The whole town is really a figure of speech in which the designation of the whole stands for a part. That is to say, one speaks of “the whole town” when in reality one means only a large part of the inhabitants of the town. In this case, the whole town means the women of Bethlehem. Something of the effect of this figure of speech may be realized in a translation such as “all the women of the town got excited and said….”

Became excited is a good translation of the Hebrew term which may be rendered as “to be beside oneself.” See Baumgartner, s.v. hwmʾ: “ausser sich geraten.” Same use of the verb with synecdoche of “city” in 1 Kings 1.45 and with synecdoche of the “earth” in 1 Samuel 4.5.

The verb exclaimed may not be a satisfactory term to introduce the following question. Accordingly, one may say “asked one another.”

Is this really Naomi, though in the form of a question, may have the value of an exclamation. So rightly Joüon, par. 161. Compare Tamisier’s translation: “C’est donc Noémi!” It is certain that the question of the women should not be understood to mean that they were uncertain who Naomi was; rather, they were surprised that she was in such a condition, without either husband or sons. In some languages, therefore, a more appropriate equivalent may be “they exclaimed, ‘It is Naomi!’ ”

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 .