SIL Translator’s Notes on Ruth 2:19

Paragraph 2:19–22

2:19a

Then her mother-in-law asked her: This speech indicates that Naomi spoke to Ruth. Refer to the women in a way that is natural in your language for this point in the story.

Where did you glean today, and where did you work?: These questions imply that Naomi was happy and excited to see the large amount of grain. She quickly asked these two questions, and before Ruth had time to answer her, she blessed the landowner.

Here is another example of asking two questions:

Where did you gather all this grain today? Whose field have you been working in? (Good News Translation)

The two questions are basically asking the same thing. In some languages, it may not be natural to repeat questions to show surprise. In those languages, it may be better to translate them as one question that implies that Naomi was astonished and excited. For example:

Wherever did you gather grain today?

2:19b

Blessed be the man who noticed you: This Hebrew blessing is like a short prayer that asks God to do good to someone.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

God bless the man who treated you so well! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
May the man who paid attention to you be blessed. (God’s Word)

noticed you: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as noticed you means “paid attention to you.” Naomi meant that the owner of the field had not only seen Ruth but had deliberately acted kindly to her. The same word was used in 2:10b.

2:19c

So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as where she had worked is more literally “who I worked with him.” Since Ruth was answering Naomi’s questions about where she had worked, “with him” actually means “at his field/place.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. (NET Bible)
-or-
Ruth told her mother-in-law whose field she had worked in. (New Century Version)

2:19d

The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz: This is a direct quotation of what Ruth said to Naomi. The author did not mention the name of Boaz until the end of the statement in order to increase suspense. Try to keep the same effect in your translation and emphasize the name Boaz.

she said: Notice that the Berean Standard Bible has placed this phrase at the end of what Ruth was saying. You should place this speech introduction wherever it would be most natural in your language.

General Comment on 2:19c–d

In the Hebrew and the Berean Standard Bible, 2:19c is an indirect quotation of Ruth’s words, and 2:19d is a direct quotation. In some languages, it may be more natural to combine these two verse parts and use only indirect speech. For example:

So Ruth told Naomi that she had been working in a field belonging to a man named Boaz. (Good News Translation)

Use direct speech or indirect speech, whichever is most natural in your language.

© 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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