Naomi formulates a risky and fragile scheme. She instructs Ruth to do three things: bathe, put on perfumed oil, and put on her “dress” (śimlâ). The NIV translates śimlâ as “best clothes.” However, as Bush and others have rightly observed, the śimlâ was simply a generic piece of clothing worn by both men and women (although there were apparently differences between the two, Deut. 22:5).8 A number of commentators understand Naomi’s instructions to be a bride’s preparations for marriage, so that