What Does Ruth 1:14 Mean?
And they lifted up their voice, and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.THE KEY
Ruth’s “clave” is the Hebrew joining-word also used for cleaving to a spouse and to God, so her response to grief is a bond that holds.
THE MEANING
The verse places a farewell kiss beside Ruth’s act of clinging: grief holds both a parting and a bond that remains. Ruth’s closeness to Naomi is named as a joining that continues through separation.
THE ROOT
דָּבְקָה
daveqah
GROWS FROM
דבק
d-b-q
To cling, adhere closely, or remain joined.
“clung” in this verse is daveqah. The Hebrew word carries the sense of sticking close and holding together. This same verb describes a husband cleaving to his wife and Israel cleaving to God, placing Ruth’s bond with Naomi in the language of enduring attachment.
ALSO GROWS
davaq: To cling, cleave, or adhere.
דָּבַק
This verbal form names the act itself; it is also used when the verse describes cleaving to God.
daveq: Clinging, closely attached.
דָּבֵק
This form describes the state of being joined, showing the closeness implicit in Ruth’s action.
THE PATTERN
A bond becomes visible through remaining joined across a moment of separation.
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.Stand in awe of the LORD your God; him you serve, and to him you cling, and by his nature you swear.For this cause a man leaves father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh.THE THREAD
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.The same Hebrew verb, דבק, names the joining in both verses. Ruth’s bond with Naomi is described with the same language of holding someone close.
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