Ruth 2:9

2:9 Take note of ¹  the field where the men ²  are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. ³  I will tell the men ⁴  to leave you alone. ⁵  When you are thirsty, you may go to ⁶  the water jars ⁷  and drink some of the water ⁸  the servants draw.” ⁹ 

Ruth 2:11

2:11 Boaz replied to her, ¹⁰  “I have been given a full report of ¹¹  all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left ¹²  your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. ¹³ 

Ruth 2:19

2:19 Her mother-in-law asked her, ¹⁴  “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” ¹⁵  So Ruth ¹⁶  told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Ruth 3:13

3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ¹⁷  fine, ¹⁸  let him do so. ¹⁹  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ²⁰  Sleep here until morning.” ²¹ 

Ruth 4:10

4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property ²²  so the name of the deceased might not disappear ²³  from among his relatives and from his village. ²⁴  You are witnesses today.”

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¹ tn Heb “let your eyes be upon” (KJV, NASB similar).

² tn Heb “they.” The verb is masculine plural, indicating that the male workers are the subject here.

³ tn Heb “and go after them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, indicating that the female workers are referred to here.

⁴ tn Male servants are in view here, as the masculine plural form of the noun indicates (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “the young men”).

⁵ tn Heb “Have I not commanded the servants not to touch [i.e., “harm”] you?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see v. 8). The perfect is either instantaneous, indicating completion of the action concurrent with the statement (see F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 107, 121-22, who translates, “I am herewith ordering”) or emphatic/rhetorical, indicating the action is as good as done.

⁶ tn The juxtaposition of two perfects, each with vav consecutive, here indicates a conditional sentence (see GKC 337 §112.kk).

⁷ tn Heb “vessels (so KJV, NAB, NRSV), receptacles”; NCV “water jugs.”

⁸ tn Heb “drink [some] of that which” (KJV similar); in the context “water” is implied.

⁹ tn The imperfect here either indicates characteristic or typical activity, or anterior future, referring to a future action (drawing water) which logically precedes another future action (drinking).

¹⁰ tn Heb “answered and said to her” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons this has been translated as “replied to her.”

¹¹ tn Heb “it has been fully reported to me.” The infinitive absolute here emphasizes the following finite verb from the same root. Here it emphasizes either the clarity of the report or its completeness. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 153, n. 6. Most English versions tend toward the nuance of completeness (e.g., KJV “fully been shewed”; NAB “a complete account”; NASB, NRSV “All that you have done”).

¹² tn The vav (ו) consecutive construction here has a specifying function. This and the following clause elaborate on the preceding general statement and explain more specifically what she did for her mother-in-law.

¹³ tn Heb “yesterday and the third day.” This Hebrew idiom means “previously, in the past” (Exod 5:7,8,14; Exod 21:29,36; Deut 4:42; 19:4,6; Josh 3:4; 1 Sam 21:5; 2 Sam 3:17; 1 Chr 11:2).

¹⁴ tn Heb “said to her.” Since what follows is a question, the translation uses “asked her” here.

¹⁵ tn Or “blessed” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The same expression occurs in the following verse.

¹⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Ruth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Heb “if he redeems you”; NIV “if he wants to redeem”; NRSV “if he will act as next-of-kin for you.” The verb גֹּאֵל (go’el) here refers generally to fulfilling his responsibilities as a guardian of the family interests. In this case it specifically entails marrying Ruth.

¹⁸ tn Or “good” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “well and good.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

²⁰ tn Heb “but if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, I, [as] the Lord lives” (NASB similar).

²¹ sn Sleep here. Perhaps Boaz tells her to remain at the threshing floor because he is afraid she might be hurt wandering back home in the dark. See Song 5:7 and R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 218.

²² tn Heb “in order to raise up the name of the deceased over his inheritance” (NASB similar).

²³ tn Heb “be cut off” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “may not perish.”

²⁴ tn Heb “and from the gate of his place” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “from the court of his birth place”; NIV “from the town records.”