² tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

¹ tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).

¹ tn Grk “took a wife” (an idiom for marrying a woman).

³ tn Heb “went and took”; NASB “went and married.”

¹ sn In context the unmarried woman would probably refer specifically to a widow, who was no longer married, as opposed to the virgin, who had never been married.

³ sn The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. NCV “the wife you married when you were young”).

³ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

¹ tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”

³ sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.

² tn This is the word בְּתוּלָה (b^etulah); it describes a young woman who is not married or a young woman engaged to be married; in any case, she is presumed to be a virgin.

⁵ tn Heb “Go, take for yourself” (so NRSV; NASB, NIV “to yourself”). In conjunction with the following phrase this means “marry.”

³ sn In this patriarchal culture Ruth would “belong” to either her father (if unmarried) or her husband (if married).

² tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn These verbs (“eating…drinking…marrying…being given in marriage”) are all progressive imperfects, describing action in progress at that time.

³ sn The word fruit refers contextually here to the prophecies that Jeremiah was giving, not (as some suppose) to his progeny. Jeremiah was not married and had no children.

¹ tn They married in the family as they were instructed. But the meaning of דּוֹד (dod) is not necessarily restricted to “uncle.”

¹ tn Heb “and her vows are upon her.” It may be that the woman gets married while her vows are still unfulfilled.

² tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.

¹ tn Or “someone has married”; Grk “someone has,” but the verb ἔχω (echō) is routinely used of marital relationships (cf. BDAG 420 s.v. 2.a), including sexual relationships. The exact nature of the relationship is uncertain in this case; it is not clear, for example, whether the man had actually married the woman or was merely cohabiting with her.