Ruth 2:3

2:3 So Ruth ¹  went and gathered grain in the fields ²  behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up ³  in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

Ruth 2:23

2:23 So Ruth ⁴  worked beside ⁵  Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. ⁶  After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law. ⁷ 

Ruth 3:16

3:16 and she returned to her mother-in-law.

Ruth Returns to Naomi

When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi ⁸  asked, ⁹  “How did things turn out for you, ¹⁰  my daughter?” Ruth ¹¹  told her about all the man had done for her. ¹² 

Ruth 4:15

4:15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ¹³  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ¹⁴  is better to you than seven sons!”

---

¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and she went and entered [a field] and gleaned in the field behind the harvesters.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the reapers”; TEV “the workers.”

³ sn The text is written from Ruth’s limited perspective. As far as she was concerned, she randomly picked a spot in the field. But God was providentially at work and led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who, as a near relative of Elimelech, was a potential benefactor.

⁴ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “and she stayed close with”; NIV, NRSV, CEV “stayed close to”; NCV “continued working closely with.”

⁶ sn Barley was harvested from late March through late April, wheat from late April to late May (O. Borowski, Agriculture in Ancient Israel, 88, 91).

⁷ tn Heb “and she lived with her mother-in-law” (so NASB). Some interpret this to mean that she lived with her mother-in-law while working in the harvest. In other words, she worked by day and then came home to Naomi each evening. Others understand this to mean that following the harvest she stayed at home each day with Naomi and no longer went out looking for work (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 140). Others even propose that she lived away from home during this period, but this seems unlikely. A few Hebrew mss (so also Latin Vulgate) support this view by reading, “and she returned to her mother-in-law.”

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

⁹ tn Heb “said.” Since what follows is a question, the present translation uses “asked” here.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Who are you?” In this context Naomi is clearly not asking for Ruth’s identity. Here the question has the semantic force “Are you his wife?” See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 223-24, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 184-85.

¹¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² sn All that the man had done. This would have included his promise to marry her and his gift of barley.

¹³ tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).

¹⁴ tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”