Verse 1:[1] Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, (1 Cor. 7:36; 1 Tim. 5:8) shall I not seek (Ruth 1:9) rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
[I will seek rest for thee] Hebrew: shall I not seek rest for thee?[2] (Junius and Tremellius, Vatablus, Drusius). The Hebrews are wont to make affirmations stronger by interrogations of this sort (Hebrews in Vatablus). That is to say, it altogether belongs to my office to provide for thee concerning some advantageous and quiet condition (Drusius). She calls marriage rest (Vatablus, Drusius). There is no rest for a woman until she marries, says Ibn Ezra; and Plutarch right calls marriage the refuge of the young (Drusius). Rest, that is, a safe life under the protection of a husband (Grotius). I will seek rest for thee from labors, and from the toils that poverty and peregrination have brought; and from want of children, which torments thy soul, and does not allow it to be quiet (Menochius).
Rest, that is, a life of rest, and comfort, and safety, under the care of a good husband. The question supposeth an affirmative answer: I will seek it, as my duty binds me.
[And I will look out that it might be well with thee, אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִֽיטַב־לָֽךְ׃] So that (or whereby [Jonathan, Montanus], or in which, namely, rest [Junius and Tremellius]) it might be well with thee (Septuagint, Pagnine, Tigurinus, Piscator, Vatablus). The rest of a husband who might do service to thee (Munster).
[1] Hebrew: וַתֹּ֥אמֶר לָ֖הּ נָעֳמִ֣י חֲמוֹתָ֑הּ בִּתִּ֞י הֲלֹ֧א אֲבַקֶּשׁ־לָ֛ךְ מָנ֖וֹחַ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִֽיטַב־לָֽךְ׃
[2] Hebrew: הֲלֹ֧א אֲבַקֶּשׁ־לָ֛ךְ.
William Gouge's Domestical Duties: 'All these are to account their children-in-law (that is, the children of their husband and wife, or the wives of their sons, and the husbands of their daughters) as their own natural children, and according to the age and place of these children to perform the forenamed duties, and every way to seek their good (except in such duties as after a peculiar manner belong to natural parents, as nursing to a natural mother, leaving the inheritance to a natural parent).For a pattern hereof take the forenamed examples of Joseph and Naomi. What natural parents could do more for their own children than Joseph did for Jesus, and Naomi for Ruth? The history notes how Josep…
William Gouge's Domestical Duties: 'God has further laid a charge upon parents to provide marriages for their children: for thus says the prophet in the name of the Lord unto parents, Take wives to your sons, and give your daughters to husbands: [Jeremiah 29:6] and thus the apostle, If any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let them marry. [1 Corinthains 7:36] This direction was given in times of persecution, when by reason of the present necessity it was better not to marry: if then a parent ought to be careful (need requiring) to provide a marriage of his daughter, much more ought h…
Matthew Henry: 'Here is ... Naomi's care for her daughter's comfort is without doubt very commendable, and is recorded for imitation. She had no thoughts of marrying herself, Ruth 1:12. But, though she that was old had resolved upon a perpetual widowhood, yet she was far from the thoughts of confining her daughter-in-law to it, that was young. Age must not make itself a standard to youth. On the contrary, she is full of contrivance how to get her well married. Her wisdom projected that for her daughter which her daughter's modesty forbade her to project for herself, Ruth 3:1. This she did 1. In justice to the dead, to raise up seed to those that were gone, and s…