Discovery BoxRuth 1:5 
Context1:5 Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. 1 So the woman was left all alone – bereaved of her two children 2 as well as her husband!
Ruth 1:15
Context1:15 So Naomi 3 said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. 4 Follow your sister-in-law back home!”
Ruth 2:15-16
Context2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told 5 his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among 6 the bundles! Don’t chase her off! 7 2:16 Make sure you pull out 8 ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” 9
Ruth 3:1
Context3:1 At that time, 10 Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure. 11
Ruth 3:6
Context3:6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. 12
Ruth 4:13
Context4:13 So Boaz married Ruth and had sexual relations with her. 13 The Lord enabled her to conceive 14 and she gave birth to a son.
1 tn Heb “and the two of them also died, Mahlon and Kilion.”
2 tn The term יֶלֶד (yeled, “offspring”), from the verb יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth to”), is used only here of a married man. By shifting to this word from the more common term בֵּן (ben, “son”; see vv. 1-5a) and then using it in an unusual manner, the author draws attention to Naomi’s loss and sets up a verbal link with the story’s conclusion (cf. 4:16). Although grown men, they were still her “babies” (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 56; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 66).
3 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Or “gods” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, CEV, NLT), if the plural form is taken as a numerical plural. However, it is likely that Naomi, speaking from Orpah’s Moabite perspective, uses the plural of majesty of the Moabite god Chemosh. For examples of the plural of majesty being used of a pagan god, see BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1.d. Note especially 1 Kgs 11:33, where the plural form is used of Chemosh.
5 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NASB, NCV).
6 tn Heb “even between”; NCV “even around.”
7 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.
8 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.).
9 tn Heb “do not rebuke her” (so NASB, NRSV); CEV “don’t speak harshly to her”; NLT “don’t give her a hard time.”
10 tn The phrase “sometime later” does not appear in Hebrew but is supplied to mark the implicit shift in time from the events in chapter 2.
11 tn Heb “My daughter, should I not seek for you a resting place so that it may go well for you [or which will be good for you]?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see 2:8-9) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
12 tn Heb “and she did according to all which her mother-in-law commanded her” (NASB similar). Verse 6 is a summary statement, while the following verses (vv. 7-15) give the particulars.
13 tn Heb “and Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went in to her.” Here the phrase “went in to her” (so NASB) is a euphemism for having sexual relations (cf. NCV); NLT “When he slept with her.”
14 tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”
