You must go back represents an imperative expression in Hebrew. However, it should not be interpreted as a harsh command, but simply as strong advice. In some languages the closest equivalent would be “It is best for you to go back” or “You should go back.”
One must make certain that my daughters is satisfactorily rendered to identify “daughters-in-law.” In some languages a shift of terminology at this point could be very misleading.
The term answered is quite appropriate in English, but in some languages there are two different verbs, one used for answering a question and the other for responding to a statement. It is the latter meaning which is involved in this context.
Do you think I could have sons again is a rendering of a Hebrew idiom meaning literally “Have I yet sons in my womb?” (cf. Gen 25.23 and Psa 71.6 Compare E. Dhorme, Emploi métaphorique des noms de parties du corps, Paris, 1923, page 136.). One ancient translation changed the expression “in my womb” to something more euphemistic: “Do I yet have sons?” So the Syriac version. It is also possible in this context to follow the rendering of New English Bible: “Am I likely to bear any more sons to be husbands for you?” This is a direct reference to the levirate right, in which a man was obliged to marry the wife of his deceased brother. It may be necessary at this point to have an explanatory marginal note; otherwise, Naomi’s rhetorical question may seem utterly foolish.
When a rhetorical question implies such a definite negative answer as the last question in verse 11, it is appropriate in a number of languages to indicate this fact, often by a negative phrase appended to or incorporated into the question; for example, “I couldn’t still have sons for you to marry, could I?” In many languages, however, this type of rhetorical question must be changed into a negative statement; for example, “I certainly could not bear sons who would grow up and marry you.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Ruth. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .