Ruth 4:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse.

NIV: Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.

NASB: Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.

CSB: Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a mother to him.

NLT: Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own.

KJV: And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

NKJV: Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.

Naomi left Bethlehem with a husband and two sons. She returned with a Moabite daughter-in-law. She told her old friends, "I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" (Ruth 1:21).

That grief will stay with her forever. No one can suffer that much loss and simply get over it. What she no longer must carry is the shame of not providing a male heir for her husband and the fear that no one will care for her as she grows old. She can also let go of the belief that the God of Israel has abandoned her. It was Yahweh who lifted the famine in Israel and drew Ruth to follow her to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:6, 16–17). And Yahweh allowed Ruth to get pregnant with a son on Naomi's behalf (Ruth 4:13).

"Nurse" in Hebrew is 'aman and can also mean foster-parent. The same term describes Mordecai with respect to Esther (Esther 2:7). This has led scholars to suggest Naomi kept Obed at her home and raised him, herself, while Ruth lived with Boaz. That's possible, but the text doesn't say so directly.

"Lap" is mistranslated. It occurs in Proverbs 5:20 and Lamentations 2:12 correctly as "bosom" or "breast." An alternate form is translated "embrace." Naomi was Obed's wetnurse; she literally breastfed him.

Ruth 4:13–17 records the fulfillment of Ruth's wishes and God's plan for Naomi. Ruth and Boaz are married and have a son. He will be the heir of Naomi's late husband, continuing his name and the ownership of his land. This lifts Naomi's social stigma of not providing an heir, and the women of Bethlehem rejoice.

Ruth 4 provides one of the happiest endings of all the books of the Bible. It begins when Boaz holds a meeting with Naomi's next of kin. The unnamed man is willing to buy Naomi's land. Yet he doesn't want the risk of marrying a Moabite woman to give Naomi an heir. Boaz is actively seeking those obligations, so the townspeople praise him and Ruth. Before long, Ruth has a son and presents him to Naomi to continue the family of her late husband. The boy becomes the grandfather of Israel's greatest king, David, and the ancestor of the Messiah, Jesus.

Ruth 4 closes the story of how a Moabite woman came to be part of the genealogy of King David. Naomi, an Israelite from Bethlehem, fled a famine with her husband and two sons. The men died and Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. Ruth enlists the help of Boaz, an honored landowner, to buy Naomi's land and give her an heir. After Boaz negotiates with relatives, Ruth and Boaz marry. Naomi holds the boy born in the name of her husband's family. This child becomes the grandfather of David.

Though set in a time of violence and tragedy, the book of Ruth tells one of Scripture’s most uplifting stories. Naomi, an Israelite, leaves her home during a famine. While away, in Moab, her husband and sons die. Naomi convinces one of her Moabite daughters-in-law to leave her and seek a new life. The other, Ruth, refuses, declaring her love and loyalty to Naomi. When the pair return to Israel, they encounter Boaz. This man is both kind and moral; his treatment of Ruth secures Naomi’s future and becomes part of king David’s ancestry.