וַתֹּ֤אמֶר נָעֳמִי֙ שֹׁ֣בְנָה בְנֹתַ֔י לָ֥מָּה תֵלַ֖כְנָה עִמִּ֑י הַֽעֽוֹד־לִ֤י בָנִים֙ בְּֽמֵעַ֔י וְהָי֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם לַאֲנָשִֽׁים׃
Noêmi, porém, respondeu: Voltai, minhas filhas; porque ireis comigo? Tenho eu ainda filhos no meu ventre, para que vos viessem a ser maridos?
Ruth Rabbah
“May the Lord grant you that you find rest, each woman in the house of her husband. She kissed them; and they raised their voices, and wept” (Ruth 1:9).
“May the Lord grant [yitten] you” – Rabbi Yosei said: All the goodness and consolations that the Holy One blessed be He was destined to grant to Solomon, as it is written: “God granted [vayitten] wisdom to Solomon” (I Kings 5:9), will be from you.110This is an allusion to the fact that David and Solomon will descend from Ruth. “And find rest [umtzena]” – umtzena is written,111The word is written without the concluding heh. one will find [rest], two will not find. “Each woman in the house of her husband” – from here [it may be derived] that there is satisfaction for a woman only in her husband’s house.
“Naomi said: Return my daughters; why would you go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that would be husbands for you?” (Ruth 1:11).
“They raised their voices, and wept, and they said to her…Naomi said: Return my daughters, why would you go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that would be husbands for you?” (Ruth 1:9–11). Does a person perform levirate marriage with the wife of his brother with whom he did not coexist?112If a married man dies without children, his brother marries his widow in a procedure called levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5–6). However, this may not be done if the brother had not yet been born during the deceased brother’s lifetime (see Yevamot 17b).
“May the Lord grant [yitten] you” – Rabbi Yosei said: All the goodness and consolations that the Holy One blessed be He was destined to grant to Solomon, as it is written: “God granted [vayitten] wisdom to Solomon” (I Kings 5:9), will be from you.110This is an allusion to the fact that David and Solomon will descend from Ruth. “And find rest [umtzena]” – umtzena is written,111The word is written without the concluding heh. one will find [rest], two will not find. “Each woman in the house of her husband” – from here [it may be derived] that there is satisfaction for a woman only in her husband’s house.
“Naomi said: Return my daughters; why would you go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that would be husbands for you?” (Ruth 1:11).
“They raised their voices, and wept, and they said to her…Naomi said: Return my daughters, why would you go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that would be husbands for you?” (Ruth 1:9–11). Does a person perform levirate marriage with the wife of his brother with whom he did not coexist?112If a married man dies without children, his brother marries his widow in a procedure called levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5–6). However, this may not be done if the brother had not yet been born during the deceased brother’s lifetime (see Yevamot 17b).
Ruth Rabbah
“Turn back, my daughters, go, as I am too old to be with a husband. If I were to say: I have hope, even were I to be with a husband tonight, and also were I to bear sons” (Ruth 1:12).
“Turn back, my daughters, go” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yudan bar Rabbi Ḥanina: In three places it is written here: “Turn back” (Ruth 1:8), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:11), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:12), corresponding to the three times that one rejects a convert. If he insists beyond that, one accepts him. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: “A stranger shall not stay the night outside” (Job 31:32). A person shall always reject with the left and accept with the right.113Rejection should be performed weakly, while the subsequent acceptance should be undertaken powerfully. “As I am too old to be with a husband […were I to be with a husband tonight]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Torah teaches you proper conduct, that one engages in marital relations at night and not by day. That is what is written: “In the evening she would come and in the morning she would return” (Esther 2:14), and it is written: “Were I to be with a husband tonight.”
“Turn back, my daughters, go” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yudan bar Rabbi Ḥanina: In three places it is written here: “Turn back” (Ruth 1:8), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:11), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:12), corresponding to the three times that one rejects a convert. If he insists beyond that, one accepts him. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: “A stranger shall not stay the night outside” (Job 31:32). A person shall always reject with the left and accept with the right.113Rejection should be performed weakly, while the subsequent acceptance should be undertaken powerfully. “As I am too old to be with a husband […were I to be with a husband tonight]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Torah teaches you proper conduct, that one engages in marital relations at night and not by day. That is what is written: “In the evening she would come and in the morning she would return” (Esther 2:14), and it is written: “Were I to be with a husband tonight.”