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Ruth 1 - Peake Arthur S. and Grieve A. J. - Peake's Comment

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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.

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Ruth 1

Rth 1:1-22 . Ruth and Naomi.—Bethlehem ceased for a time to be what its name signified—a house of bread. Under stress of famine Elimelech, with his wife Naomi, left his Judæan home, and went to sojourn in the land of Moab, where he died. His two sons married women of Moab, Orpah and Ruth, but died childless, so that Naomi and her daughters-in-law were left together in lonely widowhood.

Rth 1:1 . Seen from the uplands of Judea, the mountains of Moab are like an immense wall rising beyond the mysterious gulf of the Dead Sea.

Rth 1:2 . Elimelech, meaning “my God is king,” is an ancient Palestinian name, which occurs in the Amarna tablets. Naomi means “my sweet one,” a mother’s fond name for her child. Ephrath was a district round about Bethlehem (cf. Gen 35:19 *, 1Sa 17:12 ).

Rth 1:4 . The derivation of Orpah and Ruth is uncertain, but the latter appears to mean “the friend” or “companion.”

Rth 1:6 . Yahweh sometimes visited His people in grace (e.g. Exo 4:31 , 1Sa 2:21 ), and sometimes in displeasure (Jer 6:15 ; Jer 49:8 ).

Rth 1:7 . Strictly speaking, only one of the three women could be said to “return” to the land of Judah.

Rth 1:8 . The writer belonged to a time when Yahweh’s power was known to extend far beyond the limits of Canaan. Jephthah spoke of Chemosh as the god of Moab (Jdg 11:24 ), but Naomi knows better, and prays that Yahweh may be kind to her daughters-in law in the land of Moab.

Rth 1:11-13 . It was the custom in Israel that a childless widow became the wife of her brother-in-law, and his first son by her was counted the heir of the deceased husband, whose name was thus preserved (p. 109, Deu 25:5-10 *). But Naomi has no more sons. She knows the Levirate law (p. 109), but, alas, with the best will in the world she can do nothing for her daughters-in-law. It grieves her sore, not for her own sake, but for the sake of the girls whom her sons had wedded, that Yahweh’s hand (not, as we say, “things”) has gone against her.

Rth 1:15-17 . But though she can give her daughters no levirs (brothers-in-law), one of them has found her heart’s treasure in Naomi herself, and the passionate words in which she expresses the determination to remain with her in life and in death are unsurpassably beautiful. Yahweh had already become Ruth’s God, and her words are prompted not only by a tender human affection, but by a deep religious feeling.

Rth 1:19 . When the women came to Bethlehem, “the city was moved,” as any quiet eastern town still is upon the arrival of strangers.

Rth 1:20 . Naomi sadly asks her old neighbours to change her name from Naomi to Mara—from “sweet” to “bitter.” It is remarkable that she uses nearly the same words as Job (Job 27:2 ), giving God the same antique name of Shaddai (the Almighty). And was there not in her heart, as in Job’s, a sense of the mystery of pain, a pathetic protest (in her case unspoken) against the old doctrine that suffering is always deserved? It would be difficult for any doctor of the old school to say why Yahweh had dealt very bitterly with, testified against, afflicted Naomi.

Rth 1:22 . The beginning of barley harvest was in the month of April.




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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge Univ. Press & BFBS
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