Ruth 1:9
“The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Naomi prays they may find rest in new marriages, then kisses them, and all three weep aloud.
What Does Ruth 1:9 Mean?
Naomi continues her blessing, praying that each daughter-in-law may find rest, security and settled belonging, in the home of a new husband. Then comes a moment of raw human tenderness: she kisses them, and the three women lift up their voices and weep together on the road. Love and grief pour out without restraint.
The word rest here means more than ease; it is the deep settledness of having a home and a place of safety, the very thing widowhood had taken from them all. Naomi longs for these women to have what she herself has lost. Strikingly, the rest she prays for others, God will ultimately provide for Ruth in a way Naomi cannot yet imagine, and through Ruth, rest will come to Naomi too. The Lord often grants the very blessing we ask for others and quietly folds us into the answer. Tears shared in love are never wasted before Him.
In the Original Language
menuchah (מְנוּחָה), 'rest' — a secure, settled home and place of belonging, not merely freedom from labor.