Ruth 2:15-16

2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told ¹  his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among ²  the bundles! Don’t chase her off! ³  2:16 Make sure you pull out ⁴  ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” ⁵ 

Ruth 3:14

3:14 So she slept beside him ⁶  until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. ⁷  Boaz thought, ⁸  “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.” ⁹ 

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¹ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).

² tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”

³ 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.

⁴ 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.).

⁵ tn Heb “do not rebuke her” (so NASB, NRSV); CEV “don’t speak harshly to her”; NLT “don’t give her a hard time.”

⁶ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has the singular מַרְגְּלָתַו (margÿlatav, “his leg”), while the marginal reading (Qere) has the plural מַרְגְּלוֹתָיו (margÿlotayv, “his legs”).

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

⁷ tn Heb “and she arose before a man could recognize his companion”; NRSV “before one person could recognize another”; CEV “before daylight.”

⁸ tn Heb “and he said” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). Some translate “he thought [to himself]” (cf. NCV).

⁹ tn Heb “let it not be known that the woman came [to] the threshing floor” (NASB similar). The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah, “the woman”) is probably dittographic (note the final he on the preceding verb בָאָה [va’ah, “she came”]).