Ruth 1 - Dummelow John R - Bible Commentary

Ruth 1

¹ 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 Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

² 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 Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

³ And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.

⁴ 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.

⁵ And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

¹¹ 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?

¹² 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;

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

¹⁵ And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

¹⁶ And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

¹⁷ where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

¹⁸ When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

¹⁹ So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

²⁰ And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹ I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth 1

The Exile and the Return of Naomi

1. Beth-lehem-judah] two hours' journey S. of Jerusalem, is to be distinguished from Bethlehem in Zebulun (Jos 19:15). It was but a short distance from Moab, which, in the days here referred to, was a fertile, highly cultivated country. Travellers still speak of it as a land of streams. Nothing short of the compulsion of famine could have induced a Hebrew to migrate into this foreign country where he would have no right of citizenship, this unclean land where Jehovah could not be worshipped.

2. The name Elimelech means 'my God is King.' Naomi, or, as it ought to be written, 'Noomi,' means 'pleasant.' The two sons, Mahlon ('sickly') and Chilion ('wasting away'), evidently owe their names to the fate which overtook them. It is not quite certain how we should understand the names of their wives. Orpah was taken by some of the Jewish commentators as signifying 'the back of the neck,' and explained by her having turned her back on Naomi. Ruth may be 'friend' or 'refreshment': the Talmud takes the latter view, 'because David sprang from her, who refreshed the Holy One with songs and praises.' Ephrathah is another name for Bethlehem, or perhaps the name of the district of Bethlehem.

4. The author of our book sees nothing wrong in their marrying Moabite wives. In this he agrees with earlier ideas and customs (Jdg 14:1; Jdg 16:4; 1Ki 7:14), not with such enactments as Deu 23:3., or such stern proceedings as Ezra and Nehemiah took when they compelled the Jews to abandon their foreign wives (Ezra 9, 10 Neh 13:23-30), or the Targum here, which says, 'And they transgressed the commandment of the Lord and married strange women.'

8, 9. The young widow would naturally return to her mother's house, for she would live in the women's part of the house or tent (Gen 24:28, Gen 24:67; Jdg 4:17; Son 3:4). The belief of that age was that men would receive in this life an exact recompense for their good and evil actions: see especially Psa 18:24, Psa 18:26. These two good women were to find rest after the troubles and disappointments of their Hebrew marriages.

11-13. If Naomi had other sons the obligation of marrying their deceased brother's widow would devolve on one of them. This Levirate law (from Levir = 'a brother-in-law') has been observed in many quarters of the globe, in India, Madagascar, Brazil, etc. Amongst the Hebrews the two objects which it aimed at were, to prevent the extinction of the dead man's name, and to save the property belonging to a family from being broken up and dispersed among other families. The firstborn son of the new marriage was considered to be the child and heir of the dead (Genesis 38; Deu 25:5-10). Naomi asks: Would ye stay for them from having husbands? or, more literally: 'Would ye shut yourselves up from having husbands?' For the widow, awaiting the second marriage, must remain at home in seclusion (Gen 38:11).

14, 15. Possibly Orpah did not intend going beyond the necessary courtesy of accompanying her mother-in-law to the border of the two countries. Then she would return to her people and 'her god' (RV). Chemosh was the national god of Moab (Num 21:29; 1Ki 11:7, etc.).

16-18. Ruth's impassioned declaration reminds us of the Druze sheikh, who, on parting with Mrs. Burton, exclaimed, 'Allah be with you and your house! I would we had never seen you, because of this parting. If you loved a stone I would put it in my bosom, and if you hated the moon I would not sit under its rays.' According to ancient ideas a god and his people were inseparable: if Ruth determined to go over to Naomi's fatherland and race she necessarily accepted their deity: if David was driven out of Israel he was thereby bidden, 'Go, serve other gods' (1Sa 26:19). Moreover, it was an even more cherished privilege then than now to be interred with one's relatives: the phrase for a desirable kind of burial was to be gathered to one's fathers.' In Eze 32:17-32 it is implied that the various nations inhabit separate localities in the invisible world. Ruth cleaves to her mother-in-law as Elisha to Elijah (2Ki 2:2-6).

19-22. Every one in the little town knew her. Yet how much she had altered. The women, of course, knew her best, and they exclaimed, 'Is this Naomi? 'She repudiated the old name, renaming herself Mara, 'Bitter,' because the Almighty, who is here called Shaddai, had dealt bitterly with her. The same expression occurs in Job 27:2. The exact force of the divine name Shaddai is uncertain. Except in the book of Job we always meet it in conjunction with the general name God, 'God Shaddai.' Exo 6:3 regards it as an ancient title. Jehovah testified against Naomi by treating her as a sinner, for suffering was always regarded as an evidence of guilt. When the widow's son dies she cries out to Elijah: 'Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?' (1Ki 17:18). We have no ground for assuming any particular transgression on Naomi's part: the Targum is clearly wrong in fixing on the migration to Moab. How unlike Naomi's fortunes to those of Abraham, who from being alone became a multitude (Isa 51:2), and those of Jacob, who with nothing but a staff in his hand crossed the Jordan, and returned in two bands (Gen 32:10)! Barley harvest begins early in April.