The first sentence of verse 2 in Hebrew is “Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose servants you were?” The negative question marker indicates clearly that an affirmative answer is expected, so a translator is fully justified in turning this question into an emphatic affirmative statement. This may be done in several ways; for example, “Now there is our kinsman Boaz; you were with his girls” (New English Bible) or “Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose girls you have been working” (Moffatt).

The phrase Boaz … is our relative contains old information which has to be remembered. So a translation Remember that … is certainly accurate. One of the difficulties with the verb “remember” is that it may imply that someone is to remember what has been forgotten. This is not the implication of Naomi’s statement to Ruth. What she really means is “Bear in mind that” or “You must be aware that.” One may also translate “As you know, Boaz is one of our relatives.”

The Hebrew text does not specify working, but it is a perfectly normal addition. The Good News Translation rendering whose women you have been working with seems considerably more natural than the literal rendering “with whose women servants you were.”

For the interpretation of our relative, see the comments on 2.1. The Hebrew noun is slightly different from the one used in 2.1, but there is no evidence that the difference in form implies a significant difference in meaning. According to Joüon, par. 89, the feminine suffix -t in modaʿat should have “une nuance intensive,” so that the distinctive meaning of modaʿat (compared with modaʿ Ruth 2.1) should be that of “near kinsman.” Of the commentators, only Tamisier (op. cit., ad loc.) seems to support this interpretation. For the rare vocalization -anu of the possessive suffix, which may be due to the zaqef and the predicate character of the word, see Joüon, par. 94; Bauer-Leander, par. 29; and W. Gesenius-E. Kautzsch, Hebräische Grammatik, Leipzig, 1909, par. 91. It is therefore best to take the two forms as being synonymous.

Now listen is an idiomatic way of translating into English a Hebrew adverb traditionally rendered as “see” or “behold” (see Revised Standard Version and Smith-Goodspeed). Most modern versions (e.g., New American Bible, New English Bible, and Moffatt) simply omit the adverb, but there is a value in trying to reproduce something of the significance of this Hebrew expression, since it does serve to call attention to what immediately follows. Some languages have special particles which mean “pay attention now,” “mark this,” or “hear.”

The Good News Translation rendering This evening he will be threshing the barley is in Hebrew literally “he will be winnowing the threshing floor of barley.” This means “he will be winnowing the barley which has been threshed on the threshing floor.” Winnowing actually followed the threshing, which was the process of separating the grain from the straw by beating it with flails or having animals trample it. The straw was then lifted with wooden forks, leaving the grain mixed with chaff and dust on the floor. Winnowing consisted of throwing these into the west wind by means of a wooden shovel. The heavier grains would fall back on the threshing floor, while the wind would carry the dust and the chaff. For detailed information see Dalman op. cit., I, pages 511-512; III, pages 127-129. In Palestine the west wind normally begins to blow about two o’clock in the afternoon and continues through the evening and into the night. It is important that the wind not be too strong or blustery, and this may explain why the evening was regarded as the best time for winnowing. Contrary to Dalman, Hertzberg (op, cit., ad loc.) supposes that this operation took place in the afternoon, as the wind abates towards the evening. It is highly questionable, however, whether we can translate hallaylah with “afternoon.” The greeting by Hertzberg, exactly because of its anticipatory character, is no proof at all. Probably Boaz himself did not do the winnowing, but simply supervised his servants as they did the work. Perhaps Boaz stayed at the threshing floor during the night in order to guard it against thieves.

One of the reasons why Good News Translation does not specify “winnowing” is that such a process is rarely known or understood at the present time by English-speaking people. Furthermore, winnowing would be regarded as only part of the process of threshing, and therefore Good News Translation uses the more general term at this point. However, where winnowing is known, a specific term for this process should be employed, and it may be useful in some instances to add a marginal note to explain this process. Where a technical term for winnowing is lacking, it is sometimes possible to use a descriptive phrase such as “he will be shaking out the dirt from the barley,” See also Translator’s Handbook on Luke on 3.17. “he will be separating the grain from the chaff,” or “he will be separating the grain from the leaves.”

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 .