Passage

Ruth 3.2-3

Book: Ruth · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

And Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

2. And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. 3. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor, but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. 5. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest I will do. (Ruth 3:1-5, ASV)

WEB

Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

2. Now isn’t Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he will be winnowing barley tonight on the threshing floor. 3. Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lay down. Then he will tell you what to do.” 5. She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.” (Ruth 3:1-5, WEB)

KJV

Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

2. And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 3. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. ^{uncover: or, lift up the clothes that are on} 5. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. (Ruth 3:1-5, KJV)

YLT

And Naomi her mother-in-law saith to her, 'My daughter, do not I seek for thee rest, that it may be well with thee?

2. and now, is not Boaz of our acquaintance, with whose young women thou hast been? lo, he is winnowing the threshing-floor of barley to-night, 3. and thou hast bathed, and anointed thyself, and put thy garments upon thee, and gone down to the threshing-floor; let not thyself be known to the man till he complete to eat and to drink;

and it cometh to pass when he lieth down, that thou hast known the place where he lieth down, and hast gone in, and uncovered his feet, and lain down,, and he doth declare to thee that which thou dost do.' 5. And she saith unto her, 'All that thou sayest, I do.' (Ruth 3:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Naomi, speaking to Ruth (Ruth 3:1)
Audience: Ruth
Location: Naomi's home in Beth-lehem
Time period: the period of the judges (Ruth 1:1), during the harvest that began "in the beginning of barley harvest" (1:22); Boaz "winnoweth barley to-night" (3:2)

Theological reading

Naomi, who in chapter 1 urged Ruth to go back to Moab to "find rest" (1:9), now takes the initiative: "shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" (3:1). She names Boaz, "our kinsman, with whose maidens thou wast," and sends Ruth to him at the threshing-floor, washed, anointed and dressed (3:2-3).

The plan is bold and carefully bounded. Ruth is told to "make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking" (3:3), and then to wait for him to "tell thee what thou shalt do" (3:4). In the event, Ruth does not wait to be told: when Boaz asks who she is, she asks him to act as kinsman (3:9).

The scene turns on Boaz's standing as kinsman (Strong's H4130 in the KJV here, "of our kindred"), which Naomi had already recognized: "The man is nigh of kin unto us, one of our near kinsmen" (2:20). Naomi's bitterness in chapter 1 has turned to purposeful hope, and she acts on the kindness she saw in Boaz.

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.

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.