RUTH 4:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Then Boaz called over ten of the older, well-respected men from the town and asked them to sit and witness their discussion, so they sat down with them.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἔλαβε Βοὸζ δέκα ἄνδρας ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῆς πόλεως, καὶ εἶπε, καθίσατε ὧδε· καὶ ἐκάθισαν.
(Kai elabe Booz deka andras apo tōn presbuterōn taʸs poleōs, kai eipe, kathisate hōde; kai ekathisan. )

BrTr And Booz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye here; and they sat down.

ULT Then he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

UST Boaz then gathered ten of the older, well-respected men from the town and said to them, “Please sit here so you can witness our business.” So they sat down.

OEB Boaz also took ten of the town elders and said, ‘Sit down here.’ So they sat down.

WEBBE Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.

LSV And he takes ten men from [the] elderly of the city, and says, “Sit down here”; and they sit down.

FBV Then Boaz selected ten of the town elders and asked them to sit there with them.

T4T Boaz then gathered ten of the elders of the town and asked them to sit down there also. After they sat down,

LEB And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, “Sit here.” And they sat.

BBE Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And they took their seats.

Moff No Moff RUTH book available

JPS And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said: 'Sit ye down here.' And they sat down.

ASV And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

DRA And Booz taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.

YLT And he taketh ten men of the elders of the city, and saith, 'Sit down here;' and they sit down.

Drby And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.

RV And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
(And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye/you_all down here. And they sat down. )

SLT And he will take ten men from the old men of the city, and he will say, Sit ye down here. And they will sit down.

Wbstr And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

KJB-1769 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
(And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye/you_all down here. And they sat down. )

KJB-1611 And hee tooke ten men of the Elders of the citie, and said, Sit ye downe here. And they sate downe.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps And he toke ten men of the elders of the citie, and said: sit ye downe here. And they sat downe.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Gnva Then he tooke ten men of the Elders of the citie, and sayd, Sit ye downe here. And they sate downe.
(Then he took ten men of the Elders of the city, and said, Sit ye/you_all down here. And they sat down. )

Cvdl & he toke ten men of the Elders of ye cite, & sayde: Syt you downe here. And they sat the downe.
(and he took ten men of the Elders of ye/you_all city, and said: Sit you down here. And they sat the down.)

Wycl Forsothe Booz took ten `men of the eldere men of the citee, and seide to hem, Sitte ye here.
(For_certain/Truly Booz took ten men of the elder men of the city, and said to hem, Sit ye/you_all here.)

Luth Und er nahm zehn Männer von den Ältesten der Stadt und sprach: Setzet euch her! Und sie setzten sich.
(And he took ten men from the elders the/of_the city and spoke: Set/Putt you her! And they/she/them put/set/sat itself/yourself/themselves.)

ClVg Tollens autem Booz decem viros de senioribus civitatis, dixit ad eos: Sedete hic.
(Taking_off however Booz ten men from/about seniors/elders of_the_city, he/she_said to them: Sedete this/here. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–12: Boaz assumed responsibility for Ruth

In this final chapter of the book, Ruth received the reward for her loyalty to Naomi.

Boaz is in focus in the first twelve verses. He met with the other close relative in the presence of many witnesses to discuss the entire situation. The other relative did not want to buy Elimelech’s property that Naomi was selling, if the arrangement also meant that he had to marry Ruth. So Boaz said that he would act as the redeemer himself.

In section 4:13–17, Boaz and Ruth were married, and the LORD soon gave them a son. The women in Bethlehem named the son Obed and rejoiced that Naomi now had a “son” to carry on her family line and care for her in her old age. So both Naomi and Ruth were going to be cared for, and the women went from “emptiness” to “fullness.”

Section 4:18–22 concludes the book with a genealogy that lists of the family line of Perez, who was a son of Judah and grandson of Jacob (who is also called Israel). The family line is listed from Perez through Obed to King David.

Here are some other examples of section headings for 4:1–12:

Boaz Redeems Ruth (ESV)

Boaz Settles the Matter (NET)

Structure:

Some commentaries divide this section into four scenes:NICOT, Sakenfield, Cornerstone, and Sakenfield. These divide the scenes in at least two different ways.

4:1–2 Introduction: Boaz Convenes a Legal Assembly
4:3–8 Boaz Obtains the Rights of Redemption
4:9–10 Boaz Formalizes the Agreement
4:11–12 Witnessing and Blessing

One commentary divides this section into three scenes.Block (pages 203–204).

4:1–2 setting the stage for the legal drama
4:3–8 report of the legal drama
4:9–12 significance of legal drama

You may divide the paragraphs in these scenes in whatever way best fits the structure of your language.

Paragraph 4:1–2

This paragraph describes how Boaz convened a legal assembly at the town gate prior to the actual legal proceedings.

4:2a

Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city

Boaz chose ten of the leading men of the town
Next/Then Boaz chose ten men from among the town’s leaders

Then: In Hebrew, this verse begins with the same Hebrew conjunction as in 4:1d. Here the BSB translates it as Then. In some languages, it may be helpful to use a conjunction that indicates the next action. For example:

Next

Boaz took ten of the elders of the city: The elders were the leading men of the town who discussed important things and made the decisions that governed the town. They were usually older men whom the people of the town recognized as its leaders. In this situation, the elders were called together to witness a legal process. See 4:9a–b.

took: In this verse, the Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as took means that Boaz “selected” the elders. He may have asked some men to stop as he saw them about to pass through the gate, or he may have sent someone to ask certain men that he knew to come to a meeting.

In Hebrew, it says “ten of the elders,” so apparently there were more than ten elders in the town.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

Then Boaz chose ten men who were leaders of that city (GW)

Boaz gathered ten of the older leaders of the city (NCV)

4:2b

and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

and said to them, “Please sit here.” So they sat down.
and asked them to sit down with him. So they did as he asked.

and said, “Sit here,” and they did so: Translate this in a way that shows that Boaz politely asked the elders to sit down. For example:

and asked them to sit down there too (GNT)

Please sit down here

and: The Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as and introduces what happened as a result of what Boaz had said. You could translate it as “so.”

they did so: This refers to the request Boaz made that the elders sit down with him. Here are some other ways to translate these words:

So they also sat down. (GW)

When they were seated (GNT)

Parallel RUTH 4:2

Section 4:1–12: Boaz assumed responsibility for Ruth

Paragraph 4:1–2

4:2a

4:2b

The Setting of Ruth