Passage

Ruth 2.3

Book: Ruth · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2. 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.

And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they answered him, Jehovah bless thee. 5. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? (Ruth 2:1-5, ASV)

WEB

Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2. 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.

Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5. Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose young lady is this?” (Ruth 2:1-5, WEB)

KJV

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} 2. 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}

And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. 5. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? (Ruth 2:1-5, KJV)

YLT

And Naomi hath an acquaintance of her husband's, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name [is] Boaz. 2. 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.

And lo, Boaz hath come from Beth-Lehem, and saith to the reapers, 'Jehovah [is] with you;' and they say to him, 'Jehovah doth bless thee.' 5. And Boaz saith to his young man who is set over the reapers, 'Whose [is] this young person?' (Ruth 2:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Ruth, an anonymous storyteller
Audience: the readers of the book
Location: the fields of Beth-lehem (Ruth 2:2-3)
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 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." Gleaning was the right the law gave to the poor and the stranger: "thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner" (Leviticus 19:10), and a forgotten sheaf "shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow" (Deuteronomy 24:19). Ruth was all three.

"Her hap was to light" is literally, as the KJV margin puts it, "hap happened" (Strong's H4745). The narrator calls it chance while placing it right after telling the reader that Boaz was "a kinsman of her husband's" (2:1). The book's providence works through what looks like coincidence.

Ruth went out with no plan beyond finding someone "in whose sight I shall find favor" (2:2). The phrase looks ahead to her question to Boaz, "Why have I found favor in thy sight?" (2:10).

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.

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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.