Ruth 3

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Naomi uses the word manoach ('resting place, security'), a form closely related to menuchah from 1:9 where she wished each daughter-in-law 'rest in the home of a husband.' The root nun-vav-chet ('to rest, to settle') carries the sense of being safely placed — not idleness but stability. By returning to this theme, Naomi signals that what she wished for Ruth in chapter 1 she now intends to pursue actively.
2. The phrase asher yitav lakh ('where it will go well for you') echoes Deuteronomy's formula for life in the promised land (Deuteronomy 4:40, 5:16). Naomi is not merely playing matchmaker — she is seeking for Ruth the covenantal blessing of being well-settled.

Translator Notes

1. The particle hinneh ('look, listen') — rendered here as 'Listen' — marks a shift from general observation to specific intelligence. Naomi has been watching and knows Boaz's schedule. The threshing floor (goren) was an open-air elevated platform where grain was tossed into the wind to separate wheat from chaff. During harvest, owners slept at the threshing floor to guard the grain — making Boaz both accessible and alone at night.
2. The term moda'tanu ('our relative, our acquaintance') uses a softer kinship word than go'el. Naomi identifies Boaz as family without yet naming the legal claim she intends to invoke. The possessive 'our' (first person plural) is significant — Naomi includes herself in the family connection, reminding Ruth that this is not a stranger but their own kin.

Translator Notes

1. Naomi's instructions form a precise sequence of preparation: rachats ('bathe'), sakht ('anoint with oil'), and samt simlotayikh ('put on your garments'). The anointing with oil (sakht) was both cosmetic and ceremonial — it could signal the end of mourning (2 Samuel 12:20, 14:2). If Ruth has been in widow's garments, this preparation marks a transition: she is presenting herself not as a mourner but as a woman available for marriage.
2. The instruction al tivvade'i la-ish ('do not make yourself known to the man') uses the reflexive of yada ('to know'). The verb yada carries sexual connotations elsewhere (Genesis 4:1), but here the straightforward sense is simply 'do not reveal your identity' — remain unnoticed until the right moment. The double register of the verb, however, is part of the chapter's sustained ambiguity.
3. The Ketiv/Qere notation in the WLC for simlotayikh ('your garments') reflects a minor textual variant in the consonantal tradition, though both forms yield the same meaning.

Translator Notes

1. This verse is the crux of the chapter's deliberate ambiguity. Three loaded terms appear together: shakav ('to lie down'), galah ('to uncover'), and margelot ('the place of the feet'). Each carries both an ordinary sense and a sexual connotation. The verb shakav means simply 'to lie down' but is also the standard euphemism for sexual intercourse (Genesis 19:32-35, 2 Samuel 11:4). The verb galah ('to uncover') is the verb of sexual exposure in Leviticus 18. And margelot ('the place of the feet/legs') may be a euphemism for the genital area, as 'feet' (raglayim) is used elsewhere (Judges 3:24, Isaiah 7:20). The narrator deploys all three without resolving the ambiguity.
2. The Ketiv reads veshakhavt ('and you shall lie down' — second person), while the Qere reads veshakhavti ('and I shall lie down' — first person). The Ketiv is the expected form for Naomi's instruction to Ruth. The Qere with the first-person form is difficult — some scholars suggest it reflects Naomi momentarily identifying with Ruth's action.
3. Naomi's closing instruction — vehu yaggid lakh et asher ta'asin ('he will tell you what to do') — places the initiative with Boaz after Ruth's approach. Naomi's plan gets Ruth to the threshing floor; what happens next is Boaz's decision.

Translator Notes

1. Ruth's response — kol asher tomeri e'eseh ('everything you say I will do') — echoes Israel's covenant formula at Sinai: kol asher dibber YHWH na'aseh ('everything the LORD has spoken we will do,' Exodus 19:8). Whether the echo is deliberate or simply reflects conventional Hebrew agreement language, the effect is the same: Ruth commits to Naomi's plan with the totality of covenant obedience.
2. The Ketiv reads elai ('to me') while the Qere reads elayikh ('to you'). The Qere makes better contextual sense — 'everything you say to me' — while the Ketiv as written ('everything you say to you') appears to be a scribal anomaly.

Translator Notes

1. The verb yarad ('to go down') is geographically accurate — threshing floors were typically on elevated ground outside the village, but Bethlehem sits on a ridge and the floor would have been below the town. The narrative restraint here is notable: the text simply says vatta'as kekhol asher tsivvattah chamotah ('she did according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her') without narrating the bathing, anointing, or dressing. The reader must supply what the narrator compresses.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase vayyitav libbo ('his heart was good') indicates satisfaction and contentment after the harvest meal — the same phrase is used of Boaz's ancestor Judah's heart being 'good with wine' in other harvest contexts. It does not necessarily imply drunkenness, though some interpreters read it that way. We rendered it 'content' to capture the sense of post-meal satisfaction without importing intoxication.
2. Ruth comes balat ('in secret, stealthily, quietly'). The word appears only here and in Judges 4:21 (where Jael approaches Sisera secretly) and 1 Samuel 18:22 and 24:4. The parallel with Jael is striking — another woman approaching a sleeping man — though with radically different intent.
3. The narrator now executes Naomi's instructions in compressed form: vattegal margelotav vattishkav ('she uncovered the place of his feet and lay down'). The same ambiguous vocabulary from verse 4 reappears without further explanation. The narrator refuses to clarify what the reader most wants to know.

Translator Notes

1. The opening vayyehi bachatsi ha-laylah ('and it was at the middle of the night') uses the narrative formula vayyehi to mark a dramatic turning point. Midnight is the hour of crisis throughout the Hebrew Bible — it is when the LORD strikes Egypt's firstborn (Exodus 12:29) and when Samson carries off Gaza's gates (Judges 16:3).
2. The verb yecharad ('he trembled, he was startled') indicates a visceral, physical reaction — not mere surprise but a shudder of alarm. The verb yillafet ('he turned, he twisted, he bent forward') is rare, appearing only here. Its exact meaning is debated: some derive it from lafat ('to twist, to grasp') suggesting he reached forward; others connect it to a root meaning 'to turn over.' We chose 'twisted around' to convey both the physical movement and the disorientation.
3. The particle hinneh ('and there') — rendered naturally as part of the sentence — marks Boaz's moment of discovery. The narrator briefly adopts Boaz's perspective: he sees what he sees — ishah shokhevet margelotav ('a woman lying at the place of his feet') — before he knows who she is.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Ruth identifies herself — anokhi Rut amatekha ('I am Ruth, your maidservant') — using the formal first-person pronoun anokhi rather than the common ani, and the term amah ('maidservant') rather than the lower-status shifchah. The choice of amah signals that Ruth sees herself as eligible for marriage, not merely as a servant — amah is the term used for women who may become wives (Exodus 21:7-11).
2. The verb ufarasta ('spread out') with kenafekha ('your wing/garment corner') directly echoes Boaz's blessing in 2:12: tachat kenafav ('under His wings'). Ruth takes Boaz's theological language and turns it into a concrete request. The effect is both bold and theologically precise: if God shelters under His wings, and Boaz is God's agent of redemption, then Boaz's garment-wing should cover Ruth.
3. Ruth grounds her request in law: ki go'el attah ('for you are a kinsman-redeemer'). The go'el is the kinsman obligated to restore what a family member has lost — property, freedom, or family line. Ruth names the legal basis for what she is asking, transforming a nocturnal encounter into a formal legal claim.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Boaz's first words are a blessing — berukhah att la-YHWH ('blessed are you by the LORD') — the same formula used for covenant blessings throughout the Hebrew Bible. His immediate response to Ruth's nighttime approach is not suspicion or exploitation but benediction.
2. The phrase hetavt chasdekh ha-acharon min ha-rishon ('you have made your later chesed greater than the first') is the theological pivot of the chapter. Boaz identifies two distinct acts of chesed: the rishon ('first') — Ruth's loyalty to Naomi in chapter 1 — and the acharon ('later') — her choice to seek a go'el rather than a young husband. The comparative min ('greater than') does not diminish the first act but elevates the second: choosing covenantal obligation over personal preference is the deeper loyalty.
3. The phrase levilti lekhet acharei ha-bachurim ('not going after the young men') implies that Ruth had other options. As a young woman of evident character (her reputation precedes her, 2:11), she could have attracted younger suitors. By coming to Boaz — older, established, but legally positioned as go'el — she chose family redemption over romantic possibility.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Boaz's promise — kol asher tomeri e'eseh lakh ('everything you say I will do for you') — mirrors Ruth's identical commitment to Naomi in verse 5. The symmetry is deliberate: Ruth pledged total obedience to Naomi's plan; Boaz now pledges total commitment to Ruth's request. The echo binds the three characters in a chain of loyalty.
2. The phrase eshet chayil ('woman of strength, woman of valor') is the same term used in Proverbs 31:10 for the ideal woman: 'an eshet chayil, who can find?' The word chayil means 'strength, capability, worth, valor' — it is used of warriors (gibbor chayil, 'mighty warrior') and of wealth (ish chayil, 'man of substance'). Applied to Ruth, it encompasses all of these: she is strong, capable, worthy, and courageous. We chose 'woman of strength' to preserve the term's primary force without narrowing it to domesticity.
3. The phrase kol sha'ar ammi ('all the gate of my people') refers to the city gate where legal and commercial business was conducted. That 'the whole gate' knows Ruth's reputation means her character is a matter of public record — not private opinion but communal recognition.

Translator Notes

1. Boaz confirms Ruth's legal claim — ki omnam ki go'el anokhi ('for indeed, I am a kinsman-redeemer') — using the emphatic particle omnam ('truly, indeed'). He does not deny the obligation but immediately introduces a complication: vegam yesh go'el qarov mimmenni ('and also there is a kinsman-redeemer closer than I'). The closer go'el has prior legal right — the obligation falls on the nearest kinsman first. Boaz cannot act until this closer relative either accepts or declines the responsibility.
2. The Ketiv/Qere here reflects a textual difficulty: the Ketiv appears to have the conditional im ('if') before go'el, while the Qere smooths the reading. The sense in either case is Boaz's acknowledgment that a closer kinsman exists.

Translator Notes

1. The verse is saturated with the root ga'al ('to redeem'): yig'alekh ('he will redeem you'), yig'al ('let him redeem'), lego'alekh ('to redeem you'), uge'altikh ('I will redeem you'). Four occurrences in a single verse hammer the legal term into the listener's consciousness. Redemption is not abstract theology here — it is a concrete legal act that one specific person will perform for one specific woman.
2. Boaz's oath — chai YHWH ('as the LORD lives') — is the most solemn form of oath in the Hebrew Bible, invoking God's own life as guarantee. This is not a casual promise. By swearing by the life of the LORD, Boaz binds himself irrevocably: if the closer kinsman declines, Boaz will act.
3. The instruction lini ha-laylah ('stay the night') followed by shikhvi ad ha-boqer ('lie down until morning') frames the rest of the night as a period of protected waiting. Boaz has committed to resolution at dawn. The same verb shakav ('lie down') that carried ambiguity earlier now carries the straightforward sense of 'rest until daylight.'

Translator Notes

1. The phrase beterem yakkir ish et re'ehu ('before a man could recognize his neighbor') indicates the predawn darkness — the time between first stirring and actual visibility. Ruth leaves in the window when people are moving but cannot yet see clearly. The timing is protective: it shields both Ruth's reputation and Boaz's legal position.
2. Boaz's instruction — al yivvada ki va'ah ha-ishah ha-goren ('let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor') — uses the passive of yada ('to know, to be known'). His concern is for public perception: the legal transaction must be settled properly at the gate before any rumors circulate. The definite article on ha-ishah ('the woman') rather than Ruth's name may reflect Boaz speaking in general terms to anyone who might overhear — or it may simply be Hebrew narrative style.

Translator Notes

1. The mitpachat ('shawl, cloak, wrap') is a large cloth garment that could serve as a carrying vessel when gathered. The word appears only here and in Isaiah 3:22 among items of women's clothing. Boaz's gift of shesh se'orim ('six barleys') is deliberately vague about the unit of measure — the text says 'six of barley' without specifying whether these are seahs, ephahs, or another measure. Six seahs would be roughly 60-90 pounds — an enormous load. Some interpreters suggest a smaller unit. The ambiguity may be intentional: the point is generosity, not arithmetic.
2. The final clause vayyavo ha-ir ('and he went into the city') has a Ketiv/Qere issue in some traditions — the subject may be 'he' (Boaz) or 'she' (Ruth). The Masoretic vocalization as vayyavo ('and he went,' masculine) gives the action to Boaz, who would be heading to the gate to begin legal proceedings. Some ancient versions read 'she went into the city,' giving Ruth the action of returning to Naomi. We follow the Masoretic reading.

Translator Notes

1. Naomi's question — mi att bitti ('who are you, my daughter?') — is puzzling if taken literally, since she would recognize Ruth. The question likely means 'what is your status now?' or 'how do things stand?' — essentially, 'are you betrothed or not?' We rendered it as 'How did it go?' to capture this pragmatic sense rather than forcing the literal 'Who are you?' which would imply Naomi cannot see Ruth in the dark. Some interpreters do take it literally as a predawn darkness question; the ambiguity is acknowledged.
2. Ruth's report — et kol asher asah lah ha-ish ('everything the man had done for her') — uses the preposition lah ('for her') rather than immah ('with her'). The distinction matters: the man acted for her benefit. The narrator's summary is deliberately opaque about the details, leaving the reader dependent on what has already been narrated.

Translator Notes

1. Boaz's instruction — al tavo'i reqam el chamotekh ('do not go to your mother-in-law empty') — uses the word reqam ('empty, empty-handed'), the same word Naomi used of herself in 1:21: reqam heshivani YHWH ('the LORD brought me back empty'). Boaz's gift directly addresses Naomi's emptiness. The barley is not merely provision but a reversal of the condition Naomi named as her defining grief.
2. The Ketiv reads elai ('to me') while the Qere reads elayikh ('to you'), a variant also seen in verse 5. The Qere ('he said to you') would make Boaz address Ruth directly; the Ketiv ('he said to me') has Ruth quoting Boaz's words to herself. Either reading yields the same practical meaning.

Translator Notes

1. Naomi's instruction — shevi bitti ('sit, my daughter') — uses the imperative of yashav ('to sit, to dwell, to remain'). After a night of action, the instruction is to be still and wait. The phrase eikh yippol davar ('how the matter will fall') uses the verb nafal ('to fall') in its sense of 'to turn out, to be decided' — the same verb used for the fall of lots (Esther 3:7, Jonah 1:7). The outcome is now in process and will land where it lands.
2. Naomi's confidence — ki lo yishqot ha-ish ki im killah ha-davar ha-yom ('the man will not rest until he has finished the matter today') — reveals her reading of Boaz's character. The verb shaqat ('to rest, to be quiet, to be at ease') echoes the chapter's opening theme of manoach ('rest, security'). Ironically, Boaz will not have rest until he secures Ruth's rest. The chapter ends with Naomi trusting Boaz's urgency — the resolution will come in chapter 4.