Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
RUTH 1
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Application Notes
1:1 The story of Ruth takes place sometime during the period of the rule of the judges. These were dark days for Israel, when “everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). But during those dark and evil times, some still followed God. Naomi and Ruth are extraordinary examples of loyalty, friendship, and commitment—to God and to each other.
1:2 Moab, the land east of the Dead Sea, was one of the nations that oppressed the Israelites during the period of the judges (Judges 3:12-30), so the two nations were hostile to each other. The famine must have been quite severe in Israel for Elimelek to move his family there. Even if Israel had already defeated Moab, relations still would have been tense between them. Elimelek and his family were called Ephrathites because Ephrath was an earlier name for Bethlehem.
1:4-5 Friendly relations with the Moabites were discouraged (Deuteronomy 23:3-6) but probably not forbidden, since the Moabites lived outside the Promised Land. Marrying a Canaanite (or the other peoples Living within the borders of the Promised Land), however, was against God's law (Deuteronomy 7:1-4). Moabites were not allowed to worship at the tabernacle because they had not let the Israelites pass through their land during the exodus from Egypt.
As God's chosen people, the Israelites should have set an example to the other nations of living holy lives. Ironically, however, God used Ruth, a Moabite woman, as an example of genuine spiritual character. This shows just how bleak life had become in Israel during those days.
1:8-9 In the ancient world, almost nothing was worse than being a widow. These women were taken advantage of or ignored, and they were almost always poverty stricken. God's law, therefore, provided that the nearest relative of a woman's dead husband should care for his widow. But Naomi had no relatives in Moab, and she did not know if any of her relatives were alive in Israel.
Even in her desperate situation, Naomi had a selfless attitude. Although she had decided to return to Israel, she encouraged Ruth and Orpah to stay in Moab and start their lives over, even though this would mean extra hardship for her. Like Naomi, we must consider the needs of others and not just our own. As Naomi discovered, when we act selflessly, others are encouraged to follow our example.
1:11-14 Naomi's comment here (“Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?”) refers to levirate marriage, the obligation of a dead man's brother to care for his widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). This law kept widows from poverty and provided a way for the family name of a dead husband to continue.
Because Naomi had no other sons for Ruth or Orpah to marry, she encouraged them to remain in their homeland and remarry other men. Orpah agreed, which was her right. But Ruth was willing to give up the possibility of security and children in order to care for Naomi.
1:16-17 Ruth was a Moabite woman, but that didn't stop her from worshiping the true God, nor did it stop God from accepting her worship and blessing her greatly. The Israelites were not the only people God loved. God had chosen the Israelites to be the people through whom the rest of the world would come to know him. This was fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born as a Jew. Through him, the entire world can come to know God. Acts 10:35 says that he “accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God accepts all who worship him; he works through people regardless of their race, sex, or status. The book of Ruth is a perfect example of God's impartiality. Although Ruth belonged to a people often despised by Israel, she was blessed because of her faithfulness. She became a great-grandmother of King David and a direct ancestor of Jesus. No one should feel disqualified to serve God. And God can use every circumstance to build his kingdom.
1:20-21 Naomi had experienced severe hardships. She had left Israel married, the mother of two sons, and secure. She returned widowed, childless, and poor. Naomi changed her name to express the bitterness and pain she felt. Naomi was not rejecting God by openly expressing her pain. However, she seems to have lost sight of the tremendous resources she had in her relationships with Ruth and with God. When you face bitter times, God welcomes your honest prayers, but be careful not to overlook the love, strength, and resources that he provides in your present relationships. And don't allow bitterness and disappointment to blind you to your opportunities.
1:22 Bethlehem was about five miles southwest of Jerusalem. The town was surrounded by lush fields and olive groves. Its harvests were abundant.
Ruth is an ancestor of both David and Jesus. Ruth and Naomi's return to Bethlehem was certainly part of God's plan—in this town David would be born (1 Samuel 16:1), and as predicted by the prophet Micah (Micah 5:2), so would Jesus Christ. This move, then, was more than merely convenient for Ruth and Naomi. It led to the fulfillment of God's promises.
1:22 Because Israel's climate is quite moderate, each year had two harvests, in the spring and in the fall. The barley harvest took place in the spring, and it was during this time of hope and plenty that Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a farming community, and because it was the time of the harvest, plenty of leftover grain was in the fields. This grain could be collected (gleaned) and then made into food. (See the first note on 2:2-3 for more information on gleaning.)
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)