Did Ruth wiggle that night on the threshing floor?

Yesterday I worked with Rukia, the Ikizu translator, on Ruth chapters 3 and 4. In general, Rukia had done a nice job with the translation and our work went quickly because there simply were not very many corrections to make or questions to ask.

However, one verse had a significant issue in it. In the NIV, Ruth 3:4 says: "When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."

In the first sentence and the third sentence, the Ikizu translation was fine. That second sentence, though, said something like this (in my English translation of the Ikizu): "When he's asleep, go and uncover his feet and lie down very still."

The word (it's just one word in Ikizu) for "lie down very still" wasn't the usual Ikizu word for sleep in Ikizu, so I asked Rukia what exactly it meant. She said that it meant you are lying down, but not all relaxed like you are when asleep. You are careful to not move and you keep your arms tightly at your sides.

That seemed a little strange to me, since I didn't see anything like that in any of the Swahili or English translations we were using as our references. I asked why she had not used the usual word for "sleep" or "lie down", but her answer didn't really make sense to me. We had a sort of circular conversation with me asking questions and her giving answers that weren't very clear as to why exactly the Ikizu translation had this "lie down very still" word.

Now, the reason why might have already occurred to you, but I was kind of dense yesterday afternoon, I guess. After Rukia saying something like, "I don't want people to misunderstand what is meant by 'lay down' in this verse," it finally clicked. Light bulb moment! I realized that she was trying to insert the info that Ruth and Boaz did not touch during the night. Ah ha!

So, what to do now? Did Ruth and Boaz do anything that night other than talk? What exactly woke him up suddenly during the night, anyway? The Bible does not say. It simply states that she uncovered his feet and lay down and that during the night something startled him and he woke up.

Both Rukia and I are pretty stubborn, but since I had the evidence of all the Swahili and English versions on my side, in the end the Ikizu draft said she laid down at his feet and doesn't mention if she wiggled or not. We're going to ask other Ikizu people and the translation consultant when he comes to see what they all think.

Translation is tricky, and understanding indirectly stated information can be even trickier!