Ruth 1:6

NAOMI DECIDES TO RETURN TO BETHLEHEM (Ruth 1:6-10)

"Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people in giving them bread. And she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house: Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto her, Nay, but we will return with thee unto thy people."

"Then she arose" (Ruth 1:6). "The verb here is used of rising from a prone position and also for the commencement of an action, such as the beginning of a journey."[16]

"Jehovah had visited his people giving them bread" (Ruth 1:6). When any people have bread it is because God has blessed them in providing it.

"And they went forth" (Ruth 1:7). The three widows went together on the way back to Judah, but at this point in the narrative, the matter of their going all the way to Bethlehem had not been decided. The widowed wives of her two sons, at this point, were merely extending the ancient oriental courtesy of going part of the way as an escort for their mother-in-law, a custom which ordinarily would have ended at the border of Moab.

"Jehovah deal kindly with you." (Ruth 1:8). Naomi's faith shines in these words. According to the usual thinking of that time, Chemosh was considered the God of Moab, but no such nonsense as that entered Naomi's mind. She recognized Jehovah as the true God of all lands.

"As you have dealt with the dead." (Ruth 1:8). "This means, `as you have dealt with my sons, your husbands, while they lived.'"[17]

"Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept." (Ruth 1:9). This indicates that the little company had reached the border, or the turning point, from which the friendly escort might have turned back. The simple meaning here is that Naomi kissed her daughters-in-law goodbye.

This paragraph introduces us to the author's characteristic device of using conversations to carry forward the thread of his narrative. Morris stated that, "Over fifty out of the total of eighty-five verses in the whole book are taken up with dialogue."[18]

"They lifted up their voice and wept." (Ruth 1:9). This was the tearful prelude to the dialogue that followed. The moment of truth had come; it was time for the loving, courteous escort of Naomi on the way to Judah to be terminated, but the human emotions overflowed in a fountain of tears, the implication being that all three of them wept together.

"And they said, Nay, but we will return with thee unto thy people." (Ruth 1:10). Both of the daughters-in-law, at first, decided to go with Naomi to Judah, but Naomi wisely tried to dissuade them. As Moabitesses, they might not have received any welcome whatever in Israel!

Before leaving this paragraph, there is a very important characteristic of it that we should note. Leon Morris tells us that there are some very unusual grammatical constructions here, a kind of confusion of masculine and feminine terms, as well as plural and singular terms. "These grammatical distinctions are not used with the precision required in later times."[19] This, of course, indicates a VERY EARLY PERIOD for the writing of Ruth, thus giving strong support for the date which we proposed in the introduction (which see). The critical effort to avoid the strength of this argument is the ridiculous supposition that, "Maybe the late narrator purposely copied the earlier style of writing"! Why would any writer have ever done a stupid thing like that?