For the sentence The LORD bless you, see the comments on 2.20. At this point the Good News Translation text changes a passive expression in Hebrew (literally “may you be blessed by the LORD”) into an active form. A number of languages do not have this type of so-called optative expression, and hence some type of introductory expression of speaking or desiring may be required; for example, “I ask the LORD to bless you,” “I pray that the LORD will bless you,” or even “I am sure that the LORD will bless you.” A translation such as in New English Bible, “the LORD has blessed you,” does not seem justified in view of the evident optative meaning of the Hebrew verbal form. See Joüon, par. 132-133.
In the Hebrew Boaz here addresses Ruth as “my daughter,” but in some languages such words at this point would be inappropriate, since they would only confirm the suspicions that the reference to “close relative” did indeed imply an incestuous relation. The closest equivalent in some languages is “dear young lady” or “dear woman.” It would seem particularly inappropriate in many languages for Boaz to address a woman who had already been married by a term such as “daughter.” Therefore Good News Translation omits this address.
The second sentence of verse 10 in Hebrew is literally “you have made your last loyalty greater than the first.” The references here would be perfectly clear to the ancient Hebrew reader, but they are certainly obscure to the average present-day reader of this story. The theme of the “first loyalty” was already spoken of by Boaz in 2.11, a reference to Ruth’s concern for her mother-in-law and loyalty to her. The “last loyalty” is a reference to Ruth’s preference for Boaz as a husband rather than for a young man, in order that Boaz, as one of the “redeemers” (see 2.20), could give an official offspring to the first husband, who was deceased, and so to the family of the mother-in-law. This loyalty is stated more precisely by Boaz as You might have gone looking for a young man. Since the reference to the “last loyalty” and the “first loyalty” are quite obscure to the average reader, it is usually preferable to follow the practice of Good News Translation in making the relation explicit: You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law.
In the phrase translated gone looking for a young man, the Hebrew text employs an extremely rare use of the verb “go after” or “follow.” In fact, the only similar context in the Old Testament is Proverbs 7.22, in which “the beloved one” is the goal of such an action. One might assume that a verb such as “run after” or gone looking for would be almost universally applicable to courtship and marriage, but this is not necessarily true. Some languages may require quite a different type of expression; for example, “to cause a young man to be interested in you,” “to cause a young man to desire you,” or “to cause a young man to see you as beautiful.” On the other hand, some languages simply use “to want to marry a young man” or “to want to have a young man as a husband.”
The phrase rich or poor reverses the Hebrew word order, “poor or rich.” In many languages this reversed order seems far more natural. Even some early translators felt the necessity for a different order. The reversed order is already found in the Syriac version. Rich or poor is a very elliptical expression, and it must be filled out in a number of languages; for example, “You have not run after a young man, if he were rich or if he were poor,” “You have not run after either a rich young man or a poor young man,” or “You have not run after young men, one who is rich or one who is poor.”
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 .