Bible Strands
Ruth 1:11
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Naomi speaks to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, immediately after they vow to accompany her to Judah. She delivers this reply at the moment of departure from Moab.
The words — שֹׁבְנָה (shovnah) means "go back," and הַעוֹד (ha'od) means "still." Naomi uses these terms to question the practical feasibility of her daughters following her.
The thread — The text asks whether Naomi has more sons to provide as husbands, invoking the levirate custom in Deuteronomy 25:5 and the waiting period for Shelah in Genesis 38:11. These references establish the legal framework Naomi uses to explain her inability to secure marriages for them.
Why it lands — The passage states plainly that Naomi has no biological or legal means to provide husbands, making continued travel futile. A reader must conclude that following her offers no future security or marital hope.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
- Genesis 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.