This verse makes quite explicit the theme of “emptiness,” but it may be difficult to translate into some languages. Rarely can one talk about “having plenty” without indicating what is involved: things, family, relatives, prestige, etc. Sometimes one can translate “When I left I had much, but the LORD has brought me back having nothing.” One may in some instances employ the contrast between “being rich” and “now being poor.” In other cases metaphorical expressions may be employed; for example, “When I left, my hands were full, but the LORD has brought me back with my hands empty.” The expression in Bali is “With the spear I went out, and with the empty shaft I returned home again.” Adolf Vielhauer, The Bible Translator 7 (1956):130.

The rhetorical question at the end of verse 21 may be more effectively rendered in some languages as a strong negative; for example, “Do not call me the Happy One.” The Hebrew text at this point has “Naomi,” but it may be preferable to use the meaning of the name rather than the name itself, since this is the way in which the speaker (Naomi) here uses it.

In the Hebrew text LORD is the subject of condemned me, and Shaddai is the subject of sent me trouble. If a translation follows the Hebrew text literally, it may give the impression that the LORD and the Almighty are two different persons. In reality, the second clause is only a parallel expression used to intensify the meaning of the first clause. Accordingly, Good News Translation combines LORD and Almighty and makes them the single subject of the two verbs.

The verb translated condemned represents a Hebrew term which may be translated as “testified against me.” Revised Standard Version at this point follows versional evidence in using a reading which means “afflicted.” However, there seems to be clear evidence that the Hebrew text should be followed at this point (see New English Bible and New American Bible). RSV follows Septuagint, Syriac version, and Vulgate, all of them reading a piel of a verb ʿanah III, meaning “to mishandle,” “to afflict.” However, the Hebrew ʿanah I with its qal, meaning “to pronounce,” “to testify,” makes good sense. Moreover, only this verb can be constructed with the preposition be. A translation such as “has testified against me” or even “has condemned me” presupposes a certain guilt on the part of Naomi, but this is not made clear in the text. If the terms employed in a receptor language are too specific in this connection, it may be wise to use a more general expression; for example, “the LORD has turned against me.”

Sent me trouble may be rendered in some languages as “caused me to suffer.”

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 .