Apologia

In the book of Ruth, a man named Elimelech moved his family from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab because of a famine, and there he died. To the modern reader, this sounds like mere background information so people would know how Naomi came to be an Israelite widow in a different land. He would seem like a man who must have cared deeply for his family, willing to do what it takes to provide for them during hard times. Personally, I can relate to this after having moved my family from Lenexa to Shawnee to reduce our tax burden and bring us closer to our home church.

However, if there is one thing I’ve learned about scripture, words are never wasted, and background information and context are crucial to understanding the text. The first thing to consider is the move itself. Judah was part of the promised land of God. Moab was a wicked place that was born out of incest when Lot’s daughters sought to further their family line after their mother had died during their exit from Sodom (see Genesis 19:30-38). Even if Elimelech had fallen on hard times, he could have sold his inheritance and worked as a slave to a fellow Israelite, knowing that he’d get his land back at the next Jubilee. To move to Moab would require that he abandon his inheritance and swear allegiance to the Moabite God, Chemosh. 

The next thing to consider is that their hometown, Bethlehem, was in the midst of a famine. Bethlehem in Hebrew means, “House of Bread and Praise.” So it is significant that a place that has been named for God’s abundant provision was experiencing a famine. Famine was not just a climate event that devastated a farming community. Famine was a specific curse that was promised by God in Leviticus 26 if His people did not uphold the covenant of Moses.

What should Elimelech have done? Repented! Elimelech could have humbled himself before God, confessed his sin and that of his people and trusted in God’s mercy to forgive and provide for his family during the hard times. Instead, he trusted in the prosperity of Moab and decided that personal comfort and wealth were more important than a relationship with his creator, and apparently, he taught his sons to do the same since they took for themselves Moabite wives which God had forbidden them to do.

The person who acted in faith in this story is Naomi who turned to the LORD for her salvation and invited her daughters-in-law to do the same. It may seem like the opposite when she tells them to go back to their families and marry among their people, but she was in fact telling them to make a choice between their god and the God of Israel. 

To argue this, I appeal to the Targum for Ruth. The Targum were essentially Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament written by 1st century AD Jews and provide insight into how the texts were viewed by the ancient Jews. We wouldn’t consider them part of the canon of scripture, but that does not mean we can’t get some historical context from them. 

For example, in verse 1:10, the bible says of Ruth and Orpah, “And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” Targum Ruth states that verse as follows, “And they said to her, “No, we will not return to our people and our god, but rather we will return with you to your people to become proselytes.”

Ultimately, Orpah decided that the sacrifice of leaving with Naomi was too great when Naomi reminded her that she was too old to bear more sons for them to take as husbands. So Orpah remained in Moab. You may be asking, “Why couldn’t Orpah just marry another Israelite?” Once again, this deals with inheritance. If Naomi could produce more sons for Ruth and Orpah to marry, those sons would have an inheritance in the land. However, Naomi is too old for this, and they would probably be hard-pressed to find an Israelite that would be willing to marry a Moabite woman, even if she were a proselyte. So it was indeed a sacrifice as it appeared that she would have to live out her days as a poor widow if she went with Naomi.
Verse 15 supports the Targum interpretation of verse 10, “And [Naomi] said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” Then comes Ruth’s response from scripture:

¹⁶ But Ruth said, 
“Do not press me to leave you 
or to turn back from following you! 
Where you go, I will go; 
Where you lodge, I will lodge; 
 your people shall be my people, 
and your God my God. 
¹⁷ Where you die, I will die
— there will I be buried. 
May the LORD do thus and so to me, 
and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” 
¹⁸ When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

At first glance, it would seem that Ruth is incredibly loyal to Naomi. Once again, I think the Targum provides insight that Ruth’s loyalty is instead a statement of faith in Naomi’s God:

¹⁶ Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you, to go back from after you, for I desire to be a proselyte.”
Naomi said, “We are commanded to keep Sabbaths and holy days such that we may not walk more than two thousand cubits.”
Ruth said, “Where you go, I will go;”
Naomi said, “We are commanded not to lodge with Gentiles.”
Ruth said, “Where you lodge, I will lodge;”
Naomi said, “We are commanded to keep six hundred and thirteen commandments.”
Ruth said, “What your people keep I will keep as if they were my people from before this.
Naomi said, “We are commanded not to worship foreign gods.” 
Ruth said, “Your god is my god.”
¹⁷ Naomi said, “We have four death penalties for the guilty: stoning with stones, burning with fire, execution by the sword and hanging on a tree.”
Ruth said, “How you die, I shall die.”
Naomi said, “We have a cemetery.” 
Ruth said, “And there I will be buried. [Conclusion] And do not say any more. May the Lord do thus to me and more against me if even death shall separate me from you.”

As we find out, Ruth’s faith in God and service to Naomi is rewarded with God’s provision of a kinsman redeemer in Boaz. As Christians, we tend to put the focus of this story solely on Boaz as a type of Christ pointing to our own redemption from sin, especially since Ruth and Boaz turn out to be the grandparents of king David! Although this is really good news and one of the many passages of scripture that speak of the coming Messiah, I think we can also learn much from the faithless actions of Elimelech and Orpah, the faithfulness of Naomi and Ruth, and the wonderful mercy and forgiveness of our heavenly Father.