Translation commentary on Ruth 2:7: A Cultural Commentary for Central Africa

As the workers report to Boaz about Ruth’s industriousness, they emphasize the fact that “She . . . worked steadily . . . except for a short rest in the shelter.” This was rendered by an idiomatic expression in the old Chichewa Bible, ‘in the house she doesn’t stay long,’ but this means something quite different. In a culture where a woman’s place is definitely in the “home,” it suggests that Ruth is some sort of busybody, or worse, of immoral character.

Source: Wendland 1987, p. 173f.

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