2:2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go4 to the fields so I can gather5 grain behind whoever permits me to do so.”6 Naomi7 replied, “You may go, my daughter.”
tn The cohortative here (“Let me go”) expresses Ruth’s request. Note Naomi’s response, in which she gives Ruth permission to go to the field.
5
tn Following the preceding cohortative, the cohortative with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.
6
tnHeb “anyone in whose eyes I may find favor” (ASV, NIV similar). The expression אֶמְצָא־חֵן בְּעֵינָיו (’emtsa’-khen bé’enayv, “to find favor in the eyes of [someone]”) appears in Ruth 2:2, 10, 13. It is most often used when a subordinate or servant requests permission for something from a superior (BDB 336s.v.חֵן). Ruth will play the role of the subordinate servant, seeking permission from a landowner, who then could show benevolence by granting her request to glean in his field behind the harvest workers.
7
tnHeb “she”; the referent (Naomi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.