וַתֹּאמֶר לָהּ נָעֳמִי חֲמֹותָהּ בִּתִּי הֲלֹא אֲבַקֶּשׁ־לָךְ מָנֹוחַ אֲשֶׁר יִיטַב־לָךְ׃   3:1

Ruth 3:1   And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, should I not desire a resting

place for you that would be good for you?”

וְעַתָּה הֲלֹא בֹעַז מֹדַעְתָּנוּ אֲשֶׁר הָיִית אֶת־נַעֲרֹותָיו הִנֵּה־הוּא זֹרֶה אֶת־גֹּרֶן הַשְּׂעֹרִים הַלָּיְלָה׃   3:2

Ruth 3:2   “Now then, is Boaz, whose maidens you were with, not our kindred?  Behold, he is

winnowing the barley at the threshing floor tonight.”

Take notice that Naomi considers Ruth to be part of the family, as she uses the pronoun “our” when referring to Boaz as our kindred, no longer my kindred.

וְרָחַצְתְּ וָסַכְתְּ וְשַׂמְתְּ (שִׂמְלֹתֵךְ) [שִׂמְלֹתַיִךְ] עָלַיִךְ (וְיָרַדְתִּי) [וְיָרַדְתְּ] הַגֹּרֶן אַל־תִּוָּדְעִי לָאִישׁ עַד   3:3

 כַּלֹּתֹו לֶאֱכֹל וְלִשְׁתֹּות׃

Ruth 3:3   “Now you should wash and anoint yourself and put your covering garments about yourself, and go down to the threshing floor.  You must not reveal yourself to the man until his

completing eating and drinking.”

The original scroll of this chapter must have seen much wear and tear.  The two errors here are the first of several more.  The word in the first set of parentheses, translated as your covering garments, is missing a yad.  The correction in the first set of brackets makes the word plural as it should be.  The word in the second set of parentheses has an extra yad, making the word translate to and I will go down ..., when it should properly read and [you will] go down.  That correction is in the second set of brackets.

וִיהִי בְשָׁכְבֹו וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת־הַמָּקֹום אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב־שָׁם וּבָאת וְגִלִּית מַרְגְּלֹתָיו (וְשָׁכָבְתִּי) [וְשָׁכָבְתְּ] וְהוּא   3:4

יַגִּיד לָךְ אֵת אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשִׂין׃

Ruth 3:4   When it is on his lying down, then you should notice the place where he will lie down,

and go in and uncover the place of his feet and lie down.  Then he will tell you what you should

do.”

Well, we have here an “error” that is not an error.  The word in the parentheses is translated as and [you] lie down, a second-person feminine verb.  The “correction” in the brackets makes the word translate to and he will lie down, which is definitely incorrect.

וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאמְרִי (  ) [אֵלַי] אֶעֱשֶׂה׃   3:5

Ruth 3:5   And she said to her, “Everything that you would say to me, I will do.”

In this verse we have three letters missing.  That’s what the spaces within the parentheses are meant to show.  The ancient sages assumed that the missing word should be as shown in the brackets, which translates to the words to me.

וַתֵּרֶד הַגֹּרֶן וַתַּעַשׂ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוַּתָּה חֲמֹותָהּ׃   3:6

Ruth 3:6   So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law

had ordered her.

וַיֹּאכַל בֹּעַז וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיִּיטַב לִבֹּו וַיָּבֹא לִשְׁכַּב בִּקְצֵה הָעֲרֵמָה וַתָּבֹא בַלָּט וַתְּגַל מַרְגְּלֹתָיו וַתִּשְׁכָּב׃   3:7

Ruth 3:7   When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was glad, and he went to lie down at the

end of the heap; and she went surreptitiously and uncovered the place of his feet and lay down.

וַיְהִי בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיֶּחֱרַד הָאִישׁ וַיִּלָּפֵת וְהִנֵּה אִשָּׁה שֹׁכֶבֶת מַרְגְּלֹתָיו׃   3:8

Ruth 3:8   And it was about midnight and the man was startled when he turned and behold, a

woman was lying beside his feet,

וַיֹּאמֶר מִי־אָתּ וַתֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי רוּת אֲמָתֶךָ וּפָרַשְׂתָּ כְנָפֶךָ עַל־אֲמָתְךָ כִּי גֹאֵל אָתָּה׃   3:9

Ruth 3:9   and he said, “Who are you?”  And she said, “I am Ruth, your handmaid, so you can

spread your skirt over your handmaid, for you are a kinsman.”

וַיֹּאמֶר בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ לַיהוָה בִּתִּי הֵיטַבְתְּ חַסְדֵּךְ הָאַחֲרֹון מִן־הָרִאשֹׁון לְבִלְתִּי־לֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי הַבַּחוּרִים    3:10

אִם־דַּל וְאִם־עָשִׁיר׃

Ruth 3:10   And he said, “You are blessed by the Lord, my daughter.  You have done better with

your kindness at the end than at the beginning by not going after the youths, whether poor or

wealthy.”

וְעַתָּה בִּתִּי אַל־תִּירְאִי כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאמְרִי אֶעֱשֶׂה־לָּךְ כִּי יֹודֵעַ כָּל־שַׁעַר עַמִּי כִּי אֵשֶׁת חַיִל אָתְּ׃   3:11

Ruth 3:11   “So now, my daughter, you must not fear; all that you will say I will do for you, for

everyone of the gate of my people knows what a woman of virtue you are.”

וְעַתָּה כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי (אִם) [  ] גֹאֵל אָנֹכִי וְגַם יֵשׁ גֹּאֵל קָרֹוב מִמֶּנִּי׃   3:12

Ruth 3:12   “Now then, though it is truly that [   ] I am a kinsman, but yet there is a kinsman closer

than I.”

Now in this verse we have an extra word that would cause the translation to make less sense.  So the sages replaced it with two blank spaces as shown in the brackets.  The missing word can be translated as “if” or “though.”

לִינִי הַלַּיְלָה וְהָיָה בַבֹּקֶר אִם־יִגְאָלֵךְ טֹוב יִגְאָל וְאִם־לֹא יַחְפֹּץ לְגָאֳלֵךְ וּגְאַלְתִּיךְ אָנֹכִי חַי־יְהוָה    3:13

שִׁכְבִי עַד־הַבֹּקֶר׃

Ruth 3:13   “Remain this night and it shall be in the morning, if he will act as a good kinsman for

you, let him act as a kinsman.  But if he does not desire to act as your kinsman, then I will act [as]

your kinsman, as the Lord lives.  Lie down until morning.”

I inserted the English word in the brackets although it doesn’t appear in the Hebrew.

וַתִּשְׁכַּב (מַרְגְּלָתֹו) [מַרְגְּלֹותָיו] עַד־הַבֹּקֶר וַתָּקָם (בִּטְרֹום) [בְּטֶרֶם] יַכִּיר אִישׁ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר   3:14

 אַל־יִוָּדַע כִּי־בָאָה הָאִשָּׁה הַגֹּרֶן׃

Ruth 3:14   And she lay at his feet until morning, then rose up before anyone could distinguish

his neighbor, as he had said it must not be revealed that the woman came to the threshing floor.

Here we have an error in the first set of parentheses.  It is spelled as a singular noun, his foot, and should be plural, his feet.  The addition of the yad in the brackets makes it plural.  On the other hand, the word in the second set of parentheses can be labeled an error or not.  The word can be spelled both ways, with or without the vav.  However, the word appears only once as spelled in the second set of parentheses, but it shows up dozens of times as spelled in the second set of brackets.  That may classify it as a legitimate error.

וַיֹּאמֶר הָבִי הַמִּטְפַּחַת אֲשֶׁר־עָלַיִךְ וְאֶחֳזִי־בָהּ וַתֹּאחֶז בָּהּ וַיָּמָד שֵׁשׁ־שְׂעֹרִים וַיָּשֶׁת עָלֶיהָ וַיָּבֹא   3:15

 הָעִיר׃

Ruth 3:15   And he said, “Give the cloak that is on you and hold on to it.”  So she held on to it as he measured off six measures of barley; then he set on her, and he went to the city.

וַתָּבֹוא אֶל־חֲמֹותָהּ וַתֹּאמֶר מִי־אַתְּ בִּתִּי וַתַּגֶּד־לָהּ אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה־לָהּ הָאִישׁ׃   3:16

Ruth 3:16   When she came to her mother-in-law, then she said, “Whose are you, my daughter?”

So she related to her all that the man had done for her.

וַתֹּאמֶר שֵׁשׁ־הַשְּׂעֹרִים הָאֵלֶּה נָתַן לִי כִּי אָמַר (  ) [אֵלַי] אַל־תָּבֹואִי רֵיקָם אֶל־חֲמֹותֵךְ׃   3:17

Ruth 3:17   And she said, “He gave these six measures of barley to me, for he said to me, ‘You

must not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”

In this verse we have another three letters missing.  And the correction is the same one as in v. 3:5 above.  The word added translates to the phrase to me.

וַתֹּאמֶר שְׁבִי בִתִּי עַד אֲשֶׁר תֵּדְעִין אֵיךְ יִפֹּל דָּבָר כִּי לֹא יִשְׁקֹט הָאִישׁ כִּי־אִם־כִּלָּה הַדָּבָר הַיֹּום׃   3:18

Ruth 3:18   Then she said, “Abide, my daughter, until when you will know how the matter will turn out, for the man will not rest if he has not finished the thing this day.”

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