Bible Strands
Ruth 1:8
Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Naomi addresses her two daughters-in-law as they travel from Moab toward the land of Judah. She commands them to turn back to their maternal households before she continues her journey alone.
The words — לֵ֣כְנָה (Le.khe.nah) means “go” and שֹּׁ֔בְנָה (Shoe.nah) means “return,” forming the dual imperative that releases each woman from the current path.
The thread — The request for covenant loyalty reflects the bereavement in Ruth 1:5 and anticipates Ruth 2:20, where the LORD’s steadfast kindness is later acknowledged in Judah.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to see that Naomi’s blessing operates as a formal dismissal, legally and socially releasing the women from any duty to follow her into poverty. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of whether loyalty to deceased husbands and a destitute mother-in-law outweighs the call to return to one’s own family structure.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Ruth 1:5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.
- Ruth 2:20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
- Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
- Colossians 3:24 because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
- Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),
- Joshua 24:15 But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
- Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 1:16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he has often refreshed me and was unashamed of my chains.
- Luke 14:25 Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,
- Philippians 4:18 I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.