The Book of Ruth
Ruth 1
Chapter I · Vol. II, pp. 623–625
1 Elimelech, driven by famine into Moab, dieth there. 4 Mahlon and Chilion, his sons, having married wives of Moab, die also. 6 Naomi returning homeward, 8 dissuadeth her two daughters-in-law from going with her. 14 Orpah leaveth her, but Ruth with great constancy accompanieth her. 19 They two come to Bethlehem, where they are gladly received.
1 Now it came to pass, ain the days when the judges ruled,1 that there bwas a famine in the land: and a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to csojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.2
A.M. cir. 2684. B.C. cir. 1320.
a About 1320, in the time of Ehud, Ju.iii.
1 Heb. judged.
b Ge.12.10; 43.1. Ju.6.4,6. 2 Ki.8.1. Ps.33.18,19; 107.34. De.28.23,24.
c Ps.120.5. ver.4.
2 'The country of Moab' lay to the east and south-east of the Dead Sea. Its northern border was the river Arnon, its southern Edom, and its eastern the great Midbar or plain of Arabia.—P.
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, dEphrathites of Beth-lehem-judah: and they came into the country of Moab, and continued3 there.
4 And they ftook them wives of the women of Moab;4 the name of the one was gOrpah, and the name of the other hRuth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And iMahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.5
i Le.26.16. De.32.35,36,39. Ps.34.19; 89.30-32. Je.2.19.
5 A woman bereft of the husband of her youth, and her two manly sons, and with two unprovided and fatherless daughters-in-law, ver. 8, presents a melancholy picture of human life. But, like the shorn lamb, the less protected from the storm, the more sensibly does she illustrate the government of Providence, and the triumphs of natural affection, matronly prudence, and religious principle, Je.49.11.—C.
6 Then kshe 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 lvisited his people inm giving them bread.
7 Wherefore she nwent 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, oreturn each to her mother's house: pthe LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
9 The LORD grant you that ye qmay find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then rshe kissed them: and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that theyt may be your husbands?6
12 Turn again, my daughters; go your way; for I am utoo old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband7 also to-night, and should also bear sons;
13 Would ye tarry8 for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters: for it grieveth me much9 for your 1sakes, xthat the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
8 Heb. hope.
9 Heb. I have much bitterness.
1 This presents a beautiful feature in the character of Naomi; she feels the hand of God heavy upon herself, but forgetting her own losses, her grief is for her daughters-in-law.—Note, See this divine principle perfectly exhibited in Christ, Jn.18.8, where, resigned to the will of his Father, his anxieties are all alive to the safety of his disciples. See farther how this same comparative disregard of self, and anxiety for the welfare of others, is required of all believers, Phi. 2. 4. See also Lu.23.28.—C.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah ykissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth zclave unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: areturn thou after thy sister-in-law.
16 And Ruth said, bEntreat me not2 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.3
b Ac 21.13. Mat.16.23,24. 1 Th.1.6,9. 2 Co.6.14-18.
2 Or, be not against me.
3 One of the strongest examples of human affection upon record, and expressed in the most pathetic language; but specially remarkable for the manner in which piety to God sublimes the feelings of the heart.—C.
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: cthe LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded4 to go with her, dthen she left speaking unto her.
4 Heb. strengthened herself.
d Ac.21.14.
19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem.e And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them,5 and they said, fIs this Naomi?
e ver.1,2. Ge.35.19. Ju.12.8; 17.7-9. 1 Sa.16.1,4. 2 Ch.11.6. Mi.5.2. Mat.2.1,16. Jn.7.42.
5 A proof of the rank of Naomi before her emigration, and of the simplicity of the state of society, in which the departure or return of any one moved a whole city. In an active state of a commercial nation, such an event would not move a village.—C.
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi,6 call me Mara:7 for the Almighty hath dealtg very bitterly with me.
Notes
[Ver. 1. In the days when the judges ruled. The date of the events in this book it is impossible to fix with any certainty, farther than that it was between the days of Joshua and Saul. It is evident, however, either that two or more judges ruled contemporaneously, or that the emigration of Naomi took place under one judge, and her return under another. But as the book relates to the time of Boaz, whose descendants were allied to Jesse and David; and as Nahshon, their ancestor, was contemporary with Moses, and his son Salmon the father of Boaz, the date must be some time in the first half of the government of the judges.—A famine in the land. No one that reads the history of the times of Gideon, Ju. 6. 4, 6, 11, can wonder at the occurrence of famine. But while men clearly discover the secondary causes of want—a weak and unsettled government, and the cruel oppression of invaders—let them not overlook the other causes, the sins of an ungrateful people, and the judgments of an offended God. C.]
Ver. 15. [Return thou after thy sister-in-law. Naomi has been blamed for attempting to send her daughters back to an idolatrous land, instead of bringing them with her to Canaan; but her accusers do not reflect how Israel, at this time, was probably as idolatrous as Moab, as undoubtedly it was during much of the time of the judges. Besides, in the lips of Naomi, an evident believer in Jehovah, the word Elohim, translated gods, does not necessarily convey any recognition of polytheism.—Note, The words of God's people should be judged, not by any meaning they will bear, or that may be forced upon them, but by the meaning that coincides with their acknowledged faith and character. C.]
Ver. 17. [The Lord do so to me, and more also. That is, let the Lord smite me with death—and more also, that is, with the judgment to follow—if I prove false to this engagement. C.]
Ver. 21. [The Almighty hath afflicted me. This reference of her affliction to the hand of God contains no murmuring or repining, but the spirit of humble resignation to his sovereign will. She even admits she deserved her affliction, and that it was a witness from God against her.—Note, Nothing so effectually lightens affliction as pious resignation to the will of God. But woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Is. 45. 9. C.]
Reflections.—Numerous and diversified are the arrows in God's quiver for the punishment of men's sins: and often, while his enemies riot in plenty, his people are pinched with scarcity and want. A diligent care to provide for our family is highly commendable: but it is seldom safe to flee from God's land, though he frown on it; or to suffer scarcity of bread to draw us from the ordinances of God. It is not in fleeing from God's mighty hand, but in humbling ourselves under it, that safety lies. It is not in outrunning crosses, but in taking them up and following Christ, that true comfort is to be had. Young people often mistake in their marriage, through want or neglect of their parents' advice. But marriages and deaths are near neighbours, and one death in a family is but the forerunner and warning of another. Both comforts and crosses are often nearer us than we suspect; and if we are shut up into the society of the wicked, we should escape for our life as soon as our hindrances are removed. It is a mercy when God imbitters our condition of distance from himself, that we may be weaned from it and hastened to our heavenly home; but yet it is pleasant to see near relations knit together in love, and loath to part. With the most strong and fixed resolution should we set out in the Lord's way, as we know not what repeated and strong temptations we may have to turn back: but the difficulties of the way, which discourage the temporary believer, will but bind the faithful soul the more closely to Jesus Christ. Nothing, no, not death, can separate them from him and his people. Poverty and age make great alterations on mankind: and it is proper that all around should remark it with solemn awe and cordial sympathy; for surely it is but madness to set our heart on that comeliness and wealth which so quickly fade. Let us therefore keep waiting on God in the way of his judgments; in patience possessing our souls; eyeing the Lord's hand in all that we meet with; humbling ourselves under humbling providences; mourning, but never murmuring, under his hand; and ever remarking how the minutest circumstances of our lives are directed by the overruling providence of God.