What Does Ruth 2:20 Mean?
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not let go of his faithful love to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near to us, one of our redeemers.
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 Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.THE KEY
The faithful love Naomi recognizes reaches the living and the dead, then takes the shape of a kinsman who can carry the family bond forward.
THE MEANING
Faithful love remains in view across the line between the living and the dead. Naomi recognizes it in the kindness before her, then names the man as one of their kinsmen who can act on that bond.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The dead are beyond the reach of the love that binds the living.
THE ROOT
חֶסֶד
chesed
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
Faithful, steadfast love expressed through loyalty and care.
“faithful love” in this verse is chesed. “Kindness” can sound like a passing gesture; chesed carries durable, relational love. Here it reaches both the living and the dead, and the next sentence gives that love a shape in kinship.
ALSO GROWS
chasad: To act with kindness or loyal care.
חָסַד
This verb shows chesed as something enacted, like the care Naomi recognizes in the verse.
chasid: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
This branch describes a person by the loyal care that marks them.
גֹּאֵל
go’el
GROWS FROM
ג־א־ל
To redeem, reclaim, or restore what is at risk within the family.
“Kinsman” can sound like a family label; go’el also names a role that acts to reclaim or restore. The verse places that action-bearing kinship beside chesed, showing how faithful love can take practical form.
ALSO GROWS
ga’al: To redeem or reclaim.
גָּאַל
The verb reveals the action held within the kinship role named here.
ge’ullah: Redemption or the right of redemption.
גְּאֻלָּה
This related word shows that go’el belongs to a wider language of reclaiming and restoring what is at risk.
THE PATTERN
Faithful love keeps reaching across loss through concrete care that preserves people and their bonds.
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, turn back each to her mother's house. May the LORD do faithful love with you, as you have done with the dead and with me.O extend your hands in thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his faithful love reaches to the ages.To make faithful love with our fathers, and to remember his set-apart covenant;THE THREAD
And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and let his name be called out in Israel.Ruth 2:20 names the man as one of Naomi’s go’elim, her kinsmen who can redeem. Ruth 4:14 repeats the same root when the women bless the LORD for the go’el in Naomi’s life, showing the kinship bond named here reaching into her family’s future.
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