Stay with your mothers involves a rather surprising Hebrew expression referring to “the mother’s house”; that is to say, each daughter-in-law was instructed to return to her mother’s house, not to the home of her father, which one would normally expect (see, for example, Gen 38.11; Lev 22.13; Num 30.16; Deu 22.21; Judges 19.2, 3). In fact, one ancient version has changed the text at this point to read “to the house of your father,” This is the reading of the Codex Alexandrinus and of some other Septuagint manuscripts. while another employs an easier reading, “to your country and to the house of your parents.” So the Syriac version. These indicate that even early translators found difficulty with the Hebrew text at this point. Some have argued that the reference to the mother’s house was a way in which Naomi could keep open the possibility of the girls’ contracting marriage again without affecting their relationship to Israel. Presumably it would have been different if they had been sent back to “the house of their fathers.” Herbert Hajek, “Heimkehr nach Israel, Eine Auslegung des Buches Ruth,” Biblische Studien 33, Neukirchen, 1962, pages 28-29. However, this argument is not very convincing. There is some doubt, indeed, as to precisely the extent to which so-called levirate rights applied. This is the question asked by R. de Vaux, Les institutions de l’Ancien Testament I, Paris, 1961, page 69. It may be that there is here a trace of some early matriarchal organization such as the ancient Arabs had, in which the tent was normally regarded as the property of the wife. This suggestion has been made by A. Lods, Israël des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, 1930, page 219 (English translation by S. H. Hooke, Israel from Its Beginnings to the Middle of the Eighth Century, 1932. Page numbers are quoted according to the French edition). A. Vincent (k La Sainte Bible, le livre des Juges, le livre de Ruth, Paris, 1958, page 152, note b) notes that each wife had her own tent and that the girls lived in the tent of their mother. According to E. F. C. Rosenmüller (“Judices et Ruth,” Scholia in Vetus Testamentum, libri historici, Vol. II, 1835, ad loc.) and P. Joüon (k Ruth, commentaire philologique et exégétique, 1953, ad loc.), the mention of the mother’s house should have a sentimental value, and by virtue of this sentimental value it should make the argument stronger. Though this may be true, the stress on the connotative meaning can hardly be the only explanation of the formula.

This expression “the mother’s house” is not only a problem for exegesis (that is, for determining what is meant in the Hebrew text); it poses the similarly difficult problem of interpretation in many receptor languages where it would seem almost incredible that a woman would be sent back to her mother’s house, especially since she would presumably belong to the family of her husband. This means that for a number of receptor languages it is important to have an explanatory marginal note; for example, “According to the custom of the ancient Hebrews, a widow who had no children could either stay with the family of her deceased husband or could remarry outside of that family.”

The second part of verse 8 begins a blessing which extends through the first part of verse 9. This is then followed by the simple departure ceremony of kissing (9b). The Hebrew term rendered be … good to or have been [good] to is frequently translated as “show kindness to,” “be kind to,” or “treat kindly.” The Hebrew term is the same one which is often rendered in Revised Standard Version as “steadfast love,” and two of its basic components of meaning are loyalty and faithfulness. So rightly W. Baumgartner, Hebräisches und Aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament, Lieferung I, Leiden, 1967, s.v. chesed. The phrase ʿasah chesed is also found in Genesis 21.23; Joshua 2.12; Judges 1.24; 8.35; 1 Samuel 15.6; 20.8; 2 Samuel 3.8; 9.1, 7; 10.2; 1 Chronicles 19.2. Accordingly, the New English Bible has “may the LORD keep faith with you.” However, it is difficult to indicate this meaning of the Hebrew expression in this context, since there is no setting which would suggest loyalty or faithfulness, except insofar as the LORD would “be good to” them, even as the daughters-in-law had “been good to” Naomi and to those who had died.

In some languages the only satisfactory way of speaking about “being good to someone” is to use a term such as “to help”; for example, “may the LORD help you as you have helped me and those who have died.” But in many languages one cannot use this form of request or blessing without employing some expression to introduce the direct quotation; for example, “I pray to the LORD that he may be good to you…,” or as addressed directly to God, “I ask you, LORD, be good to my daughters-in-law as they have been to me and to those who have died.”

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 .