Ruth 1:8

8 she said to them, Go ye (again) into the house of your mother; the Lord do mercy with you, as ye did with the dead men, and with me;

Ruth 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:8

And Naomi said to her two daughters in law
When they were come, as it is very probable, to the utmost limits of the land of Moab, and to the borders of the land of Israel:

go, return each unto her mother's house:
the mother's house is mentioned, and not the father's, not because they had no father living; for it is certain Ruth had a father as well as a mother, ( Ruth 2:11 ) but because mothers are most affectionate to their daughters, and they most conversant together; and because women in those times had apartments to themselves, and who used to take their daughters to them when become widows; though such was the strong love of those young widows to their mother-in-law, that they chose rather to dwell with her, while she lived in Moab, than with their own mothers:

the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with
me;
that is, with their husbands, who were dead; as the Targum is, that they refused to marry men after their death; or rather it respects their affectionate care of their husbands, and behaviour towards them when living, as well as the respect they showed to their memory, at and since their death; and also their filial duty to her, both before and since; and particularly, as the Targum expresses it, in that they had fed and supported her.

Ruth 1:8 In-Context

6 And she rose to go with ever either wife of her sons into her country from the country of Moab; for she had heard, that the Lord had beheld his people, and had given meats to them. (And she rose up to go with the wives of both of her sons back to her country from the country of Moab; for she had heard, that the Lord had looked kindly again upon his people, and had given them food.)

7 And so she went out from the place of her pilgrimage with ever either wife of her sons; and now when she was set in the way of turning again into the land of Judah, (And so she went out from the place where she lived with the wives of both of her sons; and now when she was set on the way, returning to the land of Judah,)

8 she said to them, Go ye (again) into the house of your mother; the Lord do mercy with you, as ye did with the dead men, and with me;

9 the Lord give to you to find rest in the houses of [the] husbands which ye shall take. And she kissed them. And they began to weep with (a) high voice,

10 and to say, We shall go with thee to thy people.