Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
Parallel Translations
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Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
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And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
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And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law: 'Go, return each of you to her mother's house; the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Ruth 1:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ruth 1:5 Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband.
- Ruth 2:20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
- Colossians 3:18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
- Colossians 3:24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
- Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”
- Joshua 24:15-28 If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.” Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
- Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 1:16-18 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Rth 1:8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters…
Rth 1:8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Ver. 8. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law.] Hitherto she hath acted her part by doing and suffering. Now, and not till now, we find her speaking. Her tongue did not hang loose, to be upon every touch extolling: but "she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness," as Pro 31:26.
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Go, return each to her mother’s house.] Ite, redite. This she spake as a wise woman, to make trial of the soundness of their love. Videas cui fidas, try before you trust. Open heartedness is a sign of folly; credulity, of levity.
The Lord deal kindly with you.] This, her motherly benediction, was the best valediction. Gold and silver she had not for them, but that which was better, heartiest prayers and well wishes; and of these people should be even prodigal, since this their labour of love cannot be in vain in the Lord.
As ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.] Though of an ill race, they proved dutiful wives and kind daughters-in-law. Howbeit nothing is more dangerous than to graft in a bad stock, to be imped in a wicked family. This relation too often draweth in a share both of sin and punishment. Ahab and Ahaziah, for instance.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Each to her mother’s house; not that they wanted…
Each to her mother’s house; not that they wanted fathers, Rth 2:11, but because daughters used to converse more frequently with their mothers, and to be most endeared to them, and to dwell in the same apartments with them, which then were distinct from those parts of the house where the men dwelt.
With the dead; with my sons, your husbands, whilst they lived.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Naomi said to her two daughters in law,....…
And Naomi said to her two daughters in law,.... When they were come, as it is very probable, to the utmost limits of the land of Moab, and to the borders of the land of Israel:
go, return each unto her mother's house: the mother's house is mentioned, and not the father's, not because they had no father living; for it is certain Ruth had a father as well as a mother, Rut 2:11 but because mothers are most affectionate to their daughters, and they most conversant together; and because women in those times had apartments to themselves, and who used to take their daughters to them when become widows; though such was the strong love of those young widows to their mother-in-law, that they chose rather to dwell with her, while she lived in Moab, than with their own mothers:
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the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me; that is, with their husbands, who were dead; as the Targum is, that they refused to marry men after their death; or rather it respects their affectionate care of their husbands, and behaviour towards them when living, as well as the respect they showed to their memory, at and since their death; and also their filial duty to her, both before and since; and particularly, as the Targum expresses it, in that they had fed and supported her.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Mother's house - Because daughters used to converse more…
Mother's house - Because daughters used to converse more frequently with their mothers, and to dwell in the same apartments with them, which then were distinct from those parts of the house where the men dwelt. The dead - With my sons, your husbands, while they lived.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rth 1:8. Return each to her mother’s house —…
Rth 1:8. Return each to her mother’s house — She desires them to accompany her no farther, but to go back to their own home. And it seems it was usual in Moab, as well as in Israel, for widows to dwell with their parents. But she says, mother’s, rather than father’s house, because daughters used to converse more frequently with their mothers, and to dwell in the same apartments with them, which then were distinct from those parts of the house where the men dwelt. The dead — With my sons, your husbands, while they lived.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Accompanying their mother-in-law to the borders of their own…
Accompanying their mother-in-law to the borders of their own land would probably be an act of Oriental courtesy. Naomi with no less courtesy presses them to return. The mention of the mother’s house, which the separation of the women’s house or tent from that of the men facilitates, is natural in her mouth, and has more tenderness in it than father’s house would have had; it does not imply the death of their fathers Rth 2:11.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Mothers, who had separate apartments from the men. (Calmet)…
Mothers, who had separate apartments from the men. (Calmet) --- Me. They had behaved with great respect and love towards their husbands, and towards Noemi, whom they even wish to accompany. (Menochius) --- The pronouns in this, and verses 9, 11, 13, and 19, are surprisingly corrupted in Hebrew being masculine or feminine, where we should expect the contrary. (Kennicott)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each…
Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house--In Eastern countries women occupy apartments separate from those of men, and daughters are most frequently in those of their mother.
the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead--that is, with my sons, your husbands, while they lived.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Go, return — Thus, at length, the tearful…
8. Go, return — Thus, at length, the tearful Naomi herself breaks the silence of their grief. She feels that she would wrong these daughters of Moab to take them with her where, in all probability, they would be shut up to lasting widowhood.
Each to her mother’s house — She says mother’s house rather than father’s, for it is maternal tenderness and sympathy that best knows how to comfort and cheer a daughter in her sorrows.
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As ye have dealt with the dead and with me — Their life in Moab had been one of harmony and reciprocated kindnesses. No discord, no family feuds, had arisen among them; their sorrows came from the death of those they loved.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. to her mother’s house] although Ruth’s father was…
8. to her mother’s house] although Ruth’s father was alive, Rth_2:11; but the natural place for the female members of the family would be their mother’s tent or house, cf. Gen_24:28; Gen_24:67, Son_3:4.
the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt] Cf. Psa_18:25 ‘with the kind thou shewest thyself kind.’ Jehovah’s kindness was specially needed by the widow, for her condition was regarded as a reproach, Isa_4:1; Isa_54:4. The Book of the Covenant makes no provision for the widow (Exo_22:22 is a later expansion); contrast the humanity of Deu_24:19-21; Deu_27:19.
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On her marriage the wife united herself to her husband’s religion; when she returned to her own people as a widow, she returned to their religion if they were foreigners, Rth_1:15 f. Yet Jehovah’s influence is not entirely confined to the land of Israel; Naomi can commend her daughters in law to His protection when they were back in their own land.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Return.—Naomi’s love is all unselfish. The company of…
(8) Return.—Naomi’s love is all unselfish. The company of Ruth and Orpah would clearly have been a great solace to her, yet she will not sacrifice them to herself. They each had a mother and a home; the latter, Naomi might fail to secure to them.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return…
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother"s house. She reverted, with deeper earnestness, to their theme, of discussion. She acknowledged that most kindly had they acted toward her. Her heart was filled with gratitude. It was likewise agitated with grief at the prospect of bidding them a final farewell, Nevertheless, she felt that it would be unreasonable and unkind to invite them to be, to any further degree, sharers of her adversity. Hence, thanking them for their loving convoy, she would remind them that every step further on would only increase the length of their return-journey; and she said, Go, return each to her mother"s home. There, in the females" apartment, and in the bosom of their mothers, they would surely find a welcome and a refuge. She judges of their mothers by herself, and she refers rather to them than to their fathers, partly, perhaps, because she bears in mind her own motherhood, but principally, no doubt, because, in those Oriental countries, it lay very particularly within the province of mothers to make arrangements in reference to their daughters. May Yahveh deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the deceased, and with me. It is beautiful gratitude, and at the same time a touching monument to the faithfulness and gentleness that had characterized and adorned the young widows. Her simple Hebrew theology, moreover, comes finely out. She assumes that her own Yahveh reigned in Moab as in Judah, and that all blessing descended from him. There is a little peculiarity in the Hebrew pronouns in this clause. They are masculine instead of feminine. The influence of the stronger sex overrides grammatically, for the moment, the influence of the weaker.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 8. Kindness.
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Tidings reached Naomi that peace and plenty had returned to Judah, and she resolved to return to Bethlehem. She acknowledged the Lord"s goodness, who "had visited his people in giving them bread." Doubtless she sought the Lord"s guidance with reference to her return. It must have needed courage on her part to form and carry out this resolution. Her affectionate daughters-in-law accompanied her part of the way. Then came the hour of separation. As Naomi bade the young widows return, she uttered words of testimony to their kindness, words of prayer that Heaven might deal kindly with them. Coming from her lips, this witness was precious. They had dealt kindly with the dead their husbands, her sons. They had dealt kindly with her, in her bereavements and loneliness; they had sympathized with her, and now were willing to accompany her to the land of her birth and early days.
I THE FOUNDATION OF KINDNESS. We must seek this below what is called "good nature;" and, taught by Christianity, must find it in the brotherhood of man, the fatherhood of God. The sacrifice of Christ is the power and the model of true Christian kindness.
II THE SPHERE OF KINDNESS. The family, as in the passage before, comes first. "Kind" is related, as a word, to "kin." "Charity begins at home." But, as has been remarked, it does not end there. Kindness should be shown to our fellow-creatures, as Christians, as neighbors, as fellow-countrymen, as members of the human race.
III THE DIFFICULTIES in the way of kindness. It is not always easy for persons of one nation to agree with those of another; foreigners are often foes. It is not always easy for mothers-in-law to agree with daughters-in-law. Yet these difficulties may be overcome, as in this narrative.
IV THE RECOMPENSE of kindness. Naomi"s prayer was answered, and the Lord dealt kindly with those who had shown kindness. True kindness will breathe many a prayer. And the Lord"s loving-kindness, condescending, unmerited, and free, is his people s most precious possession; it is "better than life! T.
Benedictions.
The Hebrews were fond of benedictions. "The Lord bless thee and keep thee," "And Jacob blessed Joseph, and said, The God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." "The Lord bless thee out of Zion." These Scriptures of olden time touch us so tenderly, because they recognize the living hand, the loving heart of God. It is this which will make them never grow old. It is this which makes their inspiration living, and keeps their fountains of consolation open still. We are always meeting and parting, journeying forth and returning home. Our families are broken up, our churches have gates of entrance and departure, and the picture of life is always one of a tent-life. We are pilgrims and strangers, as all our fathers were. The keynote of all that I have to say to you from this text is in that word "kindly." The argument is this. We can understand kindness in the sphere of the human, and rise from that to a prayer for the Divine kindness. No society in any age can be cemented together by force alone. Feudalism, for instance, in olden times, was not all terror. The baron could command his dependents in time of war, as he fed and housed and clothed them in times of peace; but, as the old chroniclers tell us, there was often a rare hospitality, a hearty cheerfulness, a chivalrous affection in the somewhat stern relationship; nor will any political economy of government ever be able to preserve nations in allegiance to each other, or at peace amongst themselves, without the cultivation of Christian brotherhood.
I THE LORD KNOWS BEST WHAT KINDNESS IS. The Lord deal kindly with you. Has he been kind? That is the question for us all. At times we should have been tempted to answer, No! The vine is blighted, the fig tree withered, the locusts have spoiled the green of spring, the little lambs have died. Kindly? Yes, we shall answer one time when we stand in our lot at the end of days. For kindness is not indulgence. I am thankful that this once common word has dropped out of our prayers Indulgent Father. No word in the English language describes a feebler state of being than the word indulgence; it refers always to the weaker side of our nature; that which is pleasant to us, that which eases us of pain and of discipline and effort. Prayer like this goes to the heart; more especially from the Naomis of the universe who have had so hard a time of it, to whom life has been so full of bereavement and battle. But if you study life, you will see it is the indulged who complain; it is those nursed in the lap of luxury who whine and whimper if the sun does not shine, if the pomegranate, and the fig, and the grape do not supplement the bread. Indulgence breeds supercilious mannerism and contempt for common things in them; and all seems so very strange if men, and women, and things are not ready for their comfort. God"s kindness to us may take forms which surprise us. At the heart of his severest judgments there is mercy, in the bitter spring there is healing water, in the desolated altar there is the downfall of idolatry. Abba, Father, we cry, and he seems not to hear us. The wild winds seem to waft away into empty space our cries for help and pity, but he who sitteth in the heavens hears and answers according to the wisdom of his own will. The kindest things God has ever done for us have been, perhaps, the strangest and severest. So it was with Daniel, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Abraham our father. All God"s ways are clone in truth, and truth is always kindness, for the music of the universe is set in that key. The throne of the Almighty himself has its firm pillars planted on that. Away we go to business and duty. Farewell to son and daughter. Go thy way, pilgrim of life, with knapsack and staff; henceforth our paths are separate, and for you there will come battles when we cannot fight beside you, burdens we cannot help you to bear. To another hearth you will come at evening, when the day"s work is done, and the anodynes of sympathy are needed for the worker"s heart. "Go thy way. The Lord deal kindly with thee.
II THE LORD ALONE WILL BE WITH US ALL THROUGH OUR FUTURE PILGRIMAGE. Apart from Divine power, which we have not to bless with, there is Divine presence which we all need. Christ will be with us to the end. Never will come a battle, a temptation, a solitude, a sorrow, a needful sacrifice, but the Lord will be at hand. The scepter will never be laid in front of an empty throne. The Lord reigns. It is touching to see the struggles of modern thought in the minds of men who have drifted away from the incarnation and resurrection of our Lord. "The ocean encroaches more and more each year to use a figure of one who has marked the "ebb" of thought he watches his fields eaten up from year to year." Yes, says the same writer, who is depicting the drift: meadowland, whereon he played in the innocent delights of childhood, has now become a marshy waste of sand. The garden where he gathered flowers, an offering of love and devotion to his parents, is now sown with sea-salt. The church where he offered up his childish prayers, and wondered at the high mysteries of which his teachers spoke, stands tottering upon the edge of a crumbling cliff that the next storm may bring down in ruin." And this is rightly called "an experience of spiritual misery." Pathetic, indeed, is this. The picture is most touching and saddening! Who can feel it more than those who suffer the eclipse of faith? We, who worship here, trust in the living God, who as we believe revealed himself to our fathers by the prophets, and who in these last days has spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath made heir of all things, and hath given us this testimony, in that he hath raised him from the dead. W.M.S.
"As you have dealt with the dead and me.
This beautiful analogy, which has its root idea in love and home, is very suggestive.
I THE LORD KNOWS BEST WHAT OTHERS HAVE BEEN TO US. "As you have dealt with the dead and me." You have been good and true to them, Naomi says, with a voice that trembles with remembrances of the old days gone forever. It is a touching little sentence. The dead. So silent now. Never to come back for us to touch imperfectness into riper good; never to charm away with pleasant thoughts the dull hours; never to fill with deeper meanings of love the half-empty words; never to make more Divine the common service of life; never to put the best interpretation upon conduct; never to lift the leaden crown of care from the anxious brow; never to help to transfigure the mean and lowly with heavenly hopes and aspirations. Gone! What a world of vacancy, and silence, and subtle mystery! Is it strange we should wish well to those who were kind to the dead? And Naomi links her own being with them still. "The dead and me." And with true hearts they never can be disassociated. Anniversaries of remembrance make our separations no more distant. They soften them. They give place for comforting remembrances; but the dead are near as ever! "The dead and me!" Who shall separate? None. Christ died, yea, rather is risen again, and he will raise us up together to the heavenly places. What a blessing so to live, so to fill our place as sons and daughters, so to sweeten, sublime, and sanctify life that others may make our conduct a plea with that God who has known our heart and life, and say, "The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and me.
II THE LORD HAS GIVEN US GUARANTEES OF HIS KINDNESS. We are not left to meditate on rain and fruitful seasons only. Not the green of spring, nor the south wind of summer, nor the gold of autumn alone proclaim his goodness. So long as the story of the cross has Divine meaning for us, so long as we believe it, not alone as the spirit of a good man"s life, but as the revelation of God manifest in the flesh, so long can we exclaim, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us." Nor can we exclude conscience from our argument; that, too, is a guarantee that the Almighty cares for us, that he will not let us sin and suffer without the very voice Divine awakening, alarming, and arresting us. None but a good Being would have put conscience there, and made it universal, and filled it with such sweet benedictions for the soul. We are surrounded by evidences of the Eternal pity. God who spared not his own Son, will with him also freely give us all things for man is still his child, and he has a desire to the work of his hands. When we pray, therefore, "The Lord deal kindly with thee," we only ask him to be like himself, we only put him in remembrance of his promise to hear when we call upon him. Some would think God kind, indeed, if he were less severe on sin; to them all law is baneful, and the sorest evils are only evidences of an imperfect brain, or an untrained mind, or an ungovernable power of impulse. How, then, should the law of God be other than dislikable nay, detestable to them; but he who prepared the light, prepared also the throne of his judgment, and he will by no means clear the guilty for the love of God would be but a weak sentiment if it were not harmonized with a law which means order, truth, righteousness, and justice in all domains of his eternal empire. We only predicate that love is the root of law, as it is also the essence of mercy, and how God"s kindness even on the cross shows that justice and mercy blend with each other.
III THE LORD LOOKS FOR OUR LOVE TO HIM IN OUR LOVE TO EACH OTHER. If we love him we shall feed his lambs, forgive our enemies, and fulfill the whole law of love. How many there have been who, professing even an extreme sanctity, have robbed their partners, deluded their followers, and sometimes darkened forever a brightly opening life. It is saddening to think what religion has suffered from those whose countenances advertise asperity and contempt, selfishness and pride, whilst they carry their Bibles under their arms, and seem shocked at the exuberance of a healthy joy. Deal kindly? Not they. Their silken words are often the soft sheaths of dagger purposes, and their sham friendship is often only the occasion of stealing mental photographs of you to distribute among their friends. Deal kindly? Why they sleep as well when they have wounded as when they have healed, and they do not understand what the plan of salvation has to do with a conscientious rectitude, a tender consideration, and a warm and loving heart. Deal kindly. Let the Church arise and shine, and put on her beautiful garments. Let the venerable Apostle John take his place once more in the midst of the Churches, and say, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, for God is love." "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth." "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." How true we feel all this to be, and yet how hard in such a world as this. God is light, God is love, but unless we walk in the light with him we know nothing of it at all. It is still more popular to discuss a mystery than to seek after a Divine ideal. It is still true that many appraise their goodness by their greater enlightenment on some disputable points of religion, and they greatly hope their friend and brother will come to see like themselves. Alas! alas! all the while we may perchance be so untrue to Christ, we may be experiencing no sensitive grief that we are unlike the chief Shepherd of the sheep, so worldly, so captious, so dull in all Divine sensibilities. Naomi"s prayer, therefore, may teach us much today about God our Savior; much, too, about ourselves. This, at all events, is true. If the harvests of love come late, they are very real and very precious. Years alone can reveal character. We know what others are in times of test and trial, as Naomi did in a strange land. She was a mother-in-law, and that is a hard part to fulfill, often the subject of satire, too often, indeed, an experience which awakens slender sympathy; she yet gained the crown of trust, and honor, and love. And now, how can she speak better for others than by speaking to God for them? The God who has never left her, the God who has been the husband of the widow, the God who sent her human solace in the trying hours of her bereavement in the far away land. "The Lord deal kindly with you." When once in the hush of death a girl stood at the threshold of the door, trembling, as childhood does, in the presence of death, the mother, bending over the quiet sleeper, beckoned her in. She regained confidence then, and taking up the cold hand kissed it, and said of her dead brother, "Mother, that hand never struck me." How beautiful I Can we say the same, that we never wounded the dead? Can we say it of the Christ himself, that we never crucified the Son of God afresh? And now we look up to the great Father of our spirits, and the God of our salvation, and pray him to bless all we love, to make them his own now and evermore. His kindness is truer, deeper, wiser than our own. "The Lord bless them and keep them." "The Lord deal kindly with them. W.M.S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The Lord deal kindly with you.
Rth_1:8
The Lord deal kindly with you.
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Naomis prayer for her daughters-in-law
I. That it is a duty to pray for those which do either us or ours good.
II. That at parting friends are to pray one for another, as we may see the practice of it in Isaac (Gen_28:1; Gen_28:3); Laban (Gen_31:55); Jacob (Gen_43:14); and in Paul (Act_20:36).
III. That the godly are persuaded that the Lord is a merciful rewarder of the duties of love which one doth towards another (Col_3:24).
IV. That children should so well deserve of parents, yea, though but parents-in-law, as they may be moved heartily to pray for them, as Naomi doth in this place. A good carriage is a duty towards all, then much more to parents; and the prayers of parents is a means to put a blessing upon their children.
V. That God will not only barely reward, but so deal with us as we deal with others. (R. Bernard.)
The benedictions of life
The key-note of all I have to say is in that word kindly. The argument is this. We can understand kindness in the sphere of the human, and rise from that to a prayer for the Divine kindness. No society in any age can be cemented together by force alone. Feudalism, for instance, in olden times, was not all terror. The baron could command his dependents in time of war, as he fed and housed and clothed them in times of peace; but, as the old chroniclers tell us, there was often a rare hospitality, a hearty cheerfulness, a chivalrous affection in the somewhat stern relationship.
I. The Lord knows best what kindness is. The Lord deal kindly with you. Has He been kind? At times we should have been tempted to answer, No! The vine is blighted, the fig-tree withered, the locusts have spoiled the green of spring. Kindly? Yes, we shall answer one time when we stand in our lot at the end of days. For kindness is not indulgence. Gods kindness to us may take forms which surprise us. At the heart of His severest judgments there is mercy, in the bitter spring there is healing water. The kindest things God has ever done for us have been, perhaps, the strangest and severest. So it was with Daniel and Jacob and Joseph and Abraham, our father. All Gods ways are done in truth, and truth is always kindness.
II. The Lord knows best what others have been to us. As you have dealt with the dead and me. It is a touching little sentence. The dead. So silent now. Never to come back, for us to touch imperfectness into riper good. Gone! What a word of vacancy, and silence, and subtle mystery! Is it strange we should wish well to those who were kind to the dead? And Naomi links her own being with them still: The dead and me. And with true hearts they never can be dissociated. Anniversaries of remembrance make our separations no more distant. They soften them. They give place for comforting remembrances: but the dead are near as ever. The dead and me! Who shall separate? None. Christ died, yea, rather is risen again, and He will raise us up together to the heavenly places.
III. The Lord alone will be with us all through our future pilgrimage. Apart from Divine power, which we have not to bless with, there is Divine presence which we all need. Christ will be with us to the end. Never will come a battle, a temptation, a solitude, a sorrow, a needful sacrifice, but the Lord will be at hand.
IV. The Lord has given us guarantees of His kindness. We are not left to meditate on rain and fruitful seasons only. Not the green of spring, nor the south wind of summer, nor the gold of autumn alone proclaim His goodness.(W. M. Statham.)
As ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Kindness to the departed
Let us inquire how many things a dying godly man leaves behind him in this world. His soul is sent before him (Rev_14:13). He leaveth behind him--
I. His body, to which we must be kind, by burial and lamentation.
II. His estate, to which we must be kind, by careful and faithful administration.
III. His children, friends, or kindred, to whom we must be kind, by love and affection.
IV. His faults and failings, to which we must be kind, by silence and suppression.
V. His memory and virtues, to which we must be kind, by congratulation, commemoration, and imitation. (T. Fuller, B. D.)
Behaviour in the light of death
You know not, husbands and wives, how long you may dwell together. Death may soon come, and will doubtless, sooner or later, come and tear away the one of you from the other. When that event shall take place, how will you wish to have behaved? Behave at present as you would then wish to have behaved, for then you will not be able to bring back the present time. Many great miracles have been wrought by the power of God, but it never did, nor ever will, recall the time that is past. How comfortable was it to Orpah and Ruth to hear Naomi say, Ye have dealt kindly with the dead! And how comfortable was the reflection to them through life that she had reason to give them this commendation! (G. Lawson.)
Showing kindness to the dead
It was much to be able to say this, when we consider how difficult the discharge of the duties of law-relationship often is, and how apt it is to be judged with suspicion and severity even when it is well done. The fact has been noticed long ago in the pages of many a Greek and Roman satirist. But Naomi was not aware, when she spoke this generous tribute, how very much their conduct had been the result of her own. She had won the confidence and veneration of their young hearts by her unselfishness, her forbearance, her charitable judgments, her holy consistency, and her discretion. We often make for ourselves the beds we are to lie upon, and we may be certain that there would be more Ruths in the world if there were more Naomis. But how blessed when it can thus be said of us, that we have dealt kindly with the dead! We should make it our habitual and earnest aim so to behave ourselves towards our kindred that, should we be called to stand beside their open graves, this would be the testimony of others and of our own consciences. But we must not forget that there is an important sense in which we may prove our undying love for the dead by our kindness to the living. Those two young widows expressed their affection for their departed husbands by their thoughtful attentions to Naomi. They loved her for her own sake, but they loved her doubly for their sakes. Religion, indeed, warrants us to think of our friends beyond the grave as still living, though absent. Davids nobly generous spirit rejoiced that he could still reach his departed Jonathan in lavishing respect and kindness upon Jonathans only surviving son, Mephibosheth. And this sentiment reaches its highest possible point of sublimity, and becomes, as it were, transfigured, when we show kindness to another because he belongs to Christ. In this way we can still reach Him in His members, and anoint His blessed feet with our precious ointment and wash them with our tears. That poor sufferer whom you relieved by your benefactions and soothed by your sympathy was a disguised Christ. Even the cup of cold water given to a disciple in the name of a disciple is to be remembered by Him on another day. (A. Thomson, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Rth_1:8; Rth_1:10. And Naomi said [Then…
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Rth_1:8; Rth_1:10. And Naomi said [Then said Naomi] unto. The first recorded utterance of Naomi. Cox imagines them having reached the ford of the Arnon [N. boundary of Moab], or perhaps the fords of the Jordan [E. boundary of Judah]. Go, return each. Shews that they were not natural sisters (Bernard). To her mother’s house. The mention of the mother’s house, which the separation of the women’s house or tent from that of the men facilitates, is natural.… has more tenderness.… does not imply the death of their fathers (Speaker’s Com.). Ruth’s father was still alive (Rth_2:11) (cf. Lev_22:13). The Lord deal kindly with you. Lit. Jehovah do kindness with you. In עִמָכֶם the suffix is masc., although referring to women, a colloquial inaccuracy found in conversations (Lange). With the dead. The Papists expound it, that these women did fast and pray for the souls of their deceased husbands (Fuller). The sense is in all probability, “You have been kind to your husbands, who now are dead, whilst they were living.” Fuller thinks, however, that more may be implied. The Lord [Jehovah] grant you. The pronouns in these verses are surprisingly corrupt in the Hebrew (Kennicott). Originally colloquial inaccuracies (Gesen.). [See Intro. par.
2.] So with the verbs. When courage, virility, fortitude, efficiency, or the like, is intended to be predicated of females, these verbs are put in the masculine gender (Prof. Lee). All but two of these inaccuracies are actually found in conversations (Lange). Ye may find rest [a resting-place] each in the house of her husband. She wished them happier marriages than they had with her sons, who were so soon taken from them (Josephus). In the East of antiquity, the position of an unmarried woman a very unhappy and perilous one (Cox). The Hebrews spoke of the husband’s house as a woman’s “menuchah,” or “rest,”—her secure and happy asylum from servitude, neglect, license (Cox, Lange). On the construction see Gesen. 130. Then she kissed them. To take leave of them (Keil). So Gen_31:28; Gen_31:55; 2Sa_19:39; Act_20:37. Gave them her parting kiss, as the Jews call it (Gill). A rejection of every form of homage proceeds from superstition rather than from Scripture usage (Macgowan). And they said, “Surely.” כּי before a direct statement serves to strengthen it, and it is almost equivalent to a positive assurance (Keil, Wright). Not true in all cases (Lange). Dr. Cassel trans, “for,” but first supplies, “We will not turn back.” Best taken like οτι in the New Testament before words directly quoted (Lange). Not so, but to be translated as “certainly” (Wright); “nay” (Geddes, Cox); in an adversative sense as “but” (Rosen.). We will return. To be proselyted (Targum).
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Rth_1:8
Theme.—THE FIRST TRIAL OF AFFECTION
“O friendship! of all things the
Most rare, and therefore most rare because most
Excellent; whose comforts in misery
Are always sweet, and whose counsels in
Prosperity are ever fortunate.”—Lilly.
And Naomi said, … Go, return each to her mother’s house.
The farewell greetings of friends, the words spoken in parting—everything connected with such moments—will tend to draw out our truer and deeper characteristics, as well as our tenderest and holiest feelings. Having travelled some distance, Naomi’s unselfish nature manifests itself (Braden). Silence has commended her virtues so far. It would seem she had not urged Orpah and Ruth to go with her even to this distance. We are not to see her, however, in what follows, as careless of their best interest. They are to go willingly and knowing what lies before them, if they are to go wisely. The Targum puts this in a very striking manner [cf. Crit. Note on Rth_1:16]. Of course their presence would have been a comfort to Naomi. But note. A true lover is loath to disadvantage friends for the sake of private interests (Bernard).
We have here—
I. The care and thoughtfulness of a generous spirit for the outward estate of others. She knew they had friends in Moab, none in Judah. Even a friendship like hers could scarcely supply the place of a mother’s love. Go, return each to her mother’s house. To go forward with her might be for the saving of their souls. Might there not also be something of selfishness in this? Note. Our efforts for the good of others need to be watched very narrowly when they coincide with our own interests. Selfishness the most subtle and insidious of all sins. Judas an instance of one who under a plausible pretext cloaked the most mercenary motives (Joh_12:6). If Naomi errs at all, she errs on that side which demands a sacrifice of her convenience and feelings. Her sense of justice and love towards these young warm-hearted women will not allow her to reap any advantage at their cost (Braden). She would not have them come to Bethlehem merely on her account. Notice. (a) Self-love contrary to Christ’s commands; against the true fellowship of Christians one with another; contrary to the end of our calling (1Co_10:24; 2Co_12:14; Eph_4:28). (b) A sin as between man and man. Contrary to that care which God commands for the preservation of other men’s estates (Deu_22:2-4; Exo_23:4-5). (c) A sin as between man and God. Self-love is idolatry. Note. True religion will shew its influence in every part of our conduct; like the sap of a living tree, which penetrates the most distant boughs.
II. A fair test and trial of the fervour and sincerity of those who have already been influenced towards good things. The deepest religious interests were involved. A choice like this not to be made lightly and from mere personal motives as towards ourselves. Our social influence may be consecrated, but questions like these are to be decided on a higher ground.
Naomi would try (a) the strength of their affection to herself. Rather she would see (b) whether nature wrought more powerfully than grace (Bernard). So Christ tried those who followed Him (Luk_9:57-58). The young ruler (Mar_10:17-22). Note. With those who have been led towards holy things by the force of a noble and consecrated life, a similar time of testing is sure to come. The Saviour puts it in one strong and expressive phrase (Luk_14:26). The hour arrives when every secondary consideration, every subordinate motive, is counted as nothing in the balances. The momentous question stands on its own merits, and asks of us a deliberate choice. Notice that the same issues were involved here as upon Carmel (1Ki_18:21).
“It is no sign of friendship to draw others into any calamity for our comfort’s sake, however much they may press it. Bear the burden bravely alone, if it be possible, and do not crush another heart, though it plead with generous sympathy to share the load.”—Braden.
“Naomi could not be so insensible of her own good as not to know how much comfort she might reap to the solitariness both of her voyage and her widowhood by the society of these two younger widows, whose affection she had so well tried; even every partnership is a mitigation of evils; yet so earnestly doth she dissuade them from accompanying her, as that she could not have said more, if she had thought their presence irksome and burdensome. Good dispositions love not to pleasure themselves with the disadvantage of others; and had rather be miserable alone, than to draw in partners to their sorrow; for the sight of another’s calamity doth rather double their own; and if themselves were free, would affect them with compassion. As contrarily, ill minds care not how many companions they have in misery, nor how few consorts in good; if themselves miscarry, they would be content all the world were enwrapped with them in the same distress.”—Bishop Hall.
“A sound-hearted friend will follow the apostle’s advice, not seeking his own, but his friend’s welfare. True love will not make worse, where it cannot make better.”—Bernard.
“Many give counsel like lawyers for their fees, but few like Naomi for their conscience. She loves their company well, but counsels their safety better.”—Topsell.
“It is harder for me than for you that we must part. But the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. I have no hope for the future. I must walk my darkened path alone. But you, you may still find an asylum with the people of your own race. Go then and return each to her mother’s house.”—Cox.
“Maternal love knows best how to comfort a daughter in affliction.”—Keil.
“Here we see widows, if poor, are to be maintained by their parents. These widows (1Ti_5:16) were not to be burdensome to the Church, but to be relieved by their own kindred.”—Fuller.
“If religion does not make us lovely and amiable in our family relations, it does nothing for us, but deceives us to our ruin.”—Simeon.
“Ittai the Gittite, when following David in his flight from Absalom, was urged to leave him, as Elisha also was repeatedly by Elijah, previous to his assumption to heaven. There was no positive duty lying upon them, or, at all events, none which David and Elijah were not at liberty to dispense with.”—Simeon.
Rth_1:8-9
Theme.—A BENEDICTION AND A VALEDICTION
“Wouldst thou from sorrow find a sweet relief?
Or is thy heart oppressed with woes untold?
Balm wouldst thou gather for corroding grief?
Pour blessings round thee like a shower of gold.”—Charles Wilcox.
The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt, etc.
The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, etc.
A scene now begins of unequalled tenderness and amiableness (Lange). The inspired words, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness” (Pro_31:26) truly verified in Naomi. The speech seasoned with salt (Col_4:6), her words breathe all the fervour of piety and the warmth of a self-denying love. We find in them (a) a generous recognition of the worth of these two young women, and (b) an affectionate regard for their future welfare. This generous, unselfish spirit, one of the secrets of Naomi’s influence. Note. If we had more like Naomi in the Church, we might expect to win more like Ruth from the world. See how takingly love behaves itself in every condition, on every occasion, to every person, and about everything (Pennington). It sees God in all things, and all things in God.
The text contains,
I. A prayer. Like David, her eyes are unto the Lord (Psa_25:15). She could not part without praying with and for them (Macgowan). Poor and destitute, she had no other means of requiting their kindness (Fuller). No other was necessary. A prayer like this better than all gifts. Goes up in a shower of tears, but descends in a shower of blessings—returns laden with comfort, like the southern winds in Egypt, whose wings are charged with the sweet odours of spices (Penn).
Notice. Naomi prayed with equal earnestness for both. Did not know which the Lord had chosen (Macgowan).
She asks for them (a) The favour of God; His kindness, smile, benediction—all the Hebrews would include under their beautiful phrase, “The light of His countenance (Num_6:26; Psa_4:6; Psa_40:3; Psa_89:15); (b) The comforts and blessings which with God’s approval would flow from a second marriage. Only in the house of a husband could a woman be sure of respect and protection (Cox). (See Crit. and Ex. Notes.) The prayer agrees with the apostle’s direction (1Ti_5:14), which applies to young widows like Orpah and Ruth. (c) And these in the measure they had meted to the dead (cf. Mat_7:2; Col_3:23-24) and to her.
Notice.
(1) Duties honourably fulfilled in the past come in to bring a blessing upon us in the present. Who would not wish for a similar commendation to this of the text? especially with regard to our treatment of the dead. They had given good measure, pressed down, running over; now it is returned to them. When mothers-in-law will thus freely testify of their sons’ wives, it is evident that duty has been nobly fulfilled; for they usually set up a high standard (Braden). An instinctive conviction in every heart that God will reward us according to our treatment of others (Jdg_1:6; Rom_2:15; cf. also Exo_21:23-25; 1Sa_15:33; Jas_2:13).
(2) That dutiful conduct has few sweeter rewards in this world than its acknowledgment. Even aliens to the hope of Israel have experienced this. Ruth does not appear to have exceeded Orpah in affection for those who were gone. The commendation shared equally by both. Shews, on the other hand, that moral and social virtues, and the faultless discharge of the duties of this life, offer no suitable ground for the hope of salvation. How many wives, as tender and sympathetic as Orpah, have gone back again, and been unfaithful to the little light which has shone upon them from God! Yet, even with these, no act of kindness, no self-sacrifice, no silent deed of love, is unknown to Him.
(3) That prayer for us gains warmth and power by what men see in us. Every wish is a prayer with God (Mrs. Browning). The warmest wishes will in the main follow the most worthy. Live well! and the prayers of the good will gain in faith and confidence. So Paul evidently regarded Timothy (2Ti_1:3-6).
The text contains,
II. A valediction. Her motherly benediction was the best valediction (Trapp). She blesses them not in the name of Chemosh, but in the name of Jehovah (Lawson). Gold and silver she had not for them, but that which was better, heartiest orisons and well-wishes (Trapp). A heart impelled by love and self-devotion does much to invest the scene with its sacred charm. No priest like Mclchisedec, yet Naomi blesses them as the patriarch blessed Abraham—as Simeon blessed the infant Christ and His mother (Luk_2:34), with like faith, and a like trust in God (Luk_2:28)—as Elizabeth blessed Mary (ib. Luk_1:42-45).
Note. Love amid its own sorrows will still think of the welfare of others. Has a word of comfort and kind wishes in what is intended to be the hour of separation. We get a glimpse here
(1) Into a family life that may serve as a model for all (Lange). What a picture of peace and happiness does it suggest! The women have not only heard the religion of Jehovah confessed in Moab, but they have seen the expression of it in the life (Lange). Never more so than now.
(2) Into the way in which the godly used and made memorable the separations which come in life (cf. Gen_28:1-3; Gen_31:55; Gen_43:14). So Paul commended the elders of Ephesus to God (Act_20:32). So Jonathan separated from David (1Sa_20:42). Men do it now, but not with that reverence and earnest desire meet and befitting in such a case (Bernard).
Bernard on this—
I. That it is a duty to pray for those who do either us or ours good (Rth_2:12; 1Sa_25:33; 1Sa_24:19).
II. That, at parting, friends are to pray one for another (Gen_28:1-3; Gen_31:55; Gen_43:14; Act_20:36).
III. That the godly are persuaded that the Lord is a merciful rewarder of the duties of love which one doth toward another (Col_3:24).
IV. That children should so well deserve of parents, yea, though but parents-in-law, as that they may be moved heartily to pray for them.
V. That God will not only barely reward, but so deal with us as we deal with others.
As ye have dealt with the dead and with me.
I. That daughters of a bad race may prove good wives and good children-in-law sometimes.
II. That good and truely loving wives love their husbands’ parents for their husbands’ sake.
The Lord grant you that ye may find rest.
I. That godly and wise friends pray not only in general, but in particular, as they know them to stand in need, for whom they pray.
II. That godly mothers-in-law are hearty well-wishers to their children-in-law.
III. That second marriages are lawful.
IV. That husbands are to be their wives’ rest.
V. That it is God’s blessing to be peaceably married.
Fuller remarks on kindly … as ye have dealt with the dead:—
A godly man dying, leaves behind him,
First, his body; to which we must be kind by burial and lamentation.
Secondly, his estate; to which we must be kind by careful and faithful administration.
Thirdly, his children, friends, or kindred; to whom we must be kind by love and affection.
Fourthly, his faults and failings; to which we must be kind by silence and suppression.
Fifthly, his memory and virtues; to which we must be kind by congratulation, commemoration, and imitation.
“Prayer eases the soul in times of distress, when it is oppressed with griefs and fears, by giving them vent, and that in so advantageous a way, emptying them into the bosom of God. The very vent, were it but into the air, gives ease; or speak your grief rather to a statue than smother it; much more ease does it give to pour it forth into the lap of a confidential and sypathising friend, even though unable to help us; yet still more of one who can help; and of all friends, our God is, beyond all comparison, the surest, and most affectionate, and most powerful.”—Leighton.
“The words of parting friends, who are likely never to meet again, make an impression not to be erased. They are like the words of the dying; for our friends are dead to us when we see them no more.”—Lawson.
“Our duties which we discharge to parents or husbands are as pledges before the Lord to do good unto us.… Goodness procureth goodness, and evil begetteth evil, like as birds breed birds, and fishes fishes.”—Topsell.
“When the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasses erected the altar Ed at the passage over Jordan, it startled all the rest of the tribes, as if under it they had hatched some superstitious design; whereas indeed the altar was not intended for sacrifice, but was merely an altar of memorial, to evidence to posterity that these two tribes and a half, though divided from the rest, were conjoined with them in the worship of the same God. In like manner, when some ministers thank God for the departure of His servants, some people are so weak, and some so wilful, to condemn such for passages of Popery, as if superstitious prayers were made for their departure; whereas, indeed, such congratulation, on the contrary, speaks our confidence on their present bliss and happiness, and continueth the Church militant with the Church triumphant, as the completing one entire Catholic Church of Jesus Christ.”—Fuller.
“It is the best remembrance of our dead progenitors to follow their virtues. St. Paul cannot look upon Timothy, but presently calls to mind his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, though the latter, no doubt, was long since departed.”—Fuller.
“Men and women were joined in marriage (Genesis 2) to the end to be a mutual help one to the other; but many prove such helpers as the king of Assyria did to Ahaz (2Ch_28:21), of whom it is said, ‘He distressed him, but helped him not.’ ”—Fuller.
“A man’s best fortune or his worst is his wife.”—English Proverb.
“It is an honour to the deceased sons, Mahlon and Chilion, that they made such a selection of wives; but they must also have been worthy of the enduring love they awakened, notwithstanding that there were no children to strengthen the bonds of affection. The attachment of the Moabitish women, Ruth and Orpah, to their new family must be grounded on psychological facts, with a knowledge of which exegesis cannot dispense. The Moabitish women had entered into an Israelitish house, and had breathed the beneficent atmosphere of a family of Judah. Marriage and family life form the real mirror of religious belief and worship. Hence the apostle, in his sublime manner, arranges the relations of husband and wife by referring to the love of Christ for His Church (Eph_5:22). Ancient Israel therefore distinguished itself from the inhabitants of Canaan, not merely by the name of its God, but by its life at home in the family, by faithfulness and love to wife and child. Purity and morality in marriage were the necessary results of faith in the only living God.”—Lange.
“The unhappy relations between daughter and mother-in-law, elsewhere usual, must in general have been unknown in Israel. Otherwise the prophet could not represent it as a sign of the extremest social ruin that as the son against the father and the daughter against the mother, so (Mic_7:6) the daughter-in-law rises up against the mother-in-law.”—Lange.
“The mother-in-law has forgotten that she was ever a daughter-in-law. The best mother-in-law is one who is dead.”—German Proverbs.
“Here we learn. God, in the rewarding of the good deeds of His servants, dealeth with them accordingly as they have done with others. Yet far be it from us to suppose that in our stained and imperfect works there is any meritorious virtue, which deserveth that God should proportion a reward unto them; but this freely proceedeth from God’s favour, who, to encourage us in well-doing, will not suffer a cup of cold water to pass without its reward. Do we desire, then, to leave dutiful children and faithful servants hereafter? Let us be dutiful to our parents, faithful to our masters. On the other side, hath God afflicted us with Zibahs to our servants, and with Absaloms to our sons? Let us reflect our eyes on that which is past, and call ourselves to account, whether we formerly have not been unfaithful to our masters, undutiful to our parents: no doubt we may then take up the confession of Adonibezek: ‘As I have dealt with others, so the Lord hath done to me.’ ”—Fuller.
“Benign restorer of the soul,
Who ever fliest to bring relief,
When first we feel the rude control
Of Love or Pity, Joy or Grief.”—Rogers, On a Tear.
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.
In every life these sudden outbursts of feeling. The clouds do not gather and the showers fall more naturally than sorrow expresses itself in tears. Christ Himself has shewn us that even a perfect humanity is not outside the realm of this law (John 11). Note. (a) Apathy is not fortitude. The Christian is no Stoic. Firmness with him is to exist side by side with the tenderest susceptibilities (Ecc_3:4; Ecc_7:2; Rom_12:15).
Times even when a loud and demonstrative sorrow like this is appropriate; They lifted up their voice and wept. So the Ephesian elders said farewell to Paul (Act_20:37-38), “sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no more.” So with these three widows. Their love was a passion of the heart, breaking forth into wailing and weeping (Bernard). Note. (b) Community of trials unites human hearts, as fire unites metals (Dr. Waugh).
They wept—
I. At the recollection of the many endearing and joyful circumstances of the past. Their tears a tribute to the love which bound them so closely together to the memories they shared in common, and to “the dead,” with whom they had dealt so faithfully. The very joy which had been theirs comes in now to enhance their sorrow. Naomi’s reference to the past (Rth_1:8) probably the key to this affecting scene.
II. At the realization of their poverty and defenceless condition. So far, however, love was strengthened rather than abated by their trials. Affliction had evidently drawn them closer together. Note. There is a charitable and holy weeping for the miseries of others (Bernard), and of our own.
III. At the very thought of a separation as possible. Adieu!—more tears have been shed at that word than at the utterance of any other. Separation!—a mysterious, if a familiar subject. Its shadow seems to have fallen upon the spirit of Christ Himself as He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. With these young women, Naomi’s kiss meant their dismissal, and they wept at the thought of parting with one who had so endeared herself to them. Note. One of the sorest afflictions incident to this life is the everlasting separation of those who are mutually dear to each other (Lawson).
IV. In protestation of their fidelity. Possibly the bitterest trial of all with both was that Naomi should doubt their willingness to go with her, and thus put it to the test. The event (Rth_1:14) proved that Naomi was right. So Peter viewed the words of Christ (Mar_14:27-31), and protested “the more vehemently.” Note. Tears are not always a proof of an enduring fidelity. Orpah and Peter both sincere, but mistaken. So present sorrow for sin is not to be taken always as a sign of ultimate repentance. Many who have wept with Christ, it may be, as well as many who have done wonderful works in His name, will be found at last saying, “Lord, Lord, open unto us” (Mat_7:22; Luk_13:25).
Bernard on this—
Then she kissed them. This action we may find fourfold: carnal, as in fleshly lust; hypocritical, as it was with Job and Judas; holy, of which the apostle speaks (1Co_16:20); or civil, as here used at the meeting of friends (Gen_29:11; Gen_33:4), at their departing (Gen_31:55). It was honestly used to testify love and unity; therefore in the primitive Church, before they received the sacrament, they thus saluted one another.
And they lifted up their voice and wept.
Weeping is used in Scripture—I. To express sorrow at the parting of friends (2Ki_13:14; 1Sa_20:41); II. For very joy (Gen_45:14; Gen_46:29; Gen_29:11); III. In pity and compassion at the misery of others (Job_30:25; Jer_4:19; Luk_19:41); IV. At the apprehension of kindness (1Sa_24:16).
“Observe the beautiful simplicity of Scripture, which counts it not a thing unmanly to own that Abraham, the stern, iron-hearted saint, has wept. Joseph ‘lifted up his voice and wept,’ Jacob, Peter, Christ, are all said to have wept. Contrast this with the conventional feeling which represents grief as unworthy manhood.”—Robertson.
“Tears! what are tears? The babe weeps in its cot;
The mother singing; at her marriage-bell
The bride weeps, and before the oracle
Of high-faned hills the poet has forgot
Such moisture on his cheeks. Thank God for grace,
Ye who weep only! If as some have done,
Ye grope tear-blinded in a desert place,
And touch but tombs,—look up! those tears will run
Soon in long rivers down the lifted face,
And leave the vision clear for stars and sun.”
Mrs. Browning,
“Who never wept”—What right have you to say that of angels? None! I own to none in revelation, none in reason, none in anything, except a spontaneous and universal idea.”—Elihu Burritt.
“Through the dim windows of affliction how changed is the aspect of the world! bow cold, and grey, and desolate, all its radiant glory departed, all its beauteous hues reduced to one dull leaden sadness! The tears of sorrow are like spiritual lenses, shewing us the world in its true character, as a poor, empty, unsatisfying thing.”—Anon.
“It is better for a Christian to be sorrowful, than secure as the people of the world are.”—Luther.
“Adversity is the only furnace of friendship. If love will not abide both fire and anvil, it is but counterfeit: so in our love to God we do but crack and vaunt in vain, if we cannot be willing to suffer for Him.”—Bishop Hall.
“The observation here may be the same which the Jews collected (John 11), which, when they saw our Saviour weep for Lazarus, they said, ‘Behold how He loved him!’ So these tears in this place were the expression of their affection. Sorrow, like the river of Jordan in the first month, did overflow the banks, and streamed water down their checks.”—Fuller.
“She dismissed them with great affection: she kissed them, wished she had somewhat better to give them, but silver and gold she had none. However, this parting kiss shall be the seal of such a true friendship as (though she never see them more) she will while she lives retain the pleasing remembrance of. If relations must part, let them thus part in love, that they may (if they never meet again in this world) meet in the world of everlasting love.”—Matthew Henry.
“What precious drops are those
Which silently each other’s track pursue,
Bright as young diamonds in their infant dew?”
Dryden.
“The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew,
And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears.”
Scott.
Rth_1:10
Theme.—THE PROMISING COMMENCEMENT
“Call to thy God for grace to keep
Thy vows, and if thou break them weep—
Weep for thy broken vows, and vow again,
Vows made with tears cannot be still in vain.”—Herbert.
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee.
Youth is the season of warm and generous emotions. Renewed proofs of Naomi’s affection only bind these young women to her with stronger ties (Braden). Such a love a chain not easily broken (Braden). Note. (a) In all this we are to see the reward of a godly affection and a consistent walk. Piety, wherever found, has the power to win the hearts of people (Starke). She won love because she was Naomi, “pleasant” (Lange). She cherished no vanity, sought no strife, and did not wish to rule; hence she had peace and love (Lange). (b) We should so live that others by our good example may be drawn to love the truth (Gen_34:31; Luk_8:16). Naomi’s character sheds a lustre upon a whole nation. For thy sake we are drawn in love with the whole people (Topsell). Besides, to follow and go with Naomi, meant to serve the Lord. So Ruth understood it afterwards (Rth_1:16), and we can scarcely imagine Orpah intending to serve Chemosh now she resolves to go forward with Naomi. (c) Many infidels and carnal persons are sooner drawn to the Lord by the works which they see than by the words which they hear (Topsell).
We have—
I. An apparent agreement. They walk together—journey on the same road, are engaged in the same object, apparently with the same results. Now they protest in the same language. Worthy of attention, that their first utterance recorded by the inspired writer is a vow of fidelity to Naomi. Their choice voluntary, made with seeming deliberation, and after being urged very earnestly and affectionately in a contrary direction.
See in this—
(1) An encouraging and happy commencement. Naomi can rejoice for the present, in not knowing the difference between them, and the Divine record gives no sign as yet. God only knows the Orpah from the Ruth at this stage, outwardly there is nothing to distinguish them. Note. It is ours to rejoice in the beginnings of good things, irrespective of after results. Not for us to turn any back (Tyng). We should encourage and not suspect, rejoice rather than criticize. The Christian is the sower of the good seed, not the separater between the tares and the wheat. God’s command to-day, Let both grow together until the harvest (Mat_13:30).
(2) A purpose good and commendable so far as it was carried out. We will return, etc. So they both said, and said as they thought (Trapp). No reason to doubt the sincerity of either (Lawson). For awhile they travelled happily and affectionately together, and there seemed no prospect of their separation. So in the heavenward journey with the believer and the mere professor. Whatever can be done in religious appearance in the world, and without an absolute separation of the heart from the world, they may have in common (Tyng). Journey together to the very extremities of Moab. Note. We mistake life, and read it amiss, when we look for those fine distinctions between the righteous and the wicked which shall one day be made apparent.
We have here—
II. A startling contrast. Undeveloped, unseen as yet, but real and already apparent in the eyes of God. Orpah upon second thoughts did otherwise (Trapp). The impulse with her good, but frail. She lacked the deep earnestness of Ruth. The seed sprang up, but it withered “immediately” (Mat_13:5-6). Her choice the result of passion, and an earthly affection, not rooted in longings after God and the true Israel, as with her sister-in-law (Rth_1:16). She loved Naomi, but even with all this her affections were back in Moab. And so even now the thorns were springing up which were to choke the good seeds of a noble resolution, made and partially carried out.
So in spiritual things it is not every blossom which comes to fruit. They fall away (Luk_8:13) speedily, miserably, inexplicably, irrevocably. Note. A conversion in the understanding, sentiment, or imagination may be a flower, but will be fruitless (Oosterzee). The promise is not the performance; beginning well is not always a sign of ending well. There is a great difference between the same mind at different times. Saul in a passion promised fair (1Sa_24:16-17; 1Sa_26:21), but David knew there was no trusting to either his tears or his talk (Trapp). Note. Strong passions, without a settled judgment, commonly produce weak resolutions (Matthew Henry).
Lessons
(1) How short-lived are the noblest purposes when made in our own strength! Like the morning cloud and the early dew (Hos_6:3). Orpah and Ephraim, types of those only too common in our churches.
(2) We ought not to mistake every determination to walk with God’s people as a sign of true grace. Regeneration is a change of heart, not a mere momentary change of habit. (See also on Rth_1:14.)
Macgowan on this—
I. Promises of speech and purposes of heart, whether to God, to His Church, or to individuals, ought to go hand in hand. If a man’s word does not express his meaning and bind him, nothing can.
II. Promises and purposes often proceed from passion instead of principle. Exemplified in young converts who have a passionate regard to the person or manner of a preacher. Saul, overcome with David’s kindness, promised that he would not seek his hurt.
III. Promises and purposes proceeding merely from passion soon fall to the ground. “I go, sir,” one said in the Gospels, and “went not.” Some persons melting under the ministry of the word as a summer brook (Job_6:15-20). A changed heart necessary to perseverance. Saul may have religious fits, and Jehu much zeal; for want of a regenerated nature both come to nothing.
Bernard on this—
I. Surely we will return. An earnest affection suffereth not easily a separation from the party affected. True love liveth in the party beloved, and can no more forsake him than it can forsake itself.
II. With thee. It is better to have the company of one sound Christian, than to enjoy the fellowship of a world of worldlings. Jonathan took more delight in one David than in the society of all his father’s house. The godly are such as go the way to eternal life. Whosoever looks for them must keep them company thither.
III. Unto Thy people. There is a right in every particular member to the Church, as in the Church to every member, and all to Christ, and Christ to them (1Co_12:12).
IV. On the whole verse. In passionate affection more will be spoken than acted. Both women say the same thing; but yet upon more deliberation one of them calleth back her word. Passion causes men to speak unadvisedly. They are not themselves.
“What a pleasing sight to see relations walking hand in hand in the fear of the Lord from Moab to Canaan—from this world, doomed to destruction, to the upper regions, the seat of rest and felicity!—Macgowan.
“The wise and foolish virgins both take their lamps and go forth to meet the bridegroom. Thus all go together on the way to return unto the land of Judah. As far as this journey lies still within the limits of Moab, so far they may unite to go.”—Tyng.
“At Preston, at Malines, at many such places, the lines go gently asunder: so fine is the angle, that at first the paths are almost parallel.”—Dr. J. Hamilton.
“Many listen together to the preaching of the word of God. Many feel together the burden of personal affliction and distress. Many are made to see their danger, and to remember their responsibility to God. Many appear to feel the guilt of their past sinful life, and to be really aroused in their mind and conscience to the necessity of obtaining salvation. Anxious, excited, apparently earnest and sincere, they set out upon their journey back to the gracious Being whom they have so long neglected. Yes, they really set out, and appear to set out sincerely.”—Tyng.
“How many of these young travellers have I seen! The Church delights over them, the pastor rejoiced in them; Christian friends were encouraged by them; the brightest and most blessed hopes clustered around them.… For a season they must be allowed to go on together. Awakened, convinced, interested in religion, apparently equally determined, they set out well.”—Tyng.
“So from the heights of will
Life’s parting stream descends,
And, as a moment turns its slender rill,
Each widening torrent bends.
From the same cradle side,
From the same mother’s knee,
One to long darkness and the frozen tide,
One to the peaceful sea.”—Holmes.
“What a strange and perplexing medley this world is! and how the confusion would be increased, could we read the hearts of men aright, and distinguish the destinies shaping themselves to-day for that other and never-ending life! Here is one who by the grace of God is seeking a crown of unfading glory, yonder one who shall assuredly wear the crown of everlasting reproach; here a spirit climbing heavenwards, there one going down deliberately to the home of eternal darkness. And they dwell to-day side by side, linked by the various ties of social and family life, in the same street, in the same house, it may be, bound together in the closest bonds of love and friendship. To men the difference is but a slight one; with God the distinction is seen as the beginning of a never-ending separation.”—B.
“Man oft resolves and re-resolves, yet dies the same. Hell is paved with good intentions.”—Luther.
“Man is but man, unconstant still, and various;
There’s no to-morrow in him like to-day.
Perhaps the atoms rolling in his brain
Make him think honestly this present hour;
The next a swarm of base, ungrateful thoughts
May mount aloft.”
Dryden.
“A variety of minerals exhibit translucency only on their edges. The central mass is dark; but, holding the specimen up to the light, light is transmitted dimly through the thin edges. Marble, flint, or hornstone are examples. These symbolize the man who has been brought so much under the influence of Christianity that it has modified his external conduct, produced some regard for true piety, led to some outward reformations, and caused him to adopt some of the forms of religion. Yet the darkness of unregeneracy reigns within. Friends, and possibly the man himself, mistake the rays that struggle through the edges of his character for genuine Christian experience.”—Hitchcock.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 "sons' wives" or "sons' widows"
daughters-in-law
"sons' wives" or "sons' widows"
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each of you
Naomi was talking to two people, so languages that have a dual form of "you" would use that throughout her talk. (See: Forms of You)
your mother's house
"to the home of each of your mothers"
shown kindness
"demonstrated that you are loyal"
kindness
"kindness" includes the ideas of love, kindness, and faithfulness.
toward the dead
"to your husbands, who died." Naomi was referring to her two sons that died. (See: Idiom)
grant you
"give you" or "allow you to have"
you find rest
"Rest" here includes security in marriage.
in the house of another husband
with their new husbands, not someone else's husband. This refers to both a physical house that belongs to the husband, and to the protection from shame by being married. (See: Metonymy)
they raised their voices and cried
To raise the voice is an idiom for speaking loudly. The daughters cried out loud or wept bitterly. (See: Idiom)
We will return
When Orpah and Ruth said "we," they were referring to themselves and not Naomi. So languages that have inclusive and exclusive "we" would use the exclusive form here. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
with you
Here "you" is the singular form referring to Naomi. (See: Forms of You)
translationWords
Yahweh
die
kiss
raise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:8 But on the way: They had probably gone…
1:8 But on the way: They had probably gone only a short distance when Naomi released Ruth and Orpah to return to their mothers’ homes.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.