Ruth 1

Ruth 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2] This chapter contains the story of how Elimelech, Ruth's father-in-law, driven by famine, moved into Moab, and died there (Ruth 1:1-5); Naomi returning home, Ruth accompanies her (Ruth 1:6-18); They came to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:19-22).^[3] It is a part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").^[4][5]

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)
• Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC)^[6][7]
  • 4Q104 (4QRuth^a): extant: verses 1‑9, 11‑12^[6]
  • 4Q105 (4QRuth^b): extant: verses 1‑6, 12‑15^[6]

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

• Ruth 1:1-5 = Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
• Ruth 1:6-22 = Naomi Returns with Ruth

Verse 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 Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab,

he, and his wife, and his two sons.^[8]

• "Now it came to pass" (Hebrew ויהי way·hî): Or, more literally, "And it came to pass." The "And" is somewhat remarkable, standing at the commencement of the Book. But as it is also found at the commencement of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezekiel, Esther, and Ezra, its use, though inartistic, must be amenable to some literary law. The Books specified, even including Ezekiel, are historical.^[9]
• "In the days when the judges ruled": or, more literally, "when the judges judged".^[9] The beautiful and interesting story which this book relates belongs to the early times of the judges. The precise date cannot be ascertained.^[3] This note of time, like that in Ruth 4:7; Judges 18:1; Judges 17:6, indicates that this Book was written after the rule of the judges had ceased. The genealogy Ruth 4:17-22 points to the time of David as the earliest when the Book of Ruth could have been written.^[10] Josephus^[11] places it in the government of Eli, but that is too late for Boaz, the grandfather of Jesse, the father of David, to live. Some Jewish writers, as Jarchi, say it was in the times of Ibzan, who they say^[12] is the same with Boaz, but without proof, and which times are too late also for this history. The Jewish chronology^[13] comes nearer the truth, which carries it up as high as the times of Eglon, king of Moab, when Ehud was judge; and with which Dr. Lightfoot^[14] pretty much agrees, who puts this history between the third and fourth chapters of Judges, and so must belong to the times of Ehud or Shamgar. Junius refers it to the times of Deborah and Barak; and others,^[15] on account of the famine, think it began in the times the Midianites oppressed Israel, and carried off the fruits of the earth, which caused it, when Gideon was raised up to be their judge.^[16]
• "And a certain man" (Hebrew: איש ’îsh): The interpolation of the individualizing word "certain" is quite uncalled for. The simplicity of the original is sufficient, "And a man".^[9]
• "Bethlehemjudah": so called to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:15 which had its name from the fruitfulness of the place, and the plenty of bread in it, and yet the famine was here; hence this man with his family removed from it.^[16]
• "The country of Moab" (Hebrew: שדי מואב sadeh Moab): Here, and in Ruth 1:2, Ruth 1:22; Ruth 4:3, literally, "the field of Moab" or "fields of Moab." As the same word is elsewhere used of the territory of Moab, of the Amalekites, of Edom, and of the Philistines, it would seem to be a term pointedly used with reference to a foreign country, not the country of the speaker, or writer; and to have been specially applied to Moab.^[10]

Verse 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 Bethlehemjudah.

And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.^[17]

• "Elimelech": That is, "God is King," not, as the older critics were accustomed to interpret it, "My God is King." The intermediate "i" (after "El") is not the possessive pronoun, but the vowel of union. The name would be originally significant of strong religious sentiments, perhaps mingled with strong political principles. The imposition of it on a son would be something like a manifesto of the father's creed.^[9]
• "Naomi": Or rather "No-o-mi." The precise import of the word is not absolutely ascertained; but it is probable that it is somewhat abbreviated, and means "God is sweet," or, very literally, "Jah is sweetness." It had been originally imposed as a name by some grateful and happy mother, who, by gracious providences, or by other gracious revelations, had been led to think that "sweet are the ways, sweet are the dealings, and sweet is the character of God." The word does not mean "beautiful", as some suppose; nor "gracious", as others suppose; nor "my delight", as others still suppose. It was not intended to describe the character of the person who was to bear the name. It was intended to signalize, in the spirit of a manifesto, a much-prized feature in the Divine character - that feature, namely, that is displayed when "he deals sweetly with men." Gesenius is doubtless right when he makes sweetness the fundamental idea of the whole group of affiliated words (see his 'Thesaurus,' in voc.). The cognate Hebrew adjective is rendered "sweet" in 2 Samuel 23:1 and Proverbs 23:8 (compare Proverbs 16:24 and the margin of 2 Samuel 1:23). In the light of this interpretation, and of it alone, can the full significance of what Naomi said on her return to Bethlehem be apprehended: "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me" (verse 20).^[9]
• "Mahlon" (or rather "Machlon,"^[9]) "and Chillon": The names, unlike those of the parents, are devoid of theological tinge, and, in these modern times at all events, their import is liable to endless debate. One would at the first blush of consideration suppose that the one meant "sickliness", and the other "consumptiveness", or "consumption" - rather uninteresting and melancholy ideas. But they are peculiarly confounding when we consider that the individuals, so named in our story, had apparently inherited a delicate constitution, which developed in both of them into premature "sickliness and decay",^[9] being perhaps "weakly and consumptive persons"; and it appears they both died young.^[16] After the death of their father, the two sons married Moabite women and this was a violation of the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 7:3; 23:3; Ezra 9:2; Nehemiah 13:23); so Jewish writers say that the early deaths of both the young men were divine judgments inflicted on them for those unlawful connections.^[3] It is a tradition of the Jews, mentioned by Aben Ezra, that these are the same with "Joash and Saraph", who are said to have dominion in Moab, 1 Chronicles 4:22 which is not likely.^[16]
• "Ephrathites": that is, "Bethlehemites", for the old name of "Bethlehem" was "Ephrath",^[9] or "Ephratha" (Genesis 35:19).^[16] As, however, the word "Ephrathite" also meant "Ephraimite" (see Judges 12:5; 1 Samuel 1:1; and 1 Kings 11:26), it gave precision to the designation, although at the expense of a little redundancy, to say "Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah."^[9]
• "And continued there" (Hebrew: ויהיו־שם wa-yih-yū-sham): The phrase in the original is of primitive simplicity - "and were there."^[9]

Verse 3

And Elimelech Naomi's husband died;

and she was left, and her two sons.^[18]

• "Died": According to Josephus,^[19] after he had dwelt in the land ten years, and had married his two sons to Moabitish women; but, as Alshech observes, the text shows that while he was living they were not married to them, but after his death; and it is said of them only that they dwelt there about ten years; so that it is most probable that their father died quickly after he came into the land of Moab: and she was left, and her two sons; in a strange land, she without a husband, and they without a father.^[16]
• "And she was left, and her two sons": Not only was the mother her husband's "relict"; they were all "left behind". He had gone somewhither in advance, and they "remained." So the word is frequently rendered.^[9]

Verse 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.^[20]

• "They took them wives of the women of Moab": Marriages of Israelites with women of Ammon or Moab are nowhere in the Law expressly forbidden, as were marriages with the women of Canaan Deuteronomy 7:1-3. In the days of Nehemiah the special law Deuteronomy 23:3-6 was interpreted as forbidding them, and as excluding the children of such marriages from the congregation of Israel Nehemiah 13:1-3. Probably the marriages of Mahlon and Chilion would be justified by necessity, living as they were in a foreign land. Ruth was the wife of the older brother, Mahlon Ruth 4:10.^[10]

Verse 5

And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them;

and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.^[21]

• "And the woman was left of her two children and of her husband": That is, "of her two children as well as of her husband." She became as it were their "relict" too. She "remained behind" after they had gone on before. If all sentiment were to be taken out of the expression, it might then be simply said, in very commonplace prose, "she survived them".^[9]

Verse 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.^[22]

• "Her daughters-in-law": The word for "her daughters-in-law -" כַּלּתֶיהָ - is literally "her brides," that is, "the brides of her sons".^[9]
• "That she might return" - an admirable rendering into English idiom. The phrase in the original is simply "and she returned," that is, "and she began to return."^[9]
• "That the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread": that he had been kind and gracious to the people of Israel, by granting them plenty of provisions; which might be their happy case after Gideon had vanquished the Midianites, who came yearly, and destroyed and carried off the fruits of the earth, which had caused a famine; see Judges 6:3. It seems as if the famine had continued ten years, see Ruth 1:4 nor need this be thought incredible, since there was a famine in Lydia, which lasted eighteen years.^[23][16] Note that "Beth-lehem" means "Bread-house."^[9]

Verse 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:^[24]

• "Wheresoever thou lodgest, I will lodge": A better version than Luther's, "Where thou stayest, I will stay" (wo du bleibest, da bleibe ich auch). The reference is not to the ultimate destination, but to the "nightly halts", לוּן is the verb employed; and it is rendered "to tarry all night" in Genesis 24:54; Genesis 28:11; Genesis 31:54; Judges 19:6, etc. It is the Latin pernoetare and the German ubernachten, the former being the rendering of the Vulgate, and the latter the translation in the Berlenburger Bibel.^[9]
• "Thy people (is) my people, and thy God my God": There being no verb in the original, it is well to supply the simplest copula. Ruth claims, as it were, Naomi's people and Naomi's God as her own already.^[9]
• "And thy God my God": not Chemosh, nor Baalpeor, nor other gods of the Moabites, be they what they will, but Jehovah, the God of Naomi, and of the people of Israel.^[16]

Verse 20

And she said unto them,

Call me not Naomi, call me Mara:

for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.^[25]

• "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara": Salutations were respectfully addressed to her as she walked along in quest of some humble abode. And when thus spoken to by the sympathetic townspeople, she was called, of course, by her old "sweet" name. But as it fell in its own rich music on her ears, its original import flashed vividly upon her mind. Her heart "filled" at the contrast which her circumstances represented, and she said, "Address me not as Naomi, call not to me (לֵי) Naomi: address me as Mara," - that is, "bitter."^[9]
• "The Almighty" - שׁדי shadday (see Genesis 17:1). The name "Almighty" is almost unique to the Pentateuch and to the Book of Job. It occurs twice in the Psalms, and four times in the Prophets.^[10]

Verse 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?^[26]

• "The Lord hath testified against me" - The phrase is very commonly applied to a man who gives witness concerning (usually against) another in a court of justice Exodus 20:16; 2 Samuel 1:16; Isaiah 3:9. Naomi in the bitterness of her spirit complains that the Lord Himself turned against her, and was bringing her sins up for judgment.^[10]

Verse 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 Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.^[27]

• "So Naomi returned": The narrator pauses to recapitulate his narrative of the return, and hence the recapitulatory "so" is, in English, very much to be preferred to the merely additive "and" of the original.^[9]
• "And Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the land of Moab": The cumulative and apparently redundant expression, "who returned out of the land of Moab," is remarkable, at once for its simplicity and for its inexactitude. Ruth, strictly speaking, had not "returned", but she "took part in Naomi's return".^[9]
• "In the beginning of barley harvest" or "at the commencement of barley-harvest": Barley ripened before wheat, and began to be reaped sometimes as early as March, but generally in April, or Abib. By the time that the barley-harvest was finished the wheat crop would be ready for the sickle.^[9] Barley was the first crop to be cut, Exodus 9:31, 2 Samuel 21:9.^[28] "The beginning of barley harvest" which, according to Josephus,^[29] began on the second day of the "feast of unleavened bread", on the "sixteenth" of Nisan, which answers to our March, and part of April, when they offered the sheaf of the firstfruits to the Lord, and then, and not till then, might they begin their harvest (see Gill on Leviticus 23:10; see Gill on Leviticus 23:14), hence the Targum here is,"they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the day of the passover, and on that day the children of Israel began to reap the wave sheaf, which was of barley." So the Egyptians and Phoenicians, near neighbours of the Jews, went about cutting down their barley as soon as the cuckoo was heard, which was the same time of the year; hence the comedian^[30] calls that bird the king of Egypt and Phoenicia. This circumstance is observed for the sake of the following account in the next chapter.^[16] Based on Leviticus 23:14, in the several parts of the land of Canaan, as Ben Gersom says, whether in the land, or without the land; a later writer says, it is forbidden to eat of the new corn at this time, whether bread, parched corn, or green ears, until the beginning of the night of the eighteenth of Nisan, and in the land of Israel, until the beginning of the night of the seventeenth of Nisan.^[31][16] The offering of the wave-sheaf sanctified the whole harvest (Romans 11:16). At the same time, this feast had a typical character, and pre-intimated the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20), who rose from the dead on the very day the first-fruits were offered.^[3]

See also

• Related Bible parts: Book of Judges, Books of Samuel, Matthew 2, Luke 2

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

Jewish

• Ruth 1 Hebrew with Parallel English
• Ruth 1 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

• Ruth 1 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate