The Book of Ruth Chapter 1: Naomi and Ruth

Before continuing reading review carefully Ruth chapter 1.

Who? What? When? Where?

In the first line we read “In the days when the judges ruled”. So, the history we are about to read happens in a time where appointed judges ruled. Look at the book preceding Ruth, it is ‘Judges’. The history of Ruth (so far) develops in Bethlehem and Moab.

The history starts when Naomi, her husband, Elimelech, together with her two sons left Bethlehem since there was a famine in their homeland. They headed to Moab, where her two sons married two Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth.

After the death of Naomi’s husband, her two sons also died. Then, she heard ‘the LORD had come the aid of his people by providing food for them’ and decided to go back to her native land. Naomi said to both of her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to stay in Moab and go back to their people. Orpah obeyed with sadness, but Ruth decided to follow her to Bethelem.

Read the text again quietly. Pay close attention to the people in this incident. What do you observe about them? How do they interact with each other? What do you think are their attitudes or feelings?

There is a strong bond between the three widows. They wept most of the time they talked about the leaving of Naomi.

Some thought Ruth was really close to Naomi, since Ruth leaves a life in her own land and family to accompany Naomi to her native Bethlehem. Ruth said to Naomi ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God’. She is willing to embrace the God of Israel, and probably, their rules as well. What will this mean for her? Will she be able to marry again? How open could Israelites be to a foreigner?

Others thought that Ruth was not considering the fact that her decision could mean their ruin. Two widows were very vulnerable people, as marriage was the only source of stability and security for a woman in those times. Will Ruth be able to find a husband despite the fact she is a foreigner?

What phrase or word is used the most frequently?

The word LORD and God appears repetively.

The idea of ‘returning home’ is constantly repeated.

The fact that Naomi is in a foreign land, and that Ruth is a foreigner is stressed over the whole chapter.

Identify the contrasts in chapter one? e.g. husband & two sons – no husband & no sons

The chapter begins with a famine, and ends when a harvest begins.

Naomi means pleasant, but at the end of the chapter she makes herself call Mara that means bitter.

Which sentence, do you think, is the key statement in this section of the narrative? Explain your answer.

Some though of Ruth’s reply to Naomi: “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.” This, some felt, was the most moving moment.

What, if anything, surprises you in the narrative thus far?

Naomi, interestingly, told her people when arriving to Bethlehem ‘I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty’. Did she value Ruth’s company? Was she happy Ruth decided to come along with her? Some of us though she was not thrilled by the idea of having the responsibility of Ruth’s well-being.

Some asked why ‘When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them’. Was Naomi famous? Was her late husband an important figure?

Others were surprised how Naomi convinced Ruth to be faithful to her God, but at the same time, she only complains about the way God has treated her.

In what ways does God participate in this scene? What – do you think- is the narrative revealing thus far about God?