Yoo-ki Kim, «The Agent of hesed in Naomi’s Blessing (Ruth 2,20)» biblica, Vol. 95 (2014) 589-601 page 591

Vol 95 (2014)

Yoo-ki Kim, «The Agent of hesed in Naomi’s Blessing (Ruth 2,20)», Vol. 95 (2014) 589-601

The ambiguity regarding the agent of hesed in Naomi’s blessing in Ru 2,20 has been the focus of interest for commentators, linguists, and translators. For a better resolution of the ambiguity, this article examines the syntactic structure of the sentence, seeks a proper understanding of the significance of «hesed to the dead», and sets the blessing in the context of the whole narrative. The findings of our analysis support the argument that it is Boaz who, in Naomi’s words, performed hesed to the living and dead members of her family.

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006_kim_589-601 13/02/15 12:50 Pagina 591 THE AGENT OF ḤESED IN NAOMI’S BLESSING (RUTH 2,20) 591 Most modern translations imply that the subject is YHWH 6. Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. (King James Version) Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead! (New Revised Standard Version) One German translation goes even further, specifying the subject as YHWH. Der HERR segne ihn! Jetzt sehe ich, dass der HERR uns nicht im Stich gelassen hat, uns Lebende nicht und nicht unsere Toten. (Gute Nachricht Bibel) However, a few modern translations seem to identify Boaz as the sub- ject of the subordinate clause 7. The LORD bless him! […] He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead. (New International Version) In sum, the ancient translations do not offer a decisive clue for the res- olution of the structural ambiguity in the source language of Ru 2,20, nor do modern translations display agreement on this issue. 6 For other examples, see American Standard Version (1901), Revised Standard Version (1952), La Nouvelle Édition de Genève (1977), New King James Version (1982), La Bible en français courant (1982), Luther Bibel (1984), New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh (1985), New Jerusalem Bible (1985), La Traduction Oecuménique de la Bible (1988), New American Standard Bible (1995), and English Standard Version (2001). Given the “ambiguous” nature of the matter, the choice that most modern transla- tions have made is rather unusual. 7 Douay-Rheims American Edition (1899), New English Translation (2005), and New Living Translation (2007). Interestingly, most Korean trans- lations understand the agent as Boaz. All the official versions that the Korean Bible Society has published agree on this point: New Korean Revised Version (1998), Revised Common Translation (1999), and Revised New Korean Stan- dard Version (2001). Only Korean New Revised Version (2005) published by the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Korea has opted for YHWH. This prefer- ence for Boaz cannot be attributed to the grammatical structure of the lan- guage. Despite the similarity in syntactic structure between Korean and Japanese, major Japanese translations such as Colloquial Translation (1954), New Japanese Bible (2003), and New Interconfessional Version (1987) have all chosen YHWH.