Ruth 3:17

3:17 She said, “He gave me these sixty pounds of barley, for he said to me, ¹  ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” ² 

Ruth 4:14

4:14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ³  today! May he ⁴  become famous in Israel! ⁵ 

---

¹ tc The MT (Kethib) lacks the preposition אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) which is attested in the marginal reading (Qere).

² sn ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ In addition to being a further gesture of kindness on Boaz’s part, the gift of barley served as a token of his intention to fulfill his responsibility as family guardian. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 225-26, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther (WBC), 187.

³ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.

⁴ tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.

⁵ tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”