Texts in Conversation
In the Hebrew version of Ruth, Ruth tells Boaz she is lower than even one of his servant women. The Greek Septuagint has her call herself one of his young women, using a word that hints that she will become his wife.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ruth 2:13
Hebrew Bible
12 May the Lord reward your efforts! May your acts of kindness be repaid fully by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection.” 13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, sir, for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant, even though I will never be like one of your servants.” 14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have some food! Dip your bread in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest.
LXX Ruth 2:13
Septuagint
11 So Boaz answered and said to her, “A report was given to me concerning everything that you have done in the company of your mother-in-law after your husband died, and how you left behind your father and your mother and the land of your birth and reached a people that you did not know yesterday and the third day. 12 May the Lord compensate your work, may your reward be abundant from the Lord God of Israel, to whom you came, to be confident under his wings. 13 And so she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, O Lord, because you encouraged me and because you spoke to the heart of your servant—and look, I am like one of your maidservants.”
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Notes and References
... In the choice in 2:13 of the noun παιδίσκη ‘young woman’ (also sharing the sense of ‘wife’) Ruth proleptically anticipates her adoption of the title that she only receives in 4:12 after her marriage to Boaz. As such a woman she is to fulfil the hope that remains unfulfilled since chapter 1: to give birth to offspring. ...
Bons, Eberhard
"Ruth" in Aitken, James K. (ed.) The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(p. 124) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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