Ruth 3:1

1 Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee?

Ruth 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 3:1

Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her
After the harvests were over, and so gleaning likewise; when Naomi and Ruth were together alone in their apartment, the mother addressed the daughter after this manner:

my daughter, shall I not seek for thee, that it may be well with thee?
that is, in the house of an husband, as in ( Ruth 1:9 ) her meaning is, to seek out for an husband for her, that she might have an house of her own to rest in, and an husband to provide her; that so she might be free from such toil and labour she had been lately exercised in, and enjoy much ease and comfort, and all outward happiness and prosperity in a marriage state with a good husband. This interrogation carries in it the force of a strong affirmation, may suggest that she judged it to be her duty, and that she was determined to seek out such a rest for her; and the Targum makes her way of speaking stronger still, for that is,

``by an oath I will not rest, until the time that I have sought a rest for thee.''

Ruth 3:1 In-Context

1 Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee?

2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor.

3 Therefore, thou shalt wash thyself and anoint thyself and put thy raiment upon thee and go down to the threshingfloor, but do not make thyself known unto the man until he shall have finished eating and drinking.

4 And it shall be when he lies down that thou shalt perceive the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lie down there, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

5 And she said unto her, All that thou dost command me I will do.