During the night renders a Hebrew expression “and it was in the middle of the night,” but this does not indicate precisely “at midnight” (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, and Smith-Goodspeed). An expression such as “about midnight” (New English Bible) is a more correct equivalent. In a number of languages there are several different terms for periods of the night, each period having a specific name or designation. A translator should select a term for a time near midnight, without attempting to be too precise in the designation.

He woke up suddenly renders a Hebrew expression “the man started up.” “The man” is Boaz, and one should employ either a definite pronoun “he” or the name “Boaz.” The verb “started up” implies “to start up out of sleep”; therefore he woke up suddenly is a close equivalent. The Hebrew verb is intransitive (at least in its active voice), and accordingly it is difficult to justify taking “the man” as the object with some kind of indefinite and implied subject, as in the case of New English Bible: “something disturbed the man as he slept.”

Turned over is the rendering employed in most modern English versions, with the exception of Moffatt, who adapts the meaning of the verb to the context and thus renders “and bent forward.” The meaning of this verb is not at all clear. There are only two other occurrences of the verb in the Old Testament: Judges 16.29, where it is used of Samson and his behavior in the temple of Dagon, rendered there in Revised Standard Version as “took hold” (Samson grasped the two middle columns); and in Job 6.18, where it is generally translated “turns aside” (Revised Standard Version). In each instance the rendering of the verb depends largely on the context and on the meaning of related terms in cognate languages. A good example of this is N. H. Tur-Sinai (k The Book of Job, Jerusalem, 1957, ad loc.), who after giving all the meanings in cognate languages, finally bases his translation on a parallel text elsewhere in Job. The interpretation “to turn over” is largely based on Arabic, in which a related verb means “to twist (oneself).” The transitive meaning of Arabic lafata is “to wring” (e.g., a man’s neck). ʾalfatu is a man with a powerful grasp, who hoists or wrings one who grapples with him. See E. W. Lane, Al-Qamusu, an Arabic-English Lexicon, 1863-1893, s.v. Parallel meanings are found in other cognate languages as Aramaic and Syriac. On the other hand, in Accadian lapâtu usually means “to touch.” This meaning, however, would imply that Ruth was lying by the side of Boaz rather than at his feet. In fact, one of the ancient versions seems to have interpreted the situation in this way by commenting that Boaz nevertheless controlled his desires and did not approach Ruth. So the Targum. Other versions seemed to have missed the meaning of the Hebrew verb and take it as a synonym of the preceding verb, “to start up” or “to tremble.” See Septuagint kai etarachthē “and he was disturbed”; Vulgate et conturbatus est; Syriac watwah “he was struck.” In summary, one might say that the rendering given by Moffatt (“and bent forward”) seems to be the best, since it appears to fit most precisely the context.

The phrase was surprised to find translates a vivid Hebrew expression, literally, “see, a woman lay at his feet.” This kind of vivid style can be quite effectively reproduced in a number of languages. The interjection in the Hebrew text marks surprise. On the other hand, it is surely for stylistic reasons that the Targum, Vulgate, and Syriac version changed the interjection into a (neutral) verbal form: “and he saw.” The relation between the surprise and finding a woman lying at his feet must be expressed in a number of languages as cause and effect; for example, “he was very much surprised because he found a woman lying at his feet.” The meaning of to find in this context is, of course, “to discover,” and this is sometimes represented by a verb “to see”; for example, “he was very much surprised because he saw a woman lying there at his feet.”

The qualifying phrase lying at his feet must sometimes be made a separate clause; for example, “he saw a woman; she was lying there at his feet.”

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 .