Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageShe said, "He gave me these six measures of barley, telling me, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GShe said, "These six measures of barley he gave me, for he said to me, 'Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"
KJV
King James VersionAnd she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAnd she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
Footnotes
The word reikam (רֵיקָם — empty, empty-handed) forges a powerful intertextual link to Naomi's bitter lament in 1:21: 'I went out full and YHWH has brought me back empty (reikam).' Boaz's deliberate provision directly reverses that emptiness — not only for Ruth but for Naomi herself. The gift of barley is more than generosity; it is the first instalment of a divine reversal that has been building since chapter 1. Both FOG and FOG Message render 'empty-handed' to make this echo audible to attentive readers.
