Rut 2:11 | NETfull | STEP | Boaz replied to her, “I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously.

Ruth 2:11

11 Boaz replied to her, ^{▼▼ Heb “answered and said to her” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons this has been translated as “replied to her.”} “I have been given a full report of ^{▼▼ Heb “it has been fully reported to me.” The infinitive absolute here emphasizes the following finite verb from the same root. Here it emphasizes either the clarity of the report or its completeness. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 153, n. 6. Most English versions tend toward the nuance of completeness (e.g., KJV “fully been shewed”; NAB “a complete account”; NASB, NRSV “All that you have done”).} all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left ^{▼▼ The vav (ו) consecutive construction here has a specifying function. This and the following clause elaborate on the preceding general statement and explain more specifically what she did for her mother-in-law.} your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. ^{▼▼ Heb “yesterday and the third day.” This Hebrew idiom means “previously, in the past” (Exod 5:7, 8, 14; Exod 21:29, 36; Deut 4:42; 19:4, 6; Josh 3:4; 1 Sam 21:5; 2 Sam 3:17; 1 Chr 11:2).}