Ruth 3:16

16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked [her], "How did it go,^[a] my daughter?" Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

Ruth 3:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 3:16

And when she came to her mother in law
To Naomi, in Bethlehem:

she said, who art thou, my daughter?
it being near dusk, she could not discern her, or perhaps she put the question before she opened the door and saw her; though one would think, if Ruth had called to her, she would have known her voice: rather therefore the particle may be rendered, "what" or "how" ^F3, instead of "who"; and the sense be, what had befallen her? what success had she had? how had things gone with her? was she married or not? or rather, had she got a promise of it? or was it likely that she should be married? with which the answer agrees:

and she told her all that the man had done to her;
what kindness he had shown her, what promises he had made to her, that either he, or a nearer kinsman, would marry her, and redeem her husband's estate.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (ta ym) "quid egisti?" V. L. "quid tibi?" Tigurine version; so R. Jonah in Aben Ezra, & Abendana in loc. "quomodo tu filia mea?" Nold. p. 602. No. 1626.

Ruth 3:16 In-Context

14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, "Don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor."

15 And he told [Ruth], "Bring the shawl you're wearing and hold it out." When she held it out, he shoveled six [measures] of barley into her shawl, and she went into the city.

16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked [her], "How did it go, my daughter?" Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

17 She said, "He gave me these six [measures] of barley, because he said, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.' "

18 "Wait, my daughter," she said, "until you find out how things go, for he won't rest unless he resolves this today."

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit Who are you