Ruth 2:13

May I continue to find favor, sir, in thine eyes, for indeed thou hast comforted me, and cheered the heart of thine handmaid, and yet I have not the position of one of thy maidens. To be one of his maidens was, in her estimation, to be in a most desirable condition. She could not aspire to that. But as he had spoken so graciously to her heart, and soothed its sorrows, she trusted he would still befriend her. אֶמְצָא should not be rendered, with the Vulgate, "I have found" ( inveni ); nor, with Tremellius and Junius, "I find" ( in venio ); but, with Piscator, optatively, "may I find" ( inveniam ), that is, "may I still find, may I continue to find. So Luther, Coverdale , and Michaelis. The courtesy-expression, rendered in King James's version "my lord" ( אֲדֹנִי Mein-Herr or Monsieur ), is used, as Carpzov remarks, in "humility and civility."