The phrase make it possible (Hebrew: “give”) may be rendered in a number of languages as a causative: “may the LORD cause you to marry again” or “may the LORD give you other husbands.” Hebrew has literally: “The LORD give you that you may find a restingplace, each of you in the house of her husband.” The syndetic combination of syntactically different clauses (see Joüon, par. 177) in verse 9a already created difficulties for early translators. In a number of Greek and Syriac manuscripts, chesed has been added to lakem in order to get an easier syntactic construction. The Syriac reading “in the house of your fathers” may have been found ad hoc for the same reasons.
The Hebrew word here rendered home literally means “resting place.” Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is employed as a reference to the promised land (Deut 12.9; 1 Kgs 8.56; Psa 95.11) and to Zion as the place where Yahweh dwells (Psa 132.8, 14). In this context the translation home is particularly appropriate, since the Hebrew word carries the meanings of peace and happiness as well as of security, all of which are regarded as the result of marriage (cf. 3.1). It is not enough to translate “have a house,” since widows could possess houses. What is referred to here is a home with a husband. The equivalent in some languages is “to live in a house with your husband.”
In some languages it is quite improper to translate Naomi kissed them, for kissing is regarded only as an expression of sexual interest or involvement. Under such circumstances one must use some such expression as “to embrace,” “to place one’s arms around,” or “to hold tenderly.”
Even when one can refer to kissing, it is sometimes necessary to mark the kissing as an expression of parting, Naomi kissed them good-bye, and to introduce a verb of speaking before the term good-bye; for example, “So Naomi kissed them and said good-bye to them.” In some languages the term for good-bye is quite idiomatic: “I leave my heart with you” or “until we see each other again.” But in other languages the expression for good-bye is quite matter of fact; for example, “Now I am leaving.”
They started crying is literally in Hebrew “they lifted up their voices and wept.” The idiom “to lift up the voice” can rarely be translated literally, and the combined expression in Hebrew simply means loud sobbing. See Brown-Driver-Briggs, s.v. nasaʾ.
It may be necessary to indicate in some languages that they in the last clause in verse 9 refers to the daughters-in-law, since it could presumably be a reference to Naomi as well as to her daughters-in-law, because of the deep emotional attachment. However, the beginning of verse 10 makes it quite clear that it is only the daughters-in-law who began to weep.
The translation of the negative No, which may be considered explicit in the Hebrew text, Brockelmann (k Syntax, par. 134a) and Campbell accept that both ki and loʾ ki can be used as a negation. is particularly difficult in some languages, for it might imply that they did not wish to receive the blessing which Naomi had given to them. That, of course, is not the meaning; and it may be necessary to expand the negative to read “Do not say good-bye to us” or “We do not wish to leave you.”
The Hebrew text literally has “return” in the second clause of verse 10, but since the daughters-in-law did not really “return” to Judah (in the sense that they had been there before), it is better to employ some such expression as in Good News Translation, We will go with you.
In some languages to your people may be rendered most effectively as “to your tribe” or even “to your clan.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Ruth. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .