RUTH 2:4 Interlinear View

1. Hebrew word
2. Hebrew lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. Gloss
8. CAPS codes
9. OET tags
10. OET word #
1. וְ,הִנֵּה
2. 179724,179725
3. And see/lo/see
4. then and
5. 2009
6. S-C,Tm
7. and=see/lo/see!
8. S
9. Y-1307
10. 124216
2. 179726
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 124217
1. בֹעַז
2. 179727
3. Boˊaz
4. Boaz
5. 1162
6. S-Np
7. Boaz
8. -
9. Person=Boaz; Y-1307
10. 124218
1. בָּא
2. 179728
3. +was coming
4. -
5. 935
6. V-Vqrmsa
7. [was]_coming
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124219
1. מִ,בֵּית
2. 179729,179730
3. from
4. -
6. S-R,Np
7. from,
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124220
1. לֶחֶם
2. 179731
3. food/grain/bread
4. -
5. 1035
6. S-Np
7. food/grain/bread
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124221
1. וַ,יֹּאמֶר
2. 179732,179733
3. and he/it said
4. -
5. 559
6. SV-C,Vqw3ms
7. and=he/it_said
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124222
1. לַ,קּוֹצְרִים
2. 179734,179735
3. to harvesters
4. harvesters
6. S-Rd,Vqrmpa
7. to,harvesters
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124223
1. יְהוָה
2. 179736
3. YHWH
4. -
5. 3068
6. S-Np
7. Yahweh
8. -
9. Person=God; Y-1307
10. 124224
1. עִמָּ,כֶם
2. 179737,179738
3. +be with you(pl)
4. -
6. P-R,Sp2mp
7. [be]_with,you(pl)
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124225
1. וַ,יֹּאמְרוּ
2. 179739,179740
3. and they said
4. -
5. 559
6. SV-C,Vqw3mp
7. and=they_said
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124226
1. ל,וֹ
2. 179741,179742
3. to him/it
4. -
6. S-R,Sp3ms
7. to=him/it
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124227
1. יְבָרֶכְ,ךָ
2. 179743,179744
3. may he bless you
4. bless
5. 1288
6. VO-Vpi3ms,Sp2ms
7. may,he_bless_you
8. -
9. Y-1307
10. 124228
1. יְהוָה
2. 179745
3. YHWH
4. -
5. 3068
6. S-Np
7. Yahweh
8. -
9. Person=God; Y-1307
10. 124229
2. 179746
3. -
4. -
6. -x-sof-pasuq
8. -
9. -
10. 124230

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–23: Ruth gathered grain in a field belonging to Boaz

This third section in the book of Ruth tells how Ruth met Boaz. Since Naomi and Ruth were poor at this time, Ruth asked Naomi for permission to glean in the grain fields in order to find them some food.

Ruth chose a field in which to glean. Although she did not know it, the man who owned that field, Boaz, was a relative of Elimelech. Boaz had heard about Ruth already, but he had not met her. He was sympathetic and kind to her that day, and told her to continue to work in his field during the rest of the harvest time.

That evening, Ruth returned home and told Naomi that the owner of the field where she had gleaned was called Boaz and that he had treated her well. Naomi was very pleased. She encouraged Ruth to continue to work there just as Boaz had invited her to do.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Ruth Meets Boaz (ESV)

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz (NET)

2:4a

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters,

¶ While she was there, Boaz himself arrived at that field from Bethlehem. He greeted the workers who were harvesting/cutting grain by saying to them,
¶ Some time later, Boaz left the village of Bethlehem and came to this particular field. He said to his harvest workers,

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as Just then functions to draw attention to someone or something significant in the narrative. Here it probably highlights the seeming coincidence of Boaz’s arrival. In verse 3, we learned that Ruth, by chance, went to glean at a field owned by Boaz. Now Boaz happened to arrive in person at the same time that Ruth was there. If you have a word that functions as an attention-getter, consider using it here.

Here are some ways to draw attention to this event or to the person Boaz:

Now behold (NASB)

Boaz, as it happened,… (NJB)

and there was Boaz himself (REB)

Apparently Boaz was coming from his home in the village to the field to check on his workers. He probably arrived a few hours after Ruth’s arrival at the field. We know from what the foreman says in verse 7 that Ruth had already worked “from morning until now.” And Boaz’s arrival was before the noon meal mentioned in verse 14.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Some time later Boaz himself arrived from Bethlehem (GNT)

While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem (NLT)

Soon Boaz came from Bethlehem (NCV)

and said to the harvesters:

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

he said to the harvest workers (CEV)

and greeted his workers (NCV)

2:4b

“The LORD be with you.”

“May Yahweh be with you.”
“I pray that Yahweh will help you.”

The LORD be with you: This is a greeting that is in the form of a blessing or short prayer. Boaz greeted his workers by expressing his desire that the LORD would be present with them.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

May the LORD be with all of you! (GW)

Yahweh be with you! (NJB)

I pray that the Lord will help you (EASY)

2:4c

“The LORD bless you,” they replied.

They answered, “May Yahweh bless you too.”
The harvest workers replied/responded, “We pray that Yahweh will be kind/good to you.”

The LORD bless you: The workers responded by asking the LORD to bless or “do good actions” to benefit Boaz.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

May the LORD bless you! (GW)

Yahweh bless you! (NJB)

We pray that Yahweh will reward you

We ask that Yahweh give you success

they replied: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as replied is the general verb meaning “to say.” The BSB has chosen the English verb replied because they responded to Boaz’s greeting with a greeting for him.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

they called back (NIV84)

they answered (NIV)

they greeted him in return

Notice that the BSB has placed the phrase they replied at the end of the verse. In Hebrew, these words occur at the beginning. You should place them wherever it would be natural in your language.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וְ⁠הִנֵּה

and=see/lo/see!

The writer is using the term behold to alert us to the important event of Boaz arriving at the field and seeing Ruth for the first time. Your language may have a comparable way of calling attention to this event that you can use in your translation. Alternate translation: [Then look]

Note 2 topic: translate-tense

בָּ֚א מִ⁠בֵּ֣ית לֶ֔חֶם

he/it_came from, food/grain/bread

Here the writer uses the present tense in past narration in order to call attention to an important event in the story. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense and call attention to the event in another way. Alternate translation: [appeared, coming from Bethlehem]

Note 3 topic: translate-blessing

יְהוָ֣ה עִמָּ⁠כֶ֑ם

YHWH [be]_with,you(pl)

This is a blessing used as a greeting. Use a form for this that would be natural in your language. Alternate translation: [I ask Yahweh to be with you]

Note 4 topic: translate-blessing

יְבָרֶכְ⁠ךָ֥ יְהוָֽה

may,he_bless_you YHWH

This is a blessing used as a greeting. Use a form for this that would be natural in your language. Alternate translation: [I ask Yahweh to do good things for you]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear RUTH 2:4

Hebrew word order

Section 2:1–23: Ruth gathered grain in a field belonging to Boaz

2:4a

2:4b

2:4c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)