1:14). Since they seem to mirror the most definitive action of these women, perhaps they designate character types (as is the case with the name Mara in 1:21 and Peloni Almoni in 4:2) rather than their original birth names.

⁴ 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.”

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Heb “in the house of her husband” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “your husband.”

⁷ 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).

⁸ 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.

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

¹⁰ tn Heb “said to.” Context indicates that the following expression is a greeting, the first thing Boaz says to his workers.

¹¹ tn Heb “said to him.” For stylistic reasons “replied” is used in the present translation.

¹² tn On the force of the phrase גָּם כִּי (gam ki) here, see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 138-39.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Heb “until they have finished all the harvest which is mine”; NIV “until they finish harvesting all my grain.”

¹⁵ tn The name “Obed” means “one who serves,” perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi (see v. 15).