SIL Translator’s Notes on Ruth 2:22

2:22a

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth: In some languages, it may not be natural to repeat the relationship between the two women. Refer to them in a natural way in your language.

My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women: This statement functions as advice. Naomi advised Ruth that she ought to do as Boaz had said. She was giving Ruth advice about her safety and well-being.

Here are some other ways to translate this advice:

It is better for you to continue working with his women workers (New Century Version)
-or-
Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
My daughter, it’s good that you can pick up grain alongside the women who work in his field. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
That would be a good thing to do, my daughter. Go ⌊and glean⌋ with Boaz’s servant women.

2:22b

so that nothing will happen to you in another field: The conjunction so that here introduces the reason why it would be good for Ruth to stay in Boaz’s field. Naomi was afraid that in a different place Ruth would not be safe.

In the Berean Standard Bible this is a passive clause with a passive verb, nothing will happen to you. In the Hebrew it is an active clause with an active verb, “they might molest you.” Naomi was implying that in another field the owner or the workers might treat Ruth badly.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Who knows what might happen to you in someone else’s field! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
If you work in another field, someone might hurt you. (New Century Version)

© 2024 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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