2:6a–b

The foreman answered, “She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab: In the Hebrew text, the foreman, or overseer, first explained that Ruth was a young Moabite woman. Then he added that she was the one who returned with Naomi from Moab. He implied that Boaz already knew that one of Naomi’s daughters-in-law had returned with her.

The foreman’s response may reflect a negative, neutral, or positive attitude. There is no consensus among the scholars. For this reason, it is recommended that you translate (and express in oral or video translation) the attitude of the foreman in a neutral way. He simply responded in a truthful way to Boaz’s question.

Here are some other ways to translate these verse parts:

And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. (New Revised Standard Version)

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