Tag Archives: Ruth 1:22

Returning to the Fields: Thematic and Grammatical Layers in Ruth 1:22

וַתָּ֣שָׁב נָעֳמִ֗י וְר֨וּת הַמֹּואֲבִיָּ֤ה כַלָּתָהּ֙ עִמָּ֔הּ הַשָּׁ֖בָה מִשְּׂדֵ֣י מֹואָ֑ב וְהֵ֗מָּה בָּ֚אוּ בֵּ֣ית לֶ֔חֶם בִּתְחִלַּ֖ת קְצִ֥יר שְׂעֹרִֽים׃ (Ruth 1:22) And Naʿomi returned, and Ruth the Moavite, her daughter-in-law, with her, the one returning from the fields of Moʾav, and they came to Beit-Leḥem at the beginning of the barley harvest. What’s Hidden in a Return? The closing verse of Ruth 1 is deceptively straightforward. On the surface, it narrates the return of two women to Beit-Leḥem. But beneath that return lies a rich tapestry of grammatical tension and narrative momentum, embedded in subtle choices of verb forms, word order, and apposition.… Learn Hebrew
Posted in Grammar, Syntax | Tagged | Comments Off on Returning to the Fields: Thematic and Grammatical Layers in Ruth 1:22