seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ruth 1:6 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.
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.
The preacher quoted at the working preacher site tells it pretty well.
Things seem to improve, if only for a moment. There is food back in Israel; so at least the childless widow can return to familiar surroundings. But then the narrowing in on Naomi comes back--now not a function of the narrative but of Naomi's own character. Although her daughters-in-law at first accompany her--one must remember the desperate circumstances of widows (and orphans) in the ancient world (hence the injunctions to care for them; see Deuteronomy 26:12-13; 27:19; etc.) and their need to stick together--Naomi stops them up short.
She instructs them to go home and hopes that God will deal well with them before she kisses them goodbye. At first they protest, but Naomi is convinced. There is no reason whatsoever for them to continue on with her. She can have no more children that might be husbands for them a la levirate marriage practices; even if she could the age-difference would make that situation impossible.
Naomi is determined to be alone in her grief. Things are far more bitter for her, she states. (Back in Bethlehem, she will even ask to be renamed: she's no longer "Sweet" [Naomi] but "Bitter" [Mara]; see verse 20). And Naomi knows who's behind all this: it is the hand of the LORD that has turned against her; it is the Almighty who has dealt bitterly and harshly with her, who has brought calamity on her, and who has brought her back from Moab empty.
She instructs them to go home and hopes that God will deal well with them before she kisses them goodbye. At first they protest, but Naomi is convinced. There is no reason whatsoever for them to continue on with her. She can have no more children that might be husbands for them a la levirate marriage practices; even if she could the age-difference would make that situation impossible.
Naomi is determined to be alone in her grief. Things are far more bitter for her, she states. (Back in Bethlehem, she will even ask to be renamed: she's no longer "Sweet" [Naomi] but "Bitter" [Mara]; see verse 20). And Naomi knows who's behind all this: it is the hand of the LORD that has turned against her; it is the Almighty who has dealt bitterly and harshly with her, who has brought calamity on her, and who has brought her back from Moab empty.
It took some time for Naomi to get in this situation. First her husband died.... so her sons took care of her... and her daughters-in-law had her in their homes.... but now all three of them are without male support. This sucks in a male dominant society.
Now... what would Naomi do with two moabite women tagging along. The Israelites had a beef with the moabites and their little gods. Israeli men were looking for Israeli women to marry.... moabites were like poison to them....
So was Naomi trying to do a good thing for her daughters-in-law by leaving them behind? Was it a good thing for her to leave them worshiping the pagan shiny little objects? Shouldn't she have brought her back to worship the living God in Israel? Or... was she trying to relieve herself of the extra burden of two moabite women? Wasn't it going to be hard enough for her... begging for food at her age.... without these two tagging along needing to be fed too?
This is from Bible.org [the guy who calls Naomi a witch].
Once again I would suggest that Naomi’s strong urging for Ruth and Orpah to return was as much for her interests as for her daughters-in-law. They would be a reminder that Naomi’s sons – their husbands – had not married Israelite wives. They would be a reminder that Elimelech and Naomi had left Bethlehem when the going got tough. They would be (or so it may have seemed to Naomi) a liability to her when she returned. But when she urged Ruth to return to her pagan god(s), that was the worst unkindness of all. Their ultimate blessing would have been to leave their land, their people, their false religion, and to identify with the Israelites and with their God. How could Naomi point them in the wrong direction?
Last edited: