Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ruth 1:17

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, [if aught] but death part thee and me.

17. will I die be buried ] According to ancient thought union in life meant union in death and in the grave; the members of a family had a common burying-place, Gen 47:30; Gen 49:29. In the underworld they lived together, as families and by nations; cf. the expression ‘he was gathered to his people,’ i.e. his fellow tribesmen, and see Eze 32:17-32.

the Lord do so to me, and more also ] Jehovah has already become the God of Ruth, and she uses the name of Israel’s God in a solemn imprecation, which occurs only here and in the books of Samuel and Kings. When heathen utter this oath, Elohim is used instead of Jehovah, and the verbs are plural, 1Ki 19:2; 1Ki 20:10. Lit. the phrase here runs ‘Jehovah do so to me, and more also (only) death shall separate me from thee’; the substance of the oath is an assertion, not a negation; similarly 1Sa 14:44; 1Sa 20:13, 1Ki 2:23 etc. in the Hebr.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 17. The Lord do so to me, and more] May he inflict any of those punishments on me, and any worse punishment, if I part from thee till death. And it appears that she was true to her engagement; for Naomi was nourished in the house of Boaz in her old age, and became the fosterer and nurse of their son Obed, Ru 4:15-16.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

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 i, Paris and Oenome k, and others l; see Ga 2:20,

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.

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

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(17) The Lord do so to me.Ruth clinches her resolutions with a solemn oath, in which, if we are to take the words literally, she swears by the name of the God of Israel. With this Naomi yields; after so solemn a protest she can urge no more.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

17. The Lord do so to me Here is the first occurrence of that common formula of an oath by which the person swearing called down upon himself a stroke of Divine judgment in case he kept not his word, nor carried out his resolution. Compare marginal references.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Rth 1:17 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.

Ver. 17. Where thou diest, &c ] That both she and her mother should once die, she doubted not. Heb 9:27 This many seem to do, whilst they so live as if their lives were riveted upon eternity. See Psa 49:10-11 ; Psa 49:13 .

There will I be buried. ] Burial is one of the dues of the dead; and dear friends desire to be buried together. 2Sa 19:37 Mezentius in Virgil begs to be buried by his son Lausus. a

The Lord do so to me, and more also. ] Let him double and treble the evil wished upon me, which is here not mentioned by a usual aposiopesis, not unlike that of the prophet Amos in Amo 4:12 ; “And because I will do thus unto thee,” Ubi non nominat mala, ut omnia timeant, b he nameth not any, that they may fear all. This is an oath bound with a curse, which yet is not particularly named, but left unto God. Indeed, every oath is with an execration, either understood or expressed.

a Aeneid., lib. x.

b Ribera.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

the lord: 1Sa 3:17, 1Sa 25:22, 2Sa 3:9, 2Sa 3:35, 2Sa 19:13, 1Ki 2:23, 1Ki 19:2, 1Ki 20:10, 2Ki 6:31

but death: Act 11:23, Act 20:24

Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:44 – God 1Sa 20:13 – The Lord do 2Sa 15:21 – surely Son 6:1 – that Dan 1:8 – purposed Zec 8:23 – We will Mat 1:5 – Booz 2Co 7:3 – to die

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge