Ruth 4:13-17 New English Translation
A Grandson is Born to Naomi
13 So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her.[a] The Lord enabled her to conceive[b] and she gave birth to a son. 14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian[c] today! May he[d] become famous in Israel![e] 15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old,[f] for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She[g] is better to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap;[h] she became his caregiver.[i] 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed.[j] Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father.
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- Ruth 4:13 tn Heb “and Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he approached her.” The verb לָקַח (laqakh), “to take,” acts as in idiom meaning “to take [a wife], to marry.” The phrase בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
- Ruth 4:13 tn Heb “gave her conception” (so KJV); NRSV “made her conceive”; NLT “enabled her to become pregnant.”
- Ruth 4:14 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in 3:9. As the following context indicates, the child is referred to here.
- Ruth 4:14 tn The “guardian” is the subject of the verb, as the next verse makes clear.
- Ruth 4:14 tn Heb “may his name be called [i.e., “perpetuated”; see Gen 48:16] in Israel.”
- Ruth 4:15 tn Heb “and he will become for you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age” (NASB similar).
- Ruth 4:15 tn Heb “who, she”; KJV “which is better to thee.”
- Ruth 4:16 tn Or “breast”; KJV, NRSV “in her bosom.”
- Ruth 4:16 tn Heb “his nurse,” but this refers to a dry nurse, not a medical attendant. Cf. NIV “and cared for him”; TEV “and took (+ good CEV) care of him.”
- Ruth 4:17 tn The name “Obed” means “one who serves,” perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi (see v. 15).
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