July 09, 2008
BrewBlogging / First 'Brew Blog - Ruth 2:1-2
JB
A friend of mine is doing a personal translation and commentary of Genesis in his blog. I'm nowhere near that good - it takes me a half hour to an hour per verse to do just a rough translation. So my Hebrew blog will be much rougher (and shorter), but I thought it would be a good way to practice Hebrew and share what I learn while doing it. Mine will focus more on mechanics than interpretation. I'm starting in Ruth 2 because I have already finished Ruth 1 for a previous class. Here is my translation:
And to Naomi [was] a kinsman to her man. A man mighty in strength from the clan of Elimelech and his name [was] Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the field and glean in the ears of grain after which I will find favor in his eyes. And she said to her "Go my daughter."
A few notes:
- Note that Hebrew does not have a verb "to have". Instead they say "it was to him/her". So "to Naomi a kinsman to her man" means "Naomi had a kinsman of her husband".
- Also note that "her man" means "her husband". There is no distinct word for "husband" or "wife" in Hebrew
- I was a little confused when I ran across לכי because I couldn't figure out what form it was. Usually whenever you see לכ in Hebrew it is some form of הלך but in this case I couldn't place the form. It turns out it is a feminine second person imperative.
Vocabulary
- מודע - kinsman
- גבור - mighty
- חיל - strong
- משפחת - clan
- לקט - to pick or gather, especially for gleaning
- שבלת - ear of grain
- מצא - to attain or find
- חן - favor
All of the שs are shin's, but I can't see if I typed them correctly. Probably not.