Ruth 1:1-11
Introduction
The book of Ruth
is written not only as a love story between Boaz and Ruth but it gives a
narrative about how the Lord Jesus Christ effects redemption in the lives of his
people. It gives a binding of the
Jew and the Gentile in Christ.
There is no specific date given for the writing of the book but it is likely it
was written well after the time of the Judges since the genealogy at the end of
the book extends to David who ruled Israel from 1011 B.C. to 971 B.C.
The author of Ruth is not given but tradition gives Samuel the credit for
writing the book. The name “Ruth”
means “satisfied or filled.”
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.
The judges ruled for a period of 411 years from the 14th
to the 11th centuries B.C.
The famine is not mentioned in the book of Judges so the timing of the
famine is unknown. The land which
had the famine was the land of Judah.
So the man Elimelech took his wife and two sons to Moab which would have
been east of Judah. It would have
been across the Dead Sea. It was
like the famine in the time of Jacob when he sent his sons to buy grain and
eventually the whole family of Jacob had moved to Egypt and were given the land
of Goshen to dwell in. So Elimelech, whose name means “my God is king” decided
to go east into the land of Moab and also took his family with him.
As an Israelite he did not plan to stay there permanently but just till
the famine ended in Judah.
Ruth 1:2
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.
Elimelech’s wife was Naomi whose names means “beautiful
or agreeable.” They had two sons
Mahlon whose name means “song or infirmity” and Chilion whose name means
“finished or complete.” They were
from the town of Bethlehem which at this time was a small town and not built up
as it was in the time of Christ.
There was another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun which was about 70
miles north (113 KM) of the Bethlehem in Judah.
Moab was the incestuous son of Lot so it was a pagan nation from the
start. Moab became a lifelong enemy
of Israel. Chemosh was the chief
deity of the Moabites.
Then did Solomon build an high place for
Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem,
and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
(1 Kings 11:7)
Ruth 1:3
And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and
her two sons.
Then Elimelech had died in the land of Moab leaving Naomi
a widow along with her two sons Mahlon and Chilion.
According to Josephus Elimelech had dwelt in the land of Moab for ten
years before he died. Some believe
he died right after they went to Moab but the Scripture in Verse 2 states they
“continued there” so it must have been a while rather than an immediate death
after entering Moab. The exact
timing of his death is unknown.
Ruth 1:4
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.
Since they had dwelled in the land ten years and there
were no Israelite women for the sons to marry, they married two women of Moab
which was forbidden under the law.
Neither shalt thou make marriages with
them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou
take unto thy son. (Deuteronomy
7:3) The name Orpah means
“neck, skull or nakedness of the neck.”
Ruth 1:5
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the
woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Since they both had violated the law of God by marrying
the daughters of Moab, it may be the Lord had struck them with death.
Now Naomi was left without a husband to support her or sons to help
support her. A widow was one of the
lowest social classes in Israel and looked down upon because many would believe
that she did something against the law of God and that is why God made her a
widow. They saw widowhood as
punishment unless the husband died in battle for his country.
Naomi was in a desperate situation.
Ruth 1:6
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.
Then Naomi made a conscious decision to return to Judah
when she found out that the famine was over.
She had decided to take her daughter in laws with her.
Since Naomi was an Israelite by birth she had no desire to live the rest
of her life in a pagan nation so it was like she was returning to the Lord after
being under the influence of Chemosh although she was not a worshipper of
Chemosh but maybe her two daughter in laws were since they were born in Moab.
It seems the famine had lasted ten years.
Long famines in ancient times were not uncommon.
About 800 B.C. there was a famine in Lydia which lasted 18 years.
Lydia was located east of Greece and north of Israel.
Ruth 1:7
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.
They had now put their plan into action and was beginning
to return to Judah. It is probable
that they had lived in tents for the ten years since they would have been
forbidden to live in the cities of Moab since the times of Joshua and the Judges
would still be fresh in their mind as being recipients of the judgments of God.
They had begun to head toward the border of Judah.
Ruth 1:8
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.
The Naomi says unto Ruth and Orpah that they should
return to their mother’s homes because being Moabites, they would not be
welcomed in Israel since they were not to mingle with the pagan nations and
Naomi knew that they would face hard times.
They both must have been kind women since Naomi asks the LORD deal kindly
with them as they had dealt with their husbands, Naomi’s sons, and how nice they
dealt with her. They had helped
support her and it seems like they did not want to leave her because of their
affection for her.
Ruth 1:9
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.
Then Naomi requests that the LORD would give them rest
which was consolation and happiness especially in the confines of marriage.
They were still young and were still able to marry and bear children.
As a sign of great affection she then kissed them and
they had wept which to them meant they would never see each other again.
In the Middle East it was even common for men to kiss each other as a
sign of affection.
Ruth 1:10
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee
unto thy people.
Then both Ruth and Orpah assured Naomi that they would
return to Judah with her and that they would adapt to living among her people.
They must have seen a great kindness in Naomi over the years and wanted
to continue the friendship. They
probably also thought to themselves that their husbands were good to them and
would not mind becoming Israelites and finding good husbands like Mahlon and
Chilion. Surely there must be
others like them.
Ruth 1:11
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?