Commentary - Ruth 1:6-22

Bird's-eye view

The book of Ruth opens in the grim days of the judges, a time of spiritual anarchy and apostasy, where every man did what was right in his own eyes. And yet, in the midst of this darkness, God was quietly at work, weaving a tapestry of redemption that would lead directly to King David, and ultimately to the King of kings, Jesus Christ. This section of the first chapter, verses 6 through 22, details the return of Naomi from Moab. It is a story of emptying and returning, of bitterness and providence, and of a surprising, covenantal loyalty from a Moabite woman that puts Israel to shame. We see here the hard hand of God's providence, which often feels bitter to us, but is always working toward a harvest of grace. Naomi returns empty, but she does not return alone. She returns with Ruth, and they arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest. The stage is being set for a great reversal.

This passage is a powerful illustration of what it means to be brought low before being exalted. Naomi has lost everything: her husband, her sons, her home, and her hope. She is a case study in affliction. And yet, her return to Bethlehem, the "house of bread," at the very moment the harvest is beginning, is a signal to us that God's purposes are not thwarted by our suffering or our sin. The central pivot of this passage is the radical, covenantal oath of Ruth. Her pledge to Naomi is nothing less than a conversion, a turning from her people and her gods to the people and the God of Israel. This is the gospel in miniature: a Gentile bride being brought into the covenant family of God through sheer, stubborn faith.

Outline

Context In Ruth

This passage follows the introduction that sets the scene: a famine in Bethlehem, the house of bread, drives Elimelech and his family to the pagan land of Moab. This was a spiritually compromised move, leaving the land of promise for a land under a curse. The consequences were severe: Elimelech dies, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth, and then they also die. Ten years of this Moabite sojourn have left Naomi destitute, widowed, and childless. The story is one of complete emptying. Our section begins with the first glimmer of hope: word comes that the famine in Judah is over. Yahweh has visited His people. This news prompts Naomi's return, and sets up the crucial decision that her two daughters-in-law must face.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law and returned from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that Yahweh had visited His people to give them food.

The action begins with Naomi arising. This is a picture of resurrection, a stirring from the dust of death and despair. She had been settled in Moab for a decade, a long time to be away from the covenant community. But news travels, even to the pagan fields of Moab. The news is that Yahweh had "visited" His people. This is a word pregnant with meaning. God's visitations can be for judgment or for blessing. Here, it is for blessing: He has come to give them food. The famine is over. Notice that it is an act of God's grace that initiates the return. Naomi doesn't return because Moab got worse; she returns because God has shown favor to Judah. All true repentance and return to God begins with a prior move of God toward us. He visits us first.

v. 7 So she went forth from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

Obedience follows the good news. She went forth. She leaves the place of her bereavement. And her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, begin the journey with her. At this point, their intentions seem identical. They are all on the road back to the land of promise. This is a picture of the visible church. Many start on the road, but not all will persevere to the end. The journey is the test.

v. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh show lovingkindness with you as you have shown with the dead and with me.”

Here we have Naomi's first test. She tells them to return to their Moabite homes. From a purely human perspective, this is sensible advice. What future is there for two young Moabite widows in Israel? Naomi's counsel is practical, but it is not faith-filled. She is operating out of her bitterness and emptiness. But even in her despair, she invokes the name of Yahweh and speaks of His hesed, His lovingkindness or covenant loyalty. She recognizes the kindness Orpah and Ruth have shown to her and her deceased sons, and she prays that Yahweh would repay them in kind. This is a central theme of the book: human hesed reflecting and being rewarded by divine hesed.

v. 9 May Yahweh grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

The "rest" she wishes for them is the security of a new marriage. This is the best she can imagine for them. Her vision is limited to earthly comfort. The kiss is one of farewell, and the weeping is genuine. There is real affection here. But the affection is about to be tested. Will it be a sentimental affection that leads to parting, or a rugged, covenantal affection that endures?

v. 10 And they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”

Both daughters-in-law initially refuse to leave. Their first response is one of loyalty. They declare their intention to go with her and to join "your people." This is a significant statement. It's not just about staying with Naomi; it's about identifying with the people of Israel.

v. 11-13 But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is more bitter for me than for you, for the hand of Yahweh has gone forth against me.”

Naomi presses her case, and her words are filled with the logic of despair. She argues from the standpoint of the Levirate law (Deut. 25:5-6), but she presents it as an utter impossibility. Her womb is barren, her life is over, and there is no hope of providing them with husbands from her line. Her argument is a cascade of impossibilities. Her conclusion is that her situation is "more bitter" for her than for them. Why? Because she sees "the hand of Yahweh" as being directly against her. She is theologically astute enough to know that her suffering is not random chance. It comes from the Almighty. But her interpretation is one of pure judgment, without any room for redemptive purpose. She is a female Job, arguing against her own hope.

v. 14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

This is the moment of separation, the great divide. More tears are shed, but tears can mean different things. Orpah's tears lead to a farewell kiss. She takes the sensible path. She obeys Naomi's practical, but faithless, advice. She returns to Moab. But Ruth "clung" to her. The Hebrew word here is dabaq, the same word used in Genesis 2:24 for a man leaving his father and mother and "holding fast" to his wife. It is a word of covenantal, unbreakable union. Ruth's clinging is a tangible act of faith that goes beyond mere sentiment.

v. 15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

Naomi provides one final test, one last push away. She points to Orpah's example. Notice the full weight of what she says: Orpah has returned to "her people and her gods." This is not just a geographical return; it is a spiritual return. To go back to Moab is to go back to Chemosh and the other false deities. Naomi lays the choice bare: it is Yahweh or the gods of Moab. There is no middle ground.

v. 16-17 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you in turning back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.”

This is one of the greatest confessions of faith in all of Scripture. It is a covenant oath. Ruth systematically dismantles every reason to leave and binds herself to Naomi, and through Naomi, to Israel and Israel's God. Let's break it down. "Where you go, I will go": a shared journey. "Where you lodge, I will lodge": a shared home. "Your people shall be my people": a shared identity and community. And the pinnacle: "and your God, my God." This is conversion. She renounces the gods of Moab and embraces Yahweh. She seals this oath by invoking the ultimate realities of death and burial, and calls a curse upon herself in the name of Yahweh if she breaks this vow. This is a Moabite woman making a thoroughly Israelite covenant. This is raw, rugged faith in the face of utter hopelessness. She is clinging not to Naomi's prospects, which are nil, but to Naomi's God.

v. 18 So she saw that she was determined to go with her, and she said no more to her.

Ruth's determination, her steadfast mind, settles the issue. Naomi sees that this is not a fleeting emotion but a resolute commitment. And so, she stops arguing. Faith has silenced despair.

v. 19 Then they both went until they came to Bethlehem. Now it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

The two widows arrive in Bethlehem. Their arrival causes a stir. The women of the city, who knew her from before, are shocked at her appearance. Ten years and a load of grief have taken their toll. The question "Is this Naomi?" highlights the drastic change. "Naomi" means pleasant, but the woman who stands before them is anything but.

v. 20-21 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but Yahweh has caused me to return empty. Why do you call me Naomi? Yahweh has answered against me, and the Almighty has brought calamity against me.”

Naomi's response is a public lament. She wants her name to reflect her experience. Call me Mara, which means "bitter." She is brutally honest about her condition and its source. She names God twice, using the names Shaddai (Almighty) and Yahweh. She says the Almighty has dealt bitterly with her. She went out "full" with a husband and two sons, and has returned "empty." She sees this as a direct testimony from Yahweh against her. She is not wrong to see God's hand in her circumstances, but her vision is incomplete. She sees the emptying, but she cannot yet see the filling that God is planning. And she is blind to the fact that she did not return completely empty. She returned with Ruth, the very instrument of God's future blessing.

v. 22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the fields of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

The narrator concludes the chapter with a summary and a crucial piece of information. The summary reminds us who these two women are: Naomi the returnee, and Ruth the Moabitess, the foreigner. But the final clause is dripping with hope. They arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest. In the "house of bread," the bread is being gathered. After a long winter of famine and death, the firstfruits of a new season are appearing. God's timing is perfect. The stage is set. The story of filling is about to begin.

Application

This story is our story. We, like Ruth, are Gentiles, outsiders from the covenant of promise. By all rights, we should have returned to our people and our false gods. But by the grace of God, we have heard the call and have clung to the people of God, and to God Himself. Ruth's confession should be our confession: Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. This is the nature of true conversion. It is an unconditional surrender and a binding of ourselves to Christ and His Church, for better or for worse, in emptiness and in fullness.

We also see in Naomi a picture of the believer walking through deep affliction. It is not wrong to feel the bitterness of God's hard providences. It is not wrong to lament. But we must be careful not to let our present suffering blind us to God's future grace. Naomi thought she was empty, but she had Ruth. We often think we are empty, but we have Christ, and in Him, we have every spiritual blessing. And like Naomi and Ruth, we must trust that even when we arrive in a state of apparent destitution, we have arrived at the beginning of a great harvest. God's specialty is taking our emptiness and filling it to overflowing with Himself.