Ruth
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A. A Lonely Widow, 1:1–5
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
The occasion for the events related in the Book of Ruth was a famine in Israel in the days when the judges ruled
(1) which forced the emigration of a little family from Bethlehem in Judah to the land of Moab, to the southeast of Palestine.
To sojourn means to live in the status of resident alien. The father’s name was Elimelech
(2), which means “God is his king.”
Naomi, “my pleasantness,”
and two sons: Mahlon, “sickly,”
and Chilion, “pining,” or “wasting away,” completed the family.
They were Ephrathites, a term which normally means of the tribe of Ephraim.
Mahlon and Chilian both married Moabite girls:
Orpah (4; Orpha in the Vulg.)
And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
Ruth, “friendship” or “female friend.”[]
During the course of a ten-year residence in Moab, the three men of the family died and Naomi was left alone with her two daughters-in-law
B. A Difficult Decision, 1:6–14
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
When Naomi heard that the famine had passed in Israel, she started for home, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law.
Naomi urged the two younger women to return to their homes in Moab, with the wish that both of them might be able to marry again and find rest.
The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
That is, find homes, with husbands from among their own people.
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Verse 11 is a reference to the levirate law
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
Which required a man to marry his brother’s widow if the brother died without children.
It is first mentioned in connection with Judah and Tamar:
(Gen. 38:8–11 and was the point of the argument against immortality propounded by the Sadducees in Mark 12:19.
Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also. Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
The hand of the Lord is gone out against me
Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.
Naomi’s submissive attitude parallels that of Job (Job. 1:21).
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
In this moment of decision, Orpah kissed her mother in law farewell and turned back; but Ruth clave unto her (14), or “clung to her.”