Ruth Translation: 1:16 to 1:18
It is another day of translating with the Translation Project. We are back with three more verses from the first chapter of Ruth. We ended yesterday with Ruth responding to Naomi. Today we will hear her conclusion and who Naomi responds.
There are some interesting narration choices that do not easily fit into English. I have kept a very closely to the original words choices but the meaning get lost a bit. For this reason, and to avoid confusion, I have added two commentary notes.
Ruth 1:16
But Ruth said, "Do not press me to abandon you, to turn back from you. For where you go, I go; and where you stay, I stay. Your people are my people and your God is my God.
Ruth 1:17
In the place where you will die, I will die and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me and thus may he add* if anything but death separates you and me.
*This is section is an oath clause. The closest thing we have in style would be "cross my heart hope to die." It would have been a common phrase with deep meaning at the time. It is not clear what would be added or the punishment God would grant.
Ruth 1:18
Then she saw that she was determined to go with her so she stopped speaking to her.*
*In this situation it was not the silent treatment, rather the narrator is communicating that Naomi stopped trying to talk Ruth about returning.
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