Ruth 1:13

would ye therefore tarry till they were grown? The narrative in Genesis 38. shews that the custom of levirate marriage was presupposed for the patriarchal age, but in a more primitive form than that of the modified law in Deuteronomy 25. According to Genesis 38. a son, though not of marriageable age, is bound by a positive requirement of the divine will to marry his brother's widow, and she must remain a widow till he be grown up(ib. Ruth 1:11). The identity of the latter expression with that in the present verse seems to imply a reminiscence of the patriarchal narrative. But Naomi's imaginary sons, the offspring of an impossible second marriage, would be half-brothers to Mahlon and Chilion; and there is nothing to shew that a levirate marriage was customary in such a case. Moreover, the object of this kind of marriage was to prevent the extinction of a family and the transference of the family property into the hands of strangers. As a matter of fact, however, Naomi is not thinking of this at all; she is not lamenting that her sons died without children, but that Ruth and Orpah have lost their husbands; her one anxiety is for the future welfare of her daughters in law. Hence, though her language is coloured by a reference to a well-known social institution, the reference is not exact, not intended to be taken literally.

It is noticeable that several words in this verse point to the post-exilic date of the writer: thereforeis represented by a pure Aramaic word, Daniel 2:6; Daniel 2:9; Daniel 4:27 [Aram. 24]; tarry, again in Esther 9:1; Psalms 119:166 (-hoped"); stay, lit. be restrained, shut up, only here in the O. T.; in Aramaic the pass. ptcp. is used of a wife tiedto a husband and deserted and prohibitedfrom marrying again, e.g. Talm. Jerus. Giṭṭiniv. 45c.

it grieveth me much for your sakes lit. it is very bitter for me because of you; for this use of the prep. (min=because of) cf. Ecclesiastes 2:10; Psalms 31:11; Psalms 107:17 etc. Naomi's sympathy goes out to the young widows, and she urges them to seek happiness elsewhere. The rendering in the marg. means, -You can go back and marry again; a worse lot is in store for me, I must remain a solitary." The rendering of the text is to be preferred as more in accordance with Naomi's unselfish feeling.