Ruth 1:9

9 May he grant you to find rest in the houses of the husbands whom you shall take. And she kissed them. And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep,

Ruth 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:9

The Lord grant you
Some make a supplement here, the Targum a perfect reward, Aben Ezra an husband; and so Josephus says {c}, she wished them happier marriages than they had with her sons, who were so soon taken from them; but a supplement seems needless, for what follows is connected with the wish, and contains the sum of it:

that you may find rest;
each of you:

in the house of her husband;
that is, that they might each of them be blessed with a good husband, with whom they might live free from brawls and contentions, as well as from the distressing cares of life, having husbands to provide all things necessary for them, and so from all the sorrows and distresses of a widowhood estate:

then she kissed them;
in token of her affection for them, and in order to part with them; it being usual then as now for relations and friends to kiss at parting:

and they lifted up their voice and wept;
to think they must part, and never see one another more; their passions worked vehemently, and broke out in sobs, and sighs, and tears, and loud crying.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 1.

Ruth 1:9 In-Context

7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place of her sojournment, with both her daughters in law: and being now in the way to return into the land of Juda,

8 She said to them: Go ye home to your mothers, the Lord deal mercifully with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

9 May he grant you to find rest in the houses of the husbands whom you shall take. And she kissed them. And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep,

10 And to say: We will go on with thee to thy people.

11 But she answered them: Return, my daughters: why come ye with me? have I any more sons in my womb, that you may hope for husbands of me?