Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Ver. 1. Shall I not seek rest for thee?] There is in most a propension to the nuptial conjunction. Requirit vir costam suam, requirit faemina sedem suam, say the Rabbis. The man misseth his rib; the woman would be in her old place again, under the man's arm or wing. Non est requies mulieri donec nupserit, saith Aben Ezra. The unmarried life is trouble and disquietment. Hence marriage is called Portus iuventutis, the haven of young folk, who are usually tossed by lustful lingerings, as a ship is with waves; hence the Greeks call young men ηιθεοι of αιθω to burn, and αιζηοι of ζεω to boil. Hence they are called upon to put away evil from their flesh, Ecc 11:10 that is, to mortify fleshly lusts: and admonished by the apostle, that "it is better for them to marry than to burn." 1Co 7:9 Marriage being God's medicine, which, if rightly applied, will cool and heal unruly lusts that war against the soul.
That it may be well with thee.] That thou mayest arrive at those fair havens of a happy match: that marriage may be to thee a merry age. At Athens the bridegroom was wont to sing,
“ εφυγον κακον, ευρον αμεινον .”
I have changed a worse estate for a better. It was as it proved; for of some it may be said as it was of Sulla, that they had been happy, if they had never married: but this is from man's corrupt heart, that like a toad, turneth all it taketh into rank poison. "It is not good for man to be alone." Indeed, those that will marry shall be sure of "trouble," and that "in the flesh" too: 1Co 7:28 but as it is said of Egypt, that as no country hath more venemous creatures, none more antidotes; so marriage hath many troubles, but with it many helps against trouble.
“Coniugium humanae divina Academia vitae.”