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And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
Ruth 1:10 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
  • KJV And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
  • BSB and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
  • ESV And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
  • NASB However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
  • NLT “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Both daughters-in-law insist they will return with Naomi to her people. Their initial loyalty sets the stage for the contrast soon to come.

Overview

Orpah and Ruth both express devotion, unwilling at first to abandon Naomi. Their shared declaration shows the bonds formed over ten years of family life. Yet the journey will force a real decision, and only Ruth's loyalty will prove to be rooted in covenant faith in Naomi's God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Zech 8:23Yahweh of Armies says: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
  • Ps 119:63I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
  • Ps 16:3As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ruth videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ruth 1:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RuthMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Boaz the kinsman-redeemer who buys back the destitute and takes a bride foreshadows Christ, our Redeemer who pays the price to make a people his own; and from Ruth's line comes David, and David's greater Son.

How Ruth 1:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.