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Hello everyone,

I am new and glad to be here. I am also rusty at the Hebrew language. I was going through Ruth, when I got to chapter one, verse eight. It looks like Ruth is talking to her two Moabite daughters-in-law. But when she refers to the kindness that these women have shown both to herself, and to her sons, the verbs change to masculine. Am I missing something here? I appreciate any help. Thanks.

Blessings,
Atbash

Hello and welcome to the forum.

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Someone should be responding to your question shortly!

Thanks! And to clarify, I meant the verb and the pronoun both switch to masculine. I also just found that this switch happens seven times in Ruth. I wonder if it has anything to do with the blessing that the women proclaim in 4:15, where they declare that Ruth has been to Naomi better than seven sons?

Welcome, Atbash. Good question. I looked at a couple of commentaries. Apparently this happens several times in the book of Ruth and elsewhere. Some say it is a tendency of later, colloquial Hebrew, but others believe it may be an archaic remnant of an earlier Hebrew dual suffix.

Thanks!

What verse are you talking about?

Ruth doesn't have Moabite daughters-in-law. Naomi has them. Ruth is one of the daughters-in-law of Naomi.