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Ruth 1
Ruth 1:1-9
1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 5Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6Then 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 the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. 7She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9May the LORD grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept.
In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. Famine, Moab sojourn, triple bereavement, and Naomi’s bittersweet release of her daughters-in-law frame the book’s emptiness.
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Ruth 1:10
10They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”. Both daughters-in-law first insist they will return with Naomi to her people.
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Ruth 1:11-13
11Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for the LORD’s hand has gone out against me.”
Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Naomi argues from levirate impossibility and names the LORD’s hand against her.
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Ruth 1:14-15
14They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. 15She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”
They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. Orpah kisses and returns; Ruth clings; Naomi points to Orpah’s people and god.
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Ruth 1:16-17
16Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth refuses to leave Naomi: where you go I will go; your people my people, your God my God; only death will part us—covenant loyalty that binds a Moabite widow to Israel’s God.
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Ruth 1:18
18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. Seeing Ruth’s determination, Naomi stops urging her.
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Ruth 1:19
19So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”
So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. Bethlehem stirs: Is this Naomi?—homecoming that exposes how loss has changed her.
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Ruth 1:20-22
20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara—full gone out, empty brought home; yet barley harvest begins with Ruth the Moabitess.
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