Ruth 1:15
in Ruth 1“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god: return thou after thy sister-in-law.
KJV
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
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This verse in Ruth 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseGone back - unto her gods - They were probably both idolaters, their having been proselytes is an unfounded conjecture. Chemosh was the grand idol of the Moabites. The conversion of Ruth probably commenced at this time.
This site's exposition
Again they wept aloud
on Ruth 1:14-15
Orpah kisses her mother-in-law goodbye and Ruth "clung to her", the verb Genesis 2:24 uses of a man joined to his wife. Orpah does what Naomi twice told her to do, and the text never blames her. Naomi's last argument names the stake, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods", so Ruth's choice is a choice of God before it is a choice of country.
This site's exposition
gone back to her people and her gods
Adam Clarke names Chemosh as the chief god of Moab and holds that both women still worshipped there. On that reading the choice Naomi puts to Ruth is a choice between gods. Ruth's answer names the God of Israel.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
); the gods of Moab were hers still. It is a groundless tradition of the Jews that Ruth was the daughter of Eglon king of Moab, yet the Chaldee paraphrast inserts it; but this and their other tradition, which he inserts likewise, cannot agree, that Boaz who married Ruth was the same with Ibzan, who judged Israel 200 years after Eglon's death, Judg. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), and Naomi was still faithful to the God of Israel, yet that was no hindrance to either side from love and kindness, and all the good offices that the relation required. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are too often at variance ( Matt. x.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
To her gods - Those that forsake the communion of saints, will certainly break off their communion with God. This she saith, to try Ruth's sincerity and constancy, and that she might intimate to her, that if she went with her, she must embrace the true religion.
And she said,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
See, your sister-in-law has gone back. In this [word], the accent is at the beginning [on the first syllable] under the shin, because it is in the past tense. [But,] “and in the morning she would return,” 22 Megillas Esther:14.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֗אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּה֙ | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| שָׁ֣בָה | shavah | she has returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יְבִמְתֵּ֔ךְ | yevimtekh | sister-in-law your | H2994 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַמָּ֖הּ | ʾamah | people her | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֑יהָ | ʾeloheiha | gods her | H430 → | 2601 times |
| שׁ֖וּבִי | shuvi | go back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יְבִמְתֵּֽךְ׃ | yevimtekh | sister-in-law your | H2994 → |
וַתֹּ֗אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּה֙there!
hinehH2009 →843 times
שָׁ֣בָהshe has returned
shavahH7725 →1056 times
יְבִמְתֵּ֔ךְsister-in-law your
yevimtekhH2994 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַמָּ֖הּpeople her
ʾamahH5971 →1873 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
אֱלֹהֶ֑יהָgods her
ʾeloheihaH430 →2601 times
שׁ֖וּבִיgo back
shuviH7725 →1056 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יְבִמְתֵּֽךְ׃sister-in-law your
yevimtekhH2994 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Joshua 24:15But 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…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:21
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did…
- John 6:67–68
So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”
- Ruth 1:15–16
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…
- Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…
- 1 Kings 18:21
Through
Psalms 125:5But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
- Isaiah 59:8
Through
Zephaniah 1:6and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Isaiah 1:4
Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on…
- Jeremiah 2:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.