Ruth 1:16 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Entreat me not to leave thee For all thy entreaties cannot shake that resolution which thy instructions, formerly given, have wrought in me. Whither thou goest, I will go Though to a country I never saw, which I have been taught to despise, and far distant from my own country. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge Though it be in a cottage; nay, though it be no better a lodging than Jacob had when he put the stones for his pillow. Thy people shall be my people For, judging from what I have seen in thee, I conclude they must be a wise and understanding people, and I shall think myself happy if I may be reckoned one of them, may be associated with them, and conformed to them. And thy God shall be my God Farewell to Chemosh and all the gods of Moab, which are vanities and lies. I will adore the God of Israel, the only living and true God; will trust in him alone, will love and serve him alone, and in every thing be commanded and ruled by him. Where thou diest will I die In the same place, in token of my dying in the same spirit. Let me die the death of the righteous Naomi, and let my last end be like hers! And there will I be buried Not desiring to have so much as my dead body carried back to the country of Moab, in token of any remaining regard for it. But I will be buried in the same grave with thee, and my bones shall lie by thine, that, as we have joined souls, our dust may be mingled, and we may rise together, and remain together for ever. Happy Naomi, though deprived of her husband and her sons, that has such a daughter-in-law to comfort her in her widowhood and amidst her bereavements! And happy Ruth, who has profited so much by the instructions of her mother-in-law, and who has so fully imbibed the genuine principles and spirit of the true religion! Surely she was a glorious instance of the grace of God inclining the soul to a resolute choice of the good part. The Lord do so to me, and more also An ancient form this of imprecation, by which Ruth confirms, with a solemn oath, her resolution to adhere to Naomi till death. She knew that death would part them for a time, but was resolved that nothing else should; not any kindness from her own family and people, nor any hope of preferment among them; nor any unkindness from Israel, nor the fear of poverty and disgrace among them. No; I will never leave thee.