Ruth 1:17

17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Ruth 1:17 in Other Translations

KJV
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
ESV
17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you."
NLT
17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”
MSG
17 where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God - not even death itself is going to come between us!"
CSB
17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do this to me, and even more, if anything but death separates you and me.

Ruth 1:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ruth 1:17

Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried
She was determined to abide with her unto death, and not only was desirous to die as she did, but where she should die; in the same country, cottage, and bed, and be laid in the same grave, in hope of rising together at the resurrection of the just; having no regard at all to the sepulchres of her fathers, which people in all ages and countries have been fond of being laid in, as an honour and happiness. So with the Greeks and Romans, not only relations, but intimate friends, and such as had a strong affection for each other, were sometimes buried in the same grave, as Crates and Polemon F9, Paris and Oenome F11, and others F12; see ( Galatians 2:20 ) ( Colossians 2:12 ) ( 3:1 ) ,

the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and
me;
this is the form of oath she used for confirmation of what she had said, and to put an end to the debate on this subject; what she imprecates upon herself is not expressed, should she otherwise do than what she swears to; leaving Naomi to supply it in her own mind, and as being what was not fit to be named, and the greatest evil that could be thought to befall a perjured person.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 Lart. in Vita Cratet.
F11 Strabo. Geograph. l. 13. p. 410.
F12 Vid. Kirchman. de Funer. Roman. l. 3. c. 14. p. 433.

Ruth 1:17 In-Context

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

Cross References 2

  • 1. 1 Samuel 3:17; 1 Samuel 14:44; 1 Samuel 20:13; 1 Samuel 25:22; 2 Samuel 3:9,35; 2 Samuel 19:13; 1 Kings 2:23; 1 Kings 19:2; 1 Kings 20:10; 2 Kings 6:31
  • 2. 2 Samuel 15:21
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.