² tn Heb “in still a year, like the years of a hired worker.” See the note at 16:14.

³ tn Heb “said to.” Context indicates that the following expression is a greeting, the first thing Boaz says to his workers.

² tn L&N 56.1 has ‘if Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against someone, the courts are open’ Ac 19:38.”

² sn A fact seemingly unknown until recent centuries is that although worker ants are sterile, they are female. The gender of the word “ant” in Hebrew is feminine.

² tn Heb “workers and vinedressers in the hills and in Carmel.” The words “he had” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

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

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 tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object—“to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.

¹ tn Heb “in three years, like the years of a hired worker.” The three years must be reckoned exactly, just as a hired worker would carefully keep track of the time he had agreed to work for an employer in exchange for a predetermined wage.

⁵ sn The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more grain than would normally be the case (see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 61, and F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 121).

¹ sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

³ tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (roʿeh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (ʿoved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.

¹ tn Or “faithful fellow worker.” This is more likely a descriptive noun, although some scholars interpret the word σύζυγος (suzugos) here as a proper name (“Syzygos”), L&N 42.45.

² sn That is, one for each. A mina was a Greek monetary unit worth 100 denarii or about four months’ wages for an average worker based on a six-day work week.

² sn A measure (sometimes translated “bath”) was just over 8 gallons (about 30 liters). This is a large debt—about 875 gallons (3000 liters) of olive oil, worth 1000 denarii, over three year’s pay for a daily worker.

⁶ sn There is an ironic pun in this last line. The Hebrew word translated “skillful workers” is the same word that is translated “wise people” in v. 7. The artisans do their work skillfully but they are not “wise.”

¹ tc The MT lacks the phrase אַחֲרָיו הֶחֱזִיק (ʾakharayv hekheziq, “after him worked”). This phrase is used repeatedly in Neh 3:16-31 to introduce each worker and his location. It probably dropped out accidentally through haplography.

² tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 358-59.

³ tn Grk “a quart of wheat for a denarius.” A denarius was one day’s pay for an average worker. The words “will cost” are used to indicate the genitive of price or value; otherwise the English reader could understand the phrase to mean “a quart of wheat to be given as a day’s pay.”

² sn The Day refers to the Day of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1:8; 5:5) when each Christian worker will appear before Christ for evaluation of his ministry. Paul’s constant motivation was to be pleasing to the Lord in that day (2 Cor 5:9-10) and receive his commendation (1 Cor 4:5).