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 Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

In the days when the judges ruled— “We know not under what judge this happened.” (Adam Clarke) “It is not so very material at what period during the commonwealth of Israel the events here recorded took place, as it is to make particular remarks on the events themselves. And here the first thing to be noted is the famine which prevailed in the land. Famine was one of the four sore judgments of God, which the Lord bad decreed to punish Israel with, when the land sinned by trespassing grievously, to break the staff of the bread thereof. Ezekiel 14:13-21.

And what rendered a famine of bread more peculiarly afflicting, and carrying with it a decided mark of a divine judgment, was, that this famine was in Bethlehem; for the very name of Bethlehem signifies the land, or house of bread.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)

Perhaps Israel-at-large was apostate, but this was a godly family. “And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. ” (1b-2a) These were not Ephraimites, but properly translated “‘Ephrath’, the old name of Bethlehem: Ruth 4:11. Genesis 35:19.” (Sutcliffe) “In Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7 ‘the way to Ephrath’ leads to Bethlehem.” (Peter Pett)

“And they went to the country of Moab", traversing the Jordan. “According to Genesis 19:37, the Moabites descended from Moab, the son of Lot and his oldest daughter." (Tyndale) It was from a mountain in this region that Moses got a glimpse of the promised land, but was not allowed to enter therein.

They remained there for ten years. The remanent is never identified by a house or a place, but by doctrine. And by God’s providence, grace came to some inhabitants of the land of Moab. Thesr believers were “there as sojourners: and were kindly used; though the Moabites had been formerly hard-hearted enough, [Deut. 23:3] and afterwards also, [Isaiah 16:6] and are therefore threatened.” (Trapp)

“Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth.” (3-4) It seems that after the death of the father, the sons married while in 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.” (Albert Barnes)

“Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.” (4b-5) Many take these deaths as judgments for sins of of the father— Elimelech, leaving Israel to go to a foreign country for food— and of the sons, marrying of Moabite women. I don’t get that sense. “Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of His saints.” (Ps 116:15) “Jacob received a special revelation from God directing him to migrate from the Promised Land to Egypt (Gen. 46:1-4)… Perhaps he only intended to present them as background for the story of Ruth. [Frederic W. Bush]” (Constable's Expository Notes) These were Israelites indeed from the very place if our Saviour’s birth.

Naomi's “head was cut off, her root uncovered… To be a widow is misery enough of itself, and haleth at the heels of it many miseries. ‘I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.’ [2 Sam. 14:5] But Naomi as a ‘widow indeed,’ [with no sons to care for her]; though desolate and a relict, as here, ‘yet trusted in God, and continued in prayers and supplications day and night.’ [1 Tim. 5:5] Her motto was that of a certain French lady, ‘Now that I am alone, I follow hard after God alone.’” (Trapp)

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 that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread. 7 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

Naomi’s husband and sons had died in a foreign land—“hard strokes of providence; and fresh tears flowed from the eyes of Naomi. But her piety was refined in the furnace; her faith, shook for a moment, when she thought the Lord had dealt bitterly with her...” (Joseph Sutcliffe) Lo alas Yahweh had heard the cries of His people and visited them in Israel. There was bread again in Bethlehem of Judah. So Naomi desired to go into her own country, "where she would have better opportunities of serving the Lord; and having no heart to stay in Moab, an idolatrous country, where she had lost her husband, and her two sons.’” (John Gill)

"Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her to the land of Judah." (7) They traveled together on the road to Bethlehem, but then Naomi said unto her daughters-in-law, "Go, return each to her mother’s house;”— the usual place for comfort. “This she spake as a wise woman, to make trial of the soundness of their love. Videas cui fidas, ‘try before you trust.’ Open heartedness is a sign of folly; credulity, of levity.” (John Trapp)— ’the Lord deal kindly with you,’ in showing them merciful kindness, ‘as ye have dealt with the dead and with me.’ (8) The relation of these former heathen women, not only toward their husbands, but also toward their mother-in-law had been one of the most tender affection and service, a model, in this respect, to this very day and hour. ‘The Lord grant you that ye may find rest,’ quiet and safe happiness, an asylum of honor and freedom, ‘each of you in the house of her husband,’ (9) in a second happy marriage. Then she kissed them, as the signal of parting; and they lifted up their voice and wept, unwilling to leave Naomi, whom they had learned to love so dearly.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) They both loved Naomi.

10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”

God created the world in six days. And He rested on the seventh. It was good but mankind fell. Yahweh had prophesied to the tempter, "And I will put enmity getween you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen. 3:15) And again to his people: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples”. (Gen. 49:10) Thus there was a particular yearning within Judah, which Naomi had expressed to them to birth Messiah of Israel.

“Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?" etc. “This was spoken in allusion to the [Hebrew] custom, that when a married brother died without leaving posterity, his brother should take his widow; and the children of such a marriage were accounted the children of the deceased brother…. She intimates that she had no other sons to give them. That she was not with child; so there could be no expectation. That she was too old to have a husband.” (Adam Clarke) (cp. Gen. 38:8; Deut. 25:5)

14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

“And they lifted up their voice and wept again.And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [and departed], convinced that the way pointed out by her was the best [having never been converted];

but Ruth clave unto her, clinging to her all the more closely now that Orpah was leaving.” (Paul E. Kretzmann)

15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said:

“Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.

17 Where you die, I will die,

And there will I be buried.

The Lord do so to me, and more also,

If anything but death parts you and me.”

Listen to Ruth's words: “A more perfect surrender was never made of friendly feelings to a friend:.. I will cleave unto thee even unto death; die where thou diest; and be buried, if possible, in the same grave [indicating that Naomi’s hope of eternal life was in truth her own- the Messiah of Israel]. This was a most extraordinary attachment, and evidently without any secular motive.” (Adam Clarke) “She had faith and the beautiful words she addressed to Naomi were the expression of that faith. Not alone did the poor Moabitish woman say ‘thy people shall be my people,’ but also ‘thy God my God.’ It was grace which had drawn her. She thus clung closely to Naomi, became one with her in all her misery.” (Arno Gaebelein) This is a great model for the church.

18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

"Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem."

"Thus God never forsaketh his, 'Will not forsake even if forsaked'...

but when one comfort faileth, findeth them out another; as when Sarah died, Rebekah came in her room. Yea, God himself stood by Paul when all men forsook him. [2 Timothy 4:16]." (John Trapp)

And it happened that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?" "By which it appears that she was of a great family of good reputation.'" (Geneva Study Bible) But she said to them: "Do not call me Naomi— literally Pleasant; call me Mara— literally Bittter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me." (20) "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." (Arthur Peake) "Note the use of Shaddai rather than YHWH. LXX translates as ‘the Almighty’. It was not the covenant name, but more a title which indicated His world-wide rule as God of the nations (Gen. 17:1 with Gen. 17:4-5, ‘a multitude of nations’; Gen. 28:3, ‘a company of peoples’; Gen. 35:11, a company of peoples)." (Peter Pett) Then using the covenant name-. ”I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi— Pleasant, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?" "Ah, no, woman; heaven still accounts thee worthy of thy name. Thou hast brought far more treasure back in a daughter than thy family has expended, and from this day thou shalt lift up thy head with joy." (Sutcliffe) She had lost nothing eternally and gained a daughter of Israel.

“'So Naomi returned, and 'Ruth the Moabitess’ … who returned from the country of Moab with her. “This is the first time that this description has been applied to Ruth and it will occur fairly regularly from now on (Ruth 2:2; Ruth 2:21; Ruth 4:5; Ruth 4:10. Compare also Ruth 2:6; Ruth 2:11). The author is stressing her Moabite ancestry in spite of the fact that she had become a part of an Israelite family and a Yahwist." (Peter Pett)

“Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest,” which was the first crop on the agricultural calendar. It took seven weeks to harvest all the early crops, beginning with the barley that ripened in the spring. After that came the harvest of olives and the vineyards, followed by wheat, the final summer harvest. Indeed, God had restored bread to Israel, "and the wayfarers thus arrive to witness and receive their share of the blessing." (C. J. Ellicott) "The Chaldee paraphrast thus explains these words: 'They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the passover, on the day that the children of Israel began to mow the sheaf which was to be waved, which was of barley. See Leviticus 23:10-11.'" (Thomas Coke)— The LORD said, "When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it." It was on this annual feast day, after His death, that Jesus ascended to the Father to be accepted on our behalf. Perhaps this represents forgiveness for all sins for Naomi. Perhaps "they received a blessing in observing the ordinances of that time, and that they were thus helped to get back to the only right and happy state of heart." (C. H. Spurgeon)

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)