May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
- KJV And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
- BSB He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
- NKJV And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
- NASB May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
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
The women declare the child will renew Naomi's life and sustain her old age, praising Ruth's love as worth more than seven sons. Ruth's faithful devotion is honored as a means of God's blessing.
Overview
The newborn is called a restorer of life who will nourish Naomi in her later years, reversing the loss she suffered. Ruth, the once-foreign daughter-in-law, is exalted as better than seven sons, a remarkable tribute to her covenant loyalty (hesed). Her self-giving love mirrors the steadfast love of God and stands as a model of the faithfulness that God honors and uses for His redemptive ends.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 46:4Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
- Ps 55:22Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
- Gen 45:11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’
- Ruth 2:11–12Boaz answered her, “I have been fully told about all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before.
- 1 Sam 1:8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- Gen 47:12Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
- Prov 18:24A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
- Ruth 1:16–18Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
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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 4:15 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.