Ruth 1:11
in Ruth 1But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
KJV
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?
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This verse in Ruth 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See marginal references and notes. The Levirate law probably existed among the Moabites, and in Israel extended beyond the brother in the strict sense, and applied to the nearest relations, since Boaz was only the kinsman of Elimelech Rth 3:12.
This site's exposition
Surely we will return with you to your people
on Ruth 1:10-13
Naomi argues from the levirate law of Deuteronomy 25:5, where a brother raises up offspring for the dead, and shows it cannot reach them, since there are no more sons. The argument is legally exact, and its aim is to release them. She lays the whole of it on God, "the hand of the LORD has gone out against me", and carries that reading until chapter 4.
This site's exposition
Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
Albert Barnes holds that the duty to marry a dead man's widow reached past his brothers to the nearer relatives, since Boaz was a kinsman and no brother. Naomi reasons only from her own womb. She does not yet name the relatives waiting in Bethlehem.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Observe, [1.] She judges herself chiefly aimed at in the affliction, that God's quarrel was principally with her: " The hand of the Lord has gone out against me. I am the sinner; it is with me that God has a controversy; it is with me that he is contending;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And Naomi said, turn again, my daughters,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?--This alludes to the ancient custom (Ge 38:26) afterwards expressly sanctioned by the law of Moses (De 25:5), which required a younger son to marry the widow of his deceased brother.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Are there yet any more sons - This was spoken in allusion to the custom, that when a married brother died without leaving posterity, his brother should take his widow; and the children of such a marriage were accounted the children of the deceased brother. There is something very persuasive and affecting in the address of Naomi to her daughters-in-law. Let us observe the particulars: - 1. She intimates that she had no other sons to give them. 2. That she was not with child; so there could be no expectation. 3. That she was too old to have a husband. 4. That though she should marry that night, and have children, yet they could not wait till such sons were marriageable; she therefore begs them to return to their own country where they might be comfortably settled among their own kindred.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
"Are there yet any more sons in my womb?" Many of our colleagues thought that this response was directed at those who deny (the custom), not realizing that our ancestors transmitted that levirate marriage (yibbum) applies to brothers from the father, not from the mother. She was simply saying to them, if I had sons in my womb, I would give them to you in place of the deceased.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֤אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָעֳמִי֙ | noomi | Naomi | H5281 → | 21 times |
| שֹׁ֣בְנָה | shoenah | go back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| בְנֹתַ֔י | venotai | O daughters my | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לָ֥מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | |
| תֵלַ֖כְנָה | telakhnah | will you go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עִמִּ֑י | ʾimi | with me | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| הַֽעֽוֹד־ | haod- | ¿ still | H5750 → | |
| לִ֤י | li | [belong] to <the> me | ||
| בָנִים֙ | vanim | [do] sons | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בְּֽמֵעַ֔י | bemeai | in inward parts my | H4578 → | |
| וְהָי֥וּ | vehayu | and they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| לַאֲנָשִֽׁים׃ | laanashim | <into> husbands | H582 → |
וַתֹּ֤אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
נָעֳמִי֙Naomi
noomiH5281 →21 times
שֹׁ֣בְנָהgo back
shoenahH7725 →1056 times
בְנֹתַ֔יO daughters my
venotaiH1323 →588 times
לָ֥מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →
תֵלַ֖כְנָהwill you go
telakhnahH1980 →1546 times
עִמִּ֑יwith me
ʾimiH5973 →1050 times
הַֽעֽוֹד־¿ still
haod-H5750 →
לִ֤י[belong] to <the> me
li
בָנִים֙[do] sons
vanimH1121 →4930 times
בְּֽמֵעַ֔יin inward parts my
bemeaiH4578 →
וְהָי֥וּand they will become
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֖םof you
lakhem
לַאֲנָשִֽׁים׃<into> husbands
laanashimH582 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 25:5When 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…
it leads to
- Luke 20:28
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Matthew 22:24
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Mark 12:19
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Genesis 38:8–9
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
- Ruth 1:12–13
Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,
- Luke 20:28
Through
Genesis 38:11Then 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…
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:13
But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.
- Ruth 1:11–13
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
- Leviticus 22:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Ruth
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.