Bible Commentaries

Ch. 1. Ruth’s Devotion: She Leaves Her Home and Follows Naomi to Judah

1. in the days when the judges judged] The scene of the following story is thus placed in a distant age, which the writer pictures as a time of idyllic peace. Evidently the Book of Judges was known to him: the opening phrase is based upon the Dtc. editor’s theory set forth in Jdg 2:16 ff. For judges as a title see Introd. to Judges, p. xi.

a famine in the land] Targ. the land of Israel; more probably, the land in which Beth-lehem was situated. In ancient times it was only strong necessity which induced people to leave their homes, cf. 2 Kings 8:1; for a foreign country meant a foreign religion (Ruth 1:16), ‘How shall we sing Jehovah’s song in a strange land?’ See Amos 7:17, Hosea 9:3.

to sojourn] as a protected alien; cf. Jdg 17:7 n.

the country of Moab] lit. the field of M., similarly in Ruth 1:2; Ruth 1:6; Ruth 1:22, Ruth 2:6, Ruth 4:3; cf. the field of the Philistines 1 Samuel 27:5; 1 Samuel 27:7. Moab lay on the E. of the Jordan.

2. Elimelech] i. e. God, or my God, is king; an ancient name in S. Palestine, occurring in the Amarna tablets, Ilu-milki 179, 36; 151, 45, though the form Milk-ilu is commoner; in Phoenician we find the corresponding Baal-milk=‘Baal is king,’ NSI., p. 347. Naomi on the surface appears to mean my sweetness, a name like Hephzi-bah (2 Kings 21:1) expressive of the mother’s joy in the new-born child; more likely it is an Aram. fem. form of Naamân, i.e. sweet, pleasant one, which gives a clear parallel to Marah = bitter one in Ruth 1:20; Wellhausen compares the Aram, names Oḥorân and Oḥarî, and the Arab. Nu‘mân and Nu‘mâ, Composition d. Hex.2, p. 358 n. The meaning of Mahlon and Chilion is not quite certain; if it is weakening and pining the names may have been chosen for their significance.

Ephrathites] Apparently Ephrath was the name of the district round Beth-lehem; cf. 1 Samuel 17:12, and see Genesis 35:19, Micah 5:2, Psalm 132:6.

4. took them wives] The idiom is a late one, 2 Chronicles 11:21, Ezra 9:2; Ezra 9:12, Nehemiah 13:25 etc.; see Introd. p. xv. It is uncertain whether the names of the two wives have any bearing upon the parts which they play in the story. The Midrash Rabbah on this Book explains that Orpah was so called ‘because she turned her neck (‘oreph) on her mother in law’; possibly the name may=‘obstinacy’ (cf. stiffnecked, Exodus 32:9 etc.). Equally doubtful is the significance of Ruth; if the name is shortened from re‘uth, as it is written in Syriac, it will be the fem. of Re’u (Genesis 11:18 ff.), and may mean ‘friendship.’ We cannot, therefore, feel sure that the writer invented the names; he may have derived them from tradition.

6. the Lord had visited his people] i. e. shewn a practical interest in; cf. Genesis 1:24 f E, Exodus 3:16; Exodus 4:31 J; St Luke 1:68; Luke 7:16. Apparently the famine lasted ten years, Ruth 1:4. With giving them bread cf. Psalm 132:15.

7. to return] Strictly only appropriate to Naomi, cf. Ruth 1:22 etc.; the author unconsciously reveals that he is writing from Palestine.

8. to her mother’s house] although Ruth’s father was alive, Ruth 2:11; but the natural place for the female members of the family would be their mother’s tent or house, cf. Genesis 24:28; Genesis 24:67, Song of Solomon 3:4.

the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt] Cf. Psalm 18:25 ‘with the kind thou shewest thyself kind.’ Jehovah’s kindness was specially needed by the widow, for her condition was regarded as a reproach, Isaiah 4:1; Isaiah 54:4. The Book of the Covenant makes no provision for the widow (Exodus 22:22 is a later expansion); contrast the humanity of Deuteronomy 24:19-21; Deuteronomy 27:19.

On her marriage the wife united herself to her husband’s religion; when she returned to her own people as a widow, she returned to their religion if they were foreigners, Ruth 1:15 f. Yet Jehovah’s influence is not entirely confined to the land of Israel; Naomi can commend her daughters in law to His protection when they were back in their own land.

9. that ye may find rest] Cf. Ruth 3:1; Naomi had in her mind another home for them, i. e. a second marriage. The story is told with much naturalness and delicacy.

11. have I yet sons … that they may be your husbands?] Alluding to the custom of levirate marriage, i. e. marriage with a brother in law (Lat. levir) after the husband’s death. The law on the subject is given in Deuteronomy 25:5-10; cf. St Matthew 22:24.