Visit here to join the community! Orpah did not want to leave Naomi and return to Moab, but the desire to be a wife and mother weighed heavily. [1] After the death of her husband, Orpah and her sister-in-law Ruth wished to go to Judea with Naomi. Ruth: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament by Daniel Block. They had lived with one another, experienced loss together, mourned together, and wept together. While the two women have several things in common, they are different in some respects. We would be driven to achieve, to fulfill ourselves, and to become godlike and eternal. Why can't Ploni Almoni be a real name, in Ruth? Comments. Naomi made 2 decisions here; one is to leave Moab and the second is to return. Rachel, initially barren, is jealous of Leahs ability to bear children and so supplies her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob for this purpose (as Sarah had done for Abraham). Why do I constantly have an urge to spread the gospel, but on many accounts I've been too afraid? Who was Ruth in the Bible? And there are other parallels which can be pointed out. Photo: Austrian National Library, Vienna. Ruths explicit link to Rachel and Leah occurs in the blessing of the townspeople as they witness Boazs redemption of Ruth and of the land of Elimelech and Mahlon: May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the House of Israel (Ruth 4:11). Is idle hands are the devil's workshop' biblical statement? Ruths poetic words, Wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge, I will lodge, are rightly famous, both for their beauty of expression and for their sentiment. For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Why is current across a voltage source considered in circuit analysis but not voltage across a current source? The story opens with Naomis clan having left the land of promise, and their faith, for a new life in the land of Moab, apart from God. Orpah married Kilion and Ruth married Mahlon. Youre right in observing that he was executed, but you left off the rest of the story. Ruth followed Naomi and became the mother of Obed, and was listed in the genealogy of Jesus. As soon as Orpah parted company with Naomi and Ruth, she went to the absolute opposite extreme. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. In other words: even though she was a Moabite, look how great she was and how Boaz accepted her etc. And we were instructed eternally after with the mission of striving towards Him of bridging the gap between the physical world and the Divine. I propose a much more fundamental and far-reaching link between Ruth and the Torahindeed, with the entire Biblea link that goes to the very heart of the overarching theme of the Bible. The matter is soon settled. Human beings have an enormous potential for greatness. In what context did Garak (ST:DS9) speak of a lie between two truths? Ruth's response revealed the difference between Orpah and herself. And she took that same zeal and self-sacrifice and brought them to the other side. It's often thought that Ruth did the right thing, while Orpah failed. "Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge," she insists. So they were married and had a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse, father of David (Ruth 4:17). Unfortunately, we have no idea how Orpah's story turned out. Now we would think that Orpah was not that bad a character. The promise to Abraham of progeny and land is renewed in the promise to David of the dynasty and the kingdom. Alshich also follows this approach, pointing to the fact that the Talmud Bavli (Yevamos 47) learns from the dialogue between Naami and Ruth with regards to the laws of conversion. Naomis daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, accompany her along the road. After the death of all the male members of her family (her husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law), she stays with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and moves to Judah with her, where Ruth wins the love and . They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth.. Tamela Turbeville wants every woman to know God loves them, no matter what their past looks like. ESV - I thought according to the Hebrew the phase uncovered his feet meant something more salacious. Here are guidelines to help facilitate a meaningful learning experience for everyone. In the days when the Judges ruled: This account begins in the closing days . What will be different when the old order of things ends? RuthBig Theme, Little Book by Adele Berlin originally appeared in Bible Review, August 1996. Ruth became a mother in Israel, great-grandmother to the spiritual giant David. Like Abraham, and like the family of Jacob (see the story of Joseph), the family of Elimelech was forced by famine to leave its home in the land of Israel and to preserve itself in a foreign land. Her sister-in-law, Orpah, tends to fall into the background of the story. In the blessing, the townspeople add a specific reference to Judah, the founder of Boazs tribe: May your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah (Ruth 4:12). How to determine chain length on a Brompton? In ancient times, a name revealed a lot about that person. When the men of the clan die and are survived only by Naomi and her two Moabite daughters in law, Naomi determines to return to the land of Israel, a broken women and only enough faith to make the trip.. Sign Up to view the rest of this answer. His wife and sons stay on, and the sons marry non-Jewish women - Moabite princesses by the names of Ruth and Orpah. I overpaid the IRS. 12 gauge wire for AC cooling unit that has as 30amp startup but runs on less than 10amp pull, Sci-fi episode where children were actually adults. There has to be some reason for the details to be there before we can question why they aren't. Answer. So Machlon had her converted as a child (as per the halachah - Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 268:7), but once she reached halachic adulthood she had the opportunity to renounce her conversion (ibid.) Ever since, Jews would not be able to sit still. I would say that it was because, even though Ruth and Orpah were both Moabites by birth who had been married to Jewish men, Ruth had apparently developed a belief in the God of Israel in a way that Orpah had not. In Ruth 1; we read that the husband of Naomi died in the land of Moab. When they return they find the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob welcomes them both with open arms. The theme of family continuity becomes the theme of national continuity. With that in mind, it is quite possible to say that the reason the text continues to stress her Moabite origins is precisely to counter that claim that was common at the time of its authorship. The lives of these three women were interwoven. spiritual decision. In the patriarchal stories the main concern was the establishment of the family linethe quest for an heir whom God will designate as the one through whom the people of Israel will be born. This book is often used by people who want to undermine modern halakhic standards of giyur. God says to Abraham: The early chapters of Genesis are a prologue to this covenant, describing the creation of all the land in the world and of all of its peoples, until the narrative focuses on one particular family: Abrahams. Ruth's choice led to poverty and singleness for a long period of time. As for why the text continues to refer to her as "", first of all, as @Alex has noted in the comments to the other answers, it is not uncommon to find someone referred to by the country of origin even if they are no longer associated with it. The Book of Ruth is the bridge between the era of Israel as family or tribe and Israel as nation. Why did Ruth and Orpah make different decisions? The commandments of the Torah are not simply acts to perform, ways of earning heavenly reward. Why didn't Adam die the day he ate the forbidden fruit, as God said he would in Genesis 2:17? The logical thing for Ruth to do when her husband died was to go home to her own family and look for a new husband. Shmuel wished to show how even though Ruth was a Moabite, she was a righteous woman and earned the respect and marriage of the great shofet Boaz. She would abandon the gods of Moab, and Ruth and Naomi would both be committed to the one true God of Israel. I think that anyone who uses Ruth to do so is absolutely wrong and doing something atrocious. I see this so called Church down on its luck do to its worship of a failed messiah who had nothing left to lose but to glaum on to the one nation that still had the grace of God on it. However, Naomi tried to persuade both . Required fields are marked *. In fact, Ruth's sister-in-law, Orpah, chose to leave: "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Want more interaction with the women of iBelieve? This is no anonymous family that is restoredthis is the family into which King David will be born. He lived in Bethlehem during the time of the judges. It is the women, often despite their husbands, who ensure the birth of the next generation and who direct the proper line of inheritance. Why did Ruth and Orpah make a different decision? Note that answer would ostensibly also have to assume that Orpah was an ailonis as well. The name Ruth means "companion, friend, woman of beauty," but it can also mean "a feeling of pity, distress of grief." As we will learn as we begin to study Ruth, she lives up to all these . A famine was ravaging the land, and so Elimelech moved his family away from Israel to the country of Moab so they would be fed ( Ruth 1:1-2 ). Living in Moab was a hardship for Naomi and her family. Their choices do not mean that one is better than the other. On Shavuot we commemorate the Revelation at Sinai when God descended upon Mount Sinai and proclaimed before the nation I am the Lord your God. In the synagogue we read the Book of Ruth that recounts the heartwarming story of Ruth the Moabite, who leaves everything behind to follow her mother-in-law Naomi to the Holy Land, ultimately fully embracing Judaism and becoming great-grandmother to King David. Why did the first kinsman redeemer in Ruth refuse to marry her? Following the death of her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons, Naomi decided to leave Moab, where her family had fled to escape famine. Perhaps, Naomi began to consider her future and the future and hopes of her daughters-in-law. In the Hebrew Bible its in an entirely different place, in the third section, known as the Writings. Naomi's two sons, the husbands of Ruth and Orpah, also died. Thanks to Ruth, the family of Naomi (strangely, the text does not put it in terms of Elimelech or Mahlon) survives. In all, Leah and Rachel provide Jacob with 12 sons (and one daughter), who will in turn father the 12 tribesthe people of Israel. Ruth is a foreigner coming 'to a people that [she] does not know' ( . She took religion and spirituality quite seriously. rev2023.4.17.43393. She clearly had the seeds of greatness within her. Although many of us would like to picture ourselves as the Ruth in this story, we may often find ourselves making more choices as Orpah did. 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