Ruth 2:20

Easy-to-Read Version

Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "The Lord bless him! He has continued showing his kindness to the living as well as the dead." Then Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "Boaz is one of our relatives. He is one of our protectors."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

Hebrew Names Version
Na`omi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. Na`omi said to her, The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.

King James Version
And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord , who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

Lexham English Bible
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead." And Naomi said to her, "The man is a close relative for us, he is one of our redeemers."

English Standard Version
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord , whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers."

New Century Version
Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "The Lord bless him! He continues to be kind to us—both the living and the dead!" Then Naomi told Ruth, "Boaz is one of our close relatives, one who should take care of us."

New English Translation
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be rewarded by the Lord because he has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!" Then Naomi said to her, "This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian."

Amplified Bible
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not ceased His kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is one of our closest relatives, one who has the right to redeem us."

New American Standard Bible
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative; he is one of our redeemers."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Naomi said vnto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lorde: for he ceaseth not to doe good to the liuing and to the dead. Againe Naomi saide vnto her, The man is neere vnto vs, and of our affinitie.

Legacy Standard Bible
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and to the dead." Then Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers."

Contemporary English Version
"The Lord bless Boaz!" Naomi replied. "He has shown that he is still loyal to the living and to the dead. Boaz is a close relative, one of those who is supposed to look after us."

Complete Jewish Bible
Na‘omi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by Adonai , who has never stopped showing grace, neither to the living nor to the dead." Na‘omi also told her, "The man is closely related to us; he's one of our redeeming kinsmen."

Darby Translation
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead! And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of those who have the right of our redemption.

George Lamsa Translation
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is the LORD, because he has not caused his kindness to cease from the living nor from the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, he is one of our nearest kinsmen.

Good News Translation
"May the Lord bless Boaz!" Naomi exclaimed. "The Lord always keeps his promises to the living and the dead." And she went on, "That man is a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us."

Literal Translation
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of Jehovah who has not forsaken his kindness with the living and with the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us; he is of our redeemers.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Naemi sayde vnto hir doughter in lawe: The blessynge of the LORDE haue he, for he hath not lefte of to be mercifull vnto the lyuynge and to the deed. And Naemi sayde vnto her: The same man belongeth vnto vs, and is oure nye kynsman.

American Standard Version
And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is nigh of kin unto us, one of our near kinsmen.

Bible in Basic English
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Naomi said vnto her daughter inlawe: Blessed be he of the Lord, for he ceasseth not to do good to the lyuing & to the dead. And Naomi sayd agayne vnto her: The man is nye vnto vs, and of our affinitie.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law: 'Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off His kindness to the living and to the dead.' And Naomi said unto her: 'The man is nigh of kin unto us, one of our near kinsmen.'

King James Version (1611)
And Naomi said vnto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindnesse to the liuing and to the dead. And Naomi said vnto her, The man is neere of kin vnto vs, one of our next kinsemen.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Noemin said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of the Lord, because he has not failed in his mercy with the living and with the dead: and Noemin said to her, The man is near akin to us, he is one of our relations.

English Revised Version
And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is nigh of kin unto us, one of our near kinsmen.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn his kindness from the living or the dead." Naomi continued, "The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
To whom Noemy answeride, Blessid be he of the Lord, for he kepte also to deed men the same grace, which he yaf to the quike. And eft sche seide, He is oure kynysman.

Young's Literal Translation
And Naomi saith to her daughter-in-law, `Blessed [is] he of Jehovah who hath not forsaken His kindness with the living and with the dead;' and Naomi saith to her, `The man is a relation of ours; he [is] of our redeemers.'

Update Bible Version
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our near kinsmen.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed [be] he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man [is] near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen.

World English Bible
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. Naomi said to her, The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.

New King James Version
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!" And Naomi said to her, "This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives."

New Living Translation
"May the Lord bless him!" Naomi told her daughter-in-law. "He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers."

New Life Bible
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he receive good from the Lord, Who has not kept His kindness from the living and the dead." Then Naomi said to her, "The man is near to us. He is of our family."

New Revised Standard
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he by the Lord , whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Naomi, to her daughter-in-law - Blessed, be he of Yahweh, who hath not left off his lovingkindness to the living, and to the dead. And Naomi said to her - Near to us, is the man, of our own kinsmen, is he!

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman.

Revised Standard Version
And Na'omi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Na'omi also said to her, "The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin."

THE MESSAGE
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Why, God bless that man! God hasn't quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as well as good!" Naomi went on, "That man, Ruth, is one of our circle of covenant redeemers, a close relative of ours!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives."

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ Ruth worked in the fields until evening. Then she separated the grain from the chaff. There was about one-half bushel of barley. ¹⁸ Ruth carried the grain into town to show her mother-in-law what she had gathered. She also gave her the food that was left from lunch. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you gather all this grain? Where did you work? Bless the man who noticed you." Then Ruth told her who she had worked with. She said, "The man I worked with today is a man named Boaz." ²⁰ Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "The Lord bless him! He has continued showing his kindness to the living as well as the dead." Then Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "Boaz is one of our relatives. He is one of our protectors." ²¹ Then Ruth said, "Boaz also told me to come back and continue working. He said that I should work closely with his servants until the harvest is finished." ²² Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, "It is good for you to continue working with his women servants. If you work in another field, some man might hurt you." ²³ So Ruth continued working closely with the women servants of Boaz. She gathered grain until the barley harvest was finished. She also worked there through the end of the wheat harvest. Ruth continued living with her mother-in-law Naomi.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Blessed: Ruth 3:10, 2 Samuel 2:5, Job 29:12, Job 29:13, 2 Timothy 1:16-18

hath not: 2 Samuel 9:1, Proverbs 17:17, Philippians 4:10

one of our: or, one that hath right to redeem, Ruth 3:9, Ruth 4:6, Leviticus 25:25, Deuteronomy 25:5-7, Job 19:25

Reciprocal: Ruth 1:8 - the dead Ruth 3:2 - is not Boaz Ruth 3:13 - if he will Ephesians 4:32 - kind

Cross-References

Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, "I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, blessed be he of the Lord,.... Or the Lord bless him with all kind of blessings, temporal and spiritual; and as he has blessed him already, may he be blessed more and more:

who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead; he had been kind to Elimelech and to his sons, who were now dead, and he continued his kindness to the reliefs of them, Naomi and Ruth, who were living, and was kind to them for the sake of the dead; and showing kindness to them expressed his respect to the memory of the dead:

and Naomi said unto her; continued her speech to her, and added to what she had said:

the man is near of kin to us; a near relation of ours, meaning by her husband's side: yea,

one of our next kinsmen; the nearest we have, there was but one nearer than he: the word for kinsman here is "Goel", a redeemer; for to such who were in the degree of kindred as Boaz was, and he that was nearer still than he to them, belonged the right of redemption, and therefore were called by the name of "Goel", a redeemer, as Ben Melech observes; they had a right to avenge the blood of the slain, to redeem their houses and possessions, if sold or mortgaged, and their persons by marrying them, and raising up seed to a deceased brother, or kinsman.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Blessed be he of the Lord ... - We may gather from Naomi’s allusion to the dead that both her husband and son had been faithful servants of Jehovah, the God of Israel. His kindness to the dead consisted in raising up (as Naomi hoped) an heir to perpetuate the name; and, in general, in His care for their widows.

One of our next kinsmen - The word here is גאל gā'al, the redeemer, who had the right:

(1) of redeeming the inheritance of the person;

(2) of marrying the widow;

(3) of avenging the death. (See Leviticus 25:25-31, Leviticus 25:47-55; Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Deuteronomy 19:1-13.)

Since these rights belonged to the next of kin, גאל gā'al came to mean the nearest kinsman.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ruth 2:20. To the living and to the dead. — Naomi and Ruth were the living; and they were also the representatives of Elimelech and Mahlon, who were dead. Naomi was of the family; and Ruth, though not of the family, was a representative of one of its deceased branches, being the widow of Mahlon.

One of our next kinsmen. — מגאלינו miggoaleynu, of our redeemers, one who has the right to redeem the forfeited inheritance of the family. The word גאל goel signifies a near kinsman - one who by the Mosaic law had a right to redeem an inheritance, and also was permitted to vindicate or revenge the death of his relation by killing the slayer, if he found him out of the cities of refuge.

In order to prevent families from running to decay, if a brother died childless, the next unmarried brother took his widow; and the children from that marriage were reputed the children of the deceased brother. The office of the next akin was threefold:

1. It belonged to him to buy back the forfeited inheritance, or the liberty of him who had been obliged to sell himself for a servant.

2. It was his right to avenge the blood of any of the family who had been killed, by killing the murderer.

3. It belonged to him to take the widow of a deceased brother or relative, if he died childless.

If the nearest akin in any case refused, he was treated with indignity, lost his right to the inheritance, and the next akin to him might come forward and take the widow, &c., as in the case of Boaz. See Ruth 4:4-10.