Ruth 4:15 (DRB)

Passage

And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter in law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons.

Nearby Context

Ruth 4:13 Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive, and to bear a son.

Ruth 4:14 And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor: that his name should be preserved in Israel.

Ruth 4:15 And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter in law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons.

Ruth 4:16 And Noemi taking the child, laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it.

Ruth 4:17 And the women, her neighbours, congratulating with her, and saying, There is a son born to Noemi, called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "shouldst", "comfort", "soul", "cherish", "born", "daughter", and "loveth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "shouldst", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And the women said to Noemi Blessed..." into verse 16's "And Noemi taking the child laid it...", so "thou" and "shouldst" belong inside that flow. In Ruth context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "shouldst" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.