Passage

Ruth 2.1

Book: Ruth · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 3. And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on the portion of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:1-3, ASV)

WEB

1. Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3. She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:1-3, WEB)

KJV

1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. ^{Boaz: Gr. Booz}

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 3. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. ^{hap: Heb. hap happened} (Ruth 2:1-3, KJV)

YLT

1. And Naomi hath an acquaintance of her husband's, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name [is] Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess saith unto Naomi, 'Let me go, I pray thee, into the field, and I gather among the ears of corn after him in whose eyes I find grace;' and she saith to her, 'Go, my daughter.' 3. And she goeth and cometh and gathereth in a field after the reapers, and her chance happeneth, the portion of the field is Boaz's who [is] of the family of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:1-3, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Ruth, an anonymous storyteller
Audience: the readers of the book
Location: Beth-lehem (Ruth 1:22)
Time period: the period of the judges (Ruth 1:1), during the harvest that began "in the beginning of barley harvest" (1:22)

Theological reading

"And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz." The narrator introduces Boaz before Ruth meets him, so the reader knows what she does not when "her hap was to light" on his field (2:3).

"Wealth" is Strong's H2428 in the KJV, the same word Boaz uses of Ruth, "thou art a worthy woman" (3:11, KJV "virtuous"), and the elders use in blessing him, "do thou worthily" (4:11). The KJV's three renderings, "wealth," "virtuous" and "worthily," show the range of the word. Boaz and Ruth are matched by the same description.

The KJV margin notes the Greek form of his name, "Booz," which is how the KJV spells it in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). The ASV there reads "Boaz begat Obed of Ruth" (Matthew 1:5).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H8034 - shem, shem, Strong's H8034
H3045 - yada, yada, Strong's H3045

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.