What Does Ruth 3:11 Mean?
And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you say, for all the gate of my people knows that you are a woman of strength.
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 now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.THE KEY
The woman called virtuous is recognized as strong and capable while the promise is directed toward what she herself says.
THE MEANING
The verse meets the reader with a promise that answers a spoken request: what she says will be done for her. At the same time, she is already known throughout the community for her strength and capacity, so asking and being worthy stand together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that asking for what she needs diminishes her standing: the one whose words receive a response is named a woman of strength.
THE ROOT
חַיִל
ḥayil
GROWS FROM
ח־י־ל
ḥ-y-l
Force, strength, capacity.
“woman of strength” in this verse is ḥayil. The English virtuous carries the judgment of her worth; חַיִל (ḥayil, “strength and capacity”) opens that worth into ability, valor, and substance. The same word can name an army or wealth, presenting her as a person of active capacity.
ALSO GROWS
ḥayil: Strength, ability, or valor.
חַיִל
This sense presents her as capable and forceful, not only as morally esteemed.
ḥayil: An organized fighting force or host.
חַיִל
The same word can describe a force; that dimension of strength also lives inside the phrase used of Ruth.
ḥayil: Means, wealth, or resources.
חַיִל
The word’s range includes substance and capacity, giving her worth a tangible breadth.
תֹּאמְרִי
tomri
GROWS FROM
א־מ־ר
ʾ-m-r
Say, speak, utter.
The Hebrew verb behind requirest is the feminine form tomri, “you say,” from אָמַר (ʾamar, “say, speak”). The promise directly answers her words; her voice is what Boaz pledges to act on.
ALSO GROWS
ʾamar: To say or speak.
אָמַר
This is the verb at the center of the promise: what she says is met with a pledged response.
ʾimrah: An utterance, saying, or word.
אִמְרָה
This related noun keeps speech visible as something with substance, not background to the exchange.
שַׁעַר
sha'ar
GROWS FROM
ש־ע־ר
š-ʿ-r
Gate or entrance; the threshold of a city.
The Hebrew wording is literally “all the gate of my people,” which the KJV renders “all the city of my people.” The gate is a public threshold, so her recognition is communal and visible.
ALSO GROWS
she'arim: Gates, the plural of gate.
שְׁעָרִים
The plural keeps the image grounded in the city’s public entrances, where people gather and hear what is known.
sho'arim: Those who guard or keep the gates.
שֹׁעֲרִים
The gate also has a public, ordered role, reinforcing that her standing is recognized in the life of the community.
THE PATTERN
A person’s strength becomes legible in both what they embody and the work others can see.
And the messenger of the LORD let himself be seen by him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of strength.Give her from the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.Let your light shine like this before people, that they may perceive your good works and give weight to your Father in the heavens.THE THREAD
Who can find a woman of strength? Her price is far above rubies.Ruth calls her אֵשֶׁת חַיִל (ʾeshet ḥayil, “woman of strength and valor”), the exact phrase used in Proverbs 31:10. The shared phrase makes her recognition in Ruth part of a portrait of capable, embodied worth rather than a vague compliment.
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