Ruth 1:11-14RUTH 1:11 "And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?" Naomi will not commit them to an uncertain life. Naomi herself is not a strong woman of faith, as shown in the final verses of this chapter. She is frightened and has little concept of God's plan or provision. She thinks that Ruth and Orpah are young enough to remarry and find security in Moab. Naomi is too old for marriage. She refers here to levirate marriage, marriage with a kinsman to preserve the name and inheritance of the dead. She is certainly familiar with the principle, and she knows kinsmen who would be qualified, as we see in the next chapters. But she is of such an age that there is very little prospect that a kinsman will marry her in Bethlehem. She is sure that she is in for a life of poverty and uncertainty ("The Lord has brought me home again empty.") Read Deut. 25:5-10 on levirate marriage. At this point there is also a levirate marriage prospect for Orpah and Ruth. Mahlon and Chilion had also died childless; and their widows might normally have looked to marrying kinsmen as a means of support and to have children. Topic: WORRY RUTH 1:12 "Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, "I have hope", if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons:" Naomi then takes a different line in trying to persuade the young women to stay in Moab. She says "Even though I were married right now and had baby boys, you could not wait until they were grown." Naomi is clear that there is no point in their going with her. Notice that she does not hold out any prospect of their marrying anyone outside of the immediate family. This is probably because of the prejudice against non-Jews in Palestine. RUTH 1:13 "Would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me." The word "nay" has a ring of finality to it. This is not an easy decision for her, and she goes on to express regret. The phrase "it grieves me much" is better translated "it is very bitter to me." The complete phrase would go "It is far more bitter for me than for you." The two young women had "just" lost a husband, while Naomi had lost a husband and two sons. Moreover, Ruth and Orpah had some hope of remarriage, security, and happiness. But Naomi seems embittered by the thought that she has only old age, poverty, and living on charity to look forward to. Topic: OLD AGE Here we get a glimpse of Naomi's mental attitude of blaming God. There is nothing in the context to indicate that she considers these circumstances to be God's punishment for something. Naomi knows that God is a sovereign God, and that nothing happens by chance. She thought that God was to blame for her misery; she may have thought that He was punishing her for something, although there is no idea of divine discipline in this context. The phrase "the hand of the Lord" is an anthropomorphism used fairly often in the Bible. The Old Testament particularly uses parts of the body freely to express the activity of God. So we have "the eye of the Lord, "the hand of the Lord", "the ear of the Lord", etc. Naomi thinks that God has acted against her. Part of her reasoning, then, may be that it would not be good for Ruth and Orpah to accompany her, because she was not in favor with God. RUTH 1:14 "And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave to her." This was the kiss of farewell for Orpah. Naomi's words had sunk in, and there was a reaction from each of the young women. Orpah is often blamed for her decision here, but there is no real cause to criticize her. First, she was persuaded by the counsel of someone who had her best interests in mind, Naomi. Second, she was not wrong to go back to her family. We don't know whether she was a believer in Jehovah. While we should not be too quick to blame Orpah, at the same time we must notice that Ruth was not so easily persuaded. She had given her loyalty to Naomi (in marrying in to the family), and she would not lightly withdraw her loyalty. Ruth's was a tough decision. It involved forsaking her family, forsaking her prospects of marriage in Moab, forsaking her religion and culture, and placing trust in God. But her subsequent reputation and personal testimony in Bethlehem bears out that she had placed complete trust in the God of Israel and had decided to take shelter "under His wings". |
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