The Hebrew text of verse 2 begins “and he took ten men of the elders of the city.” Since, however, Elimelech’s nearest relative is the subject of the last sentence of verse 1, it is normally important to mark the shift of actors so that Boaz should be introduced as the subject of the first sentence of verse 2. The fact that this action by Boaz is subsequent to the preceding should be marked by some kind of transitional device such as Then, “And next,” or “Immediately afterwards.”
Certain problems are involved in translating the verb got, which represents in Hebrew a verb often translated as “took.” One should not imagine that Boaz had to go through the town in order to find or select ten of the town’s elders; what he no doubt did was to ask ten of the town’s elders to stop as they were going in or out of the town gate. In many languages an appropriate translation would be “and Boaz caused ten of the town elders to stop” or “Boaz asked ten of the town elders to remain.” It is also possible to use an expression such as “selected” or “picked out” (cf. New American Bible), but this might imply too formal an activity.
The leaders mentioned in this context would have been the heads of leading families, who formed the aristocracy of the town. As local authorities they were largely responsible for legal matters (see Deut 25.7; 1 Kgs 21.8-14). See also R. de Vaux, op. cit., I, pages 108-109, 212-213. There would certainly have been more than ten elders in Bethlehem, though the exact number is not known. A town such as Sukkoth had seventy-seven elders, according to Judges 8.14. In finding an appropriate term for “elders,” it is important not to use a word which merely means “older men,” though in many societies the older men are the leaders of the town. A more natural expression in many languages is “ten important men in the town,” “ten of the leaders in the town,” or “ten of the men in the town to whom people showed respect.”
The direct discourse employing an imperative expression, as in the Hebrew, “… said, ‘Sit down here,’ ” might seem to be rather impolite in some languages. For that reason Good News Translation introduces indirect discourse, asked them to sit down, which may seem more natural in such a setting. If direct discourse is used, the imperative force of the request may be somewhat altered by the use of some particle showing proper politeness, equivalent to “please” in English: “please sit down here.”
When they were seated translates what is literally in Hebrew “and they sat down.” If an independent clause is used, it should be observed that their sitting down is a result of Boaz’s request, and therefore it must be rendered as “so they sat down” or “hence they sat down.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Ruth. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .