Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageSo she went out and began gleaning in the fields behind the reapers. And as if by providential design, she found herself in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz — the very man of Elimelech's family.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GSo she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And as chance would have it, the plot of field she came to belonged to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
KJV
King James VersionAnd she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleSo Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Footnotes
וַיִּקֶר מִקְרֶהָ (vayyiqer miqreha) — literally 'her chance chanced upon her' — is a striking Hebrew redundancy, using both verb and cognate noun from the root קָרָה (qarah), meaning 'to happen, meet, befall.' The narrator is winking at the reader: this is no accident. The very word used to describe 'chance' is doubled, signalling that what looks like coincidence is saturated with divine purpose. The book of Ruth never depicts a miracle — YHWH is not named as the direct cause of any event — yet His providence hums beneath every sentence. FOG's 'as chance would have it' preserves the surface-level irony; FOG Message's 'as if by providential design' draws out the theological undercurrent the author intends.
