Ruth refers to herself here as “servant” (shiphah), although she does not really even have this status (she is officially a nokriyah). Although shiphah and ’amah (another word translated “maidservant” or “servant girl,” which Ruth uses in 3:9, see comments below, pp. 580–81) are frequently synonymous, it appears that shiphah, when used distinctively, is the more deferential term since it refers to women belonging to the lowest rung of the social ladder (cf. 1 Sam 25:41).41 The term is thus an expression of Ruth’s humility.
