What Does Ruth 1:15 Mean in the King James?
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats “return,” showing that a turn is never directionless: its destination shapes what returning means.
THE MEANING
The path back can feel settled when someone close to you has already taken it. Here, returning means moving toward her people and her gods, and the words press Ruth to follow that route. The destination is part of the choice.
THE ROOT
שׁוּבִי
shūvî
GROWS FROM
שוב
The root שוב (shuv) means to turn back, return.
The verb sounds twice in the verse: the sister-in-law has gone back, then Ruth is told to return after her. The root names the turn itself; the people and gods named beside it show that a return takes its meaning from its destination.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: return; turning
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch names a turning, making clear that the motion itself does not determine where it leads.
meshubah: turning away; backsliding
מְשׁוּבָה
This branch shows that a turn can carry someone away from a path, so returning is not automatically movement toward wholeness.
אַחֲרֵי
ʾaḥărê
GROWS FROM
אחר
The root אחר means behind, after, or later.
“after” in this verse is ʾaḥărê. The Hebrew word holds the sense of being behind someone and of what comes later. Ruth is asked not simply to return, but to follow the path someone else has already taken.
ALSO GROWS
ʾaḥărît: end; outcome; latter time
אַחֲרִית
The shared root links what comes after with what eventually follows, giving the request to follow someone a forward consequence.
ʾaḥărôn: last; latter
אַחֲרוֹן
This branch carries the sense of what comes later, echoing the verse’s attention to the path Ruth is being asked to follow.
THE PATTERN
A return takes its meaning from the people, loyalties, or presence toward which it turns.
O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:THE THREAD
Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.The command “Turn ye” carries the same Hebrew root שוב (shuv, “turn; return”) as Ruth’s “return,” opening a contrast in destination. Here the turn points toward the LORD, who answers by turning toward the one who turns.
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