חֲמוֹת

Ruth 1:14 לַחֲמוֹתָ֔הּ <to> mother-in-law her

Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

Here: 'Her mother-in-law.' The word names the bond that made Naomi her family, and Orpah's husband's death has left that bond in doubt. She takes leave of Naomi as a mother-in-law, with full family courtesy.

Ruth 2:11 חֲמוֹתֵ֔ךְ mother-in-law your

Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.

Here: “Your mother-in-law” (Naomi). The tie existed only through a husband who was now dead, which is what makes Ruth's continued loyalty notable.

Ruth 2:18 חֲמוֹתָ֖הּ mother-in-law her

She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.

Here: 'Her mother-in-law.' The narrator keeps naming the women by their family tie rather than their names. That keeps the bond Ruth chose in 1:16–17 in front of the reader.

Ruth 2:19 חֲמוֹתָ֜הּ לַחֲמוֹתָ֗הּ mother-in-law her, to mother-in-law her

Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.” So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

Ruth 2:23 חֲמוֹתָֽהּ׃ mother-in-law her

So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 3:1 חֲמוֹתָ֑הּ mother-in-law her

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you?

Here: A husband's mother. Naomi's son Mahlon is dead, yet the narrator keeps calling her Ruth's mother-in-law. The family bond still stands, and the coming plan depends on it: Naomi's kin are Ruth's kin.

Ruth 3:6 חֲמוֹתָֽהּ׃ mother-in-law her

So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.

Ruth 3:16 חֲמוֹתָ֔הּ mother-in-law her

When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her.

Here: “Her mother-in-law.” The book keeps using this tie, which has outlived the death of the son who created it. Ruth acts as a daughter of Naomi's household, not as a free agent.

Ruth 3:17 חֲמוֹתֵֽךְ׃ mother-in-law your

And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

Micah 7:6 בַּחֲמֹתָ֑הּ on mother-in-law her

For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

Here: 'Against her mother-in-law', her husband's mother, who ran the women's side of the household. The word appears in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Ruth, where daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are the model of loyalty.