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Journey of a Passage

Ruth 4:20–21

Salmah or Salmon?

Boaz's father is spelled Salmah (שַׂלְמָה) in 4:20 and Salmon (שַׂלְמוֹן) in 4:21 in the same Hebrew text. 1 Chronicles 2:11 has Salma; Matthew and the versions have Salmon.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original RuthUnknown (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Ruth
Greek
  1. Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd–1st century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Across the genealogies

1 Chronicles 2:11
Salma (שַׂלְמָא).
Matthew 1:4–5
Salmon, who fathered Boaz by Rahab.
Luke 3:32
Sala in many Greek manuscripts; Salmon in others.

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Ruth

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Translated c. 2nd–1st century BC

    Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Naasson engendra Salmon; Et Salmon engendra Booz

    Salmon in both verses. One Greek text via Giguet's French; not checked against Quast's Göttingen edition.

  3. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Nahasson genuit Salmon, Salmon genuit Booz

    Salmon in both.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Ruth

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    וְנַחְשׁוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת־שַׂלְמָה׃ וְשַׂלְמוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת־בֹּעַז

    and Nahshon fathered Salmah; and Salmon fathered Boaz

    Two spellings in consecutive verses.

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Nahshon begat Salmon, And Salmon begat Boaz

    Harmonized to Salmon.

What changed, and why

Variant spellings of the same name; the translations harmonize them.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Masoretic Text spells the name two ways in 4:20–21.

Sources

Related lessons

  • Obed and the Line to David →Ruth bears a son. The women of Bethlehem bless the LORD who has not left Naomi without a redeemer; Ruth, they say, is better to her than seven sons. Naomi takes the child in her lap; the neighbor women name him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. A ten-generation genealogy runs from Perez to David.
  • How Ruth Came to Us →Who wrote Ruth, and when? Why is it among the Writings in Jewish Bibles but after Judges in Christian ones? What do the four Dead Sea Scroll copies preserve? How did the Greek translation come down, and why is Ruth read at Shavuot?