What Does Ruth 4:16 Mean in the King James?

And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

Ruth 4:16 · KJV

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

Naomi does not only hold the child; she becomes his support, and the Hebrew word for “nurse” shares a root with firmness and trust.

THE MEANING

Naomi gathers the child close and becomes his dependable care. The scene shows tenderness becoming steady support: a life is held and tended through another’s care.

THE ROOT

אֹמֶנֶת

omenet

GROWS FROM

אמן

ʾ-m-n

Firmness, reliability, and support; to sustain or establish as dependable.

The Hebrew ⁨אֹמֶנֶת⁩ (omenet, nurse or foster caregiver) belongs to ⁨אמן⁩, whose meanings include supporting and being reliable. Naomi’s role is more than closeness: she becomes steady support for the child, and the same root links care given with trust placed.

ALSO GROWS

omen: A guardian or caregiver who brings someone up.

אֹמֵן

This branch makes the connection to Naomi’s nurturing role explicit: she becomes a sustaining caregiver.

emunah: Trust; leaning one’s full weight on what is steady.

אֱמוּנָה

The same root joins dependable care with the trust that can rest on it.

he'emin: To trust or regard as reliable.

הֶאֱמִין

This branch shows how firmness becomes something another life can lean on.

THE PATTERN

Life is sustained when tenderness becomes dependable care.

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

Deuteronomy 32:11 · KJVCare becomes active protection: the young are taken up and carried.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 66:13 · KJVA mother’s comfort offers a picture of care that holds and steadies.

But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

1 Thessalonians 2:7 · KJVThe nurse’s tenderness is expressed through ongoing care for those entrusted to her.

THE THREAD

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 · KJV

Ruth’s “nurse” is ⁨אֹמֶנֶת⁩ (omenet, a sustaining caregiver), from ⁨אמן⁩. Genesis 15:6 renders “believed” as ⁨הֶאֱמִין⁩ (he’emin, trusted), from the same root: trust leans on what is firm, while Naomi becomes firm support for the child.

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