Ruth 1:10-12a
Ruth 1:8 Then My Pleasant One (Naomi) said “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May YHWH deal kindly with you both, 9 “Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.
10 And they said to her, “No, we will certainly return with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me?
Do I still have sons in my womb, that they could be husbands for you?
12 “Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of the book of Ruth.
Now remember, our three ladies have set off on the road to Bethlehem. However, somewhere along the way Naomi (My Pleasant One) considers what this move will cost her daughters-in-law. To go to a land that forbids pagan intermarriage will all but guarantee that these two young Moabite women will remain unwed and impoverished. Therefore, My Pleasant One officially releases them from all their obligations to her and orders them to go back home. Thus, last week we left the three women on the side of the road bawling.
In the process of all of this, we were reminded of the central theme of returning. In Ruth, returning not only indicates a physical movement, it also points to the spiritual factors that motivate that action. In other words, in Ruth, watch the feet and you will see the heart.
Second, we saw Naomi’s faith and the evidence of her constant witness to these girls. In turn, we saw the genuine affection that these women have for each other.
In our text this morning, the girls are still hanging around, making a hard situation utterly heart wrenching. Listen.
Verse 1:10
Notice at once, the girls refuse to leave Naomi. Instead, they emphatically tell Naomi that they will return with her. Importance: the girls’ insistence underscores their genuine affection. They are willing to leave all that is familiar to them, together will all the potential it offers them, to go to a strange place and certain hardship. Not only that, they are doing so, simply not to abandon Naomi. Importance: the text will not allow us to be cynical. Neither girl is looking for an easy out (Naomi’s release just gave them that). Instead, both girls truly love their mother-in-law. Therefore, as we watch this theme of returning unfold, the text repeatedly prohibits us from falsely ignoring sincerity of both girls.
Next, notice specifically where the girls say they will return: They say they will return with Naomi to her people. However, notice what is conspicuously omitted. With all the talk of YHWH in verses 6-8, there is no mention here of Naomi’s God. In other words, verse 10 gives us insight into the thought process and assessments of these two girls. Simply put, at this point in the conversation, the spiritual has not factored in. Instead, the girls are only thinking through things in terms of their relationship with Naomi, the cost to themselves, and the outward circumstances involved. However, please note: none of these concerns will be the reason that one girl stays and the other goes. Instead, the text has gone out of its way to repeatedly show us that in all these outward factors (their love, their commitment to Naomi, and the sacrifice involved) the girls are exactly equal. Therefore, the text is alerting us not to get distracted. Why? At the end of the day and despite all the extraneous factors, each girl’s decision (just like your decisions) will come down to what they truly worship.
Verse 11
Next, notice how Naomi responds to the girls’ insistence: she firmly and with resolve once again orders them to return home FN#1. Importance: at once Naomi’s response shows the genuine affection and compassion that she has for these girls. Notice then Naomi does not give pretense or a feigned refusal by merely asking them to go. Instead, the verb “return” that she uses here is in the imperative mood. That is, she flat out commands them to go. In other words, we hear no crack or hesitation in Naomi’s voice. Instead, both her voice and her commitment to these girls remain firm. In fact, they grow more resolute in the face of the girls’ resistance. Simply put, Naomi digs in despite the fact that the girls departure will make her life far more difficult and lonely FN#2. Second, notice that Naomi’s affection also strengthens (tough love). Notice then, Naomi uses a different term for the girls than we have heard thus far. Previously in the text, the girls have been referred to as Naomi’s “daughters-in-law”. However, here in verse 12, Naomi uses a term that expresses a much closer and more direct relation/affection. She outright calls them her daughters. Simply put, Naomi does not cave into her own self-interests at the girls’ expense. Instead, she insists on their well-being (even if her understanding of what that well-being constitutes is clouded by her situation) FN#3.
Next, notice as soon as Naomi instructs the girls to return home, she asks them why they should go with her. Importance: if in verses 8-9 Naomi grants the girls an official contractual release, then here in verses 11-13 Naomi provides the reasons why this release is best for the girls. Notice then, Naomi asks, do I still have sons in my womb that they could be husbands for you. In other words, Naomi asks the girls to recognize the fact that she is beyond child bearing age. Therefore, she cannot have sons who will one day be their husbands. Ok, so if that’s the case, then why don’t the girls just marry someone else’s sons? The reason is that they are heading back to Judah where pagan intermarriage is forbidden. However, the girls are already joined to Naomi’s house/family. As such, the Old Testament law of Levirate Marriage (from the Latin levir meaning husband’s brother) requires a brother to marry his brother’s widow (Deut 25:5). Thus, Naomi’s future sons (who would be the brothers of the now dead husbands) are the girls’ only option for remarriage and stability in Judah FN#4. Notice then, Naomi’s point is that such a scenario is no longer possible. She is beyond her childbearing years. Therefore, the girls are better off returning home.
Verse 12a
Next, notice for the second time, Naomi orders/commands the girls to leave. Not only that, for the second time we see the genuine affection Naomi has for these girls. Notice then, you can hear the emotion and almost anger in Naomi’s voice as she urges the girls to leave for their own good. Notice then the reversal of the word order here in verse 12 from that in verse 8: in verse 8 when Naomi was simply granting their release (and not arguing for it) she tells the girls, “Go, return each of you”. The tone there is far more relaxed and gracious. However, here in verse 12 Naomi flips the order and says, “Return, my daughters! Go!”. In other words, this reversal articulates the emotional elevation of the conversation. For all extents and purposes Naomi tells the girls to scat, get gone, go! Don’t linger here and make this any harder than it has to be. Simply put, Naomi’s voice reflects both the difficulty and sorrow she feels as well as the fear she has for the girls if they stay with her.
Next, notice with Naomi’s second affectionate rebuke, comes Naomi’s second reason that the girls should take their release and go home. Naomi reminds them that she is too old to have a husband. In other words, not only is she not carrying sons in her womb to be future husbands, she is past the age to get remarried and even have the chance to conceive sons. As such, even the potential that things could get better for her and thus her two daughters-in-law is long gone. Therefore, Naomi urges the girls to return home where there is a much better chance for a much better life than there is with her. Importance: notice at once Naomi’s emotional frame of mind. Yes, Naomi is a believer; yes she is faithful; and yes, she is returning to God and His land. However, she does not see God’s hand at work in her situation. Instead, like us, she is too overwhelmed by her situation. Therefore, for now, everything to her seems hopeless and lost. And for now, the yet unnoticed hand of God is not a factor in her thinking or her plans for these girls.
Bottom line: Naomi is right you know. She will never have another husband, she will never bear any more children, and pagan marriage will never be allowed in God’s land (none of this is going to change) FN#5. So is all lost? Is the only realistic option for these two girls sobbing on the side of the road to return home and start over? And yet, did you notice, to Naomi’s chagrin the girls are still refusing to leave. In other words, our story isn’t over and neither is God’s plan. But what can possibly fix this mess FN#6.
Footnotes
1] Notice the attention the author draws to the theme of returning. In verse 10 the girls insist on “returning” with Naomi. In verse 11, when Naomi refuses their request and tells them to go the opposite direction back home, we would expect the author to use a different word (like “leave” or “go back”) to underscore the contrasting directions. However, the author uses the same word “return” for both cases back to back. This repetition and loss distinction is as clunky in Hebrew as it is in English. And yet the author is not being sloppy nor is he an incompetent writer. Instead, his deliberate and awkward us of “return” back to back is intended to draw attention to the two sides of this central theme: (a) returning to God or (b) returning to the world.
2] In other words, just as the only reason the girls want to go with Naomi is because they love her (they have nothing to gain by going), so too, the only reason Naomi refuses to let them come is because she loves them (Naomi has nothing to gain from their departure).
3] Naomi does not see God’s hand at work. In fact, she thinks God is angry at her (1:13). Therefore, she is convinced that no blessing follows her and that only hardship awaits. As such, her blessing in verses 8-9 seeks all that she sees is left. That is, it merely seeks for the girls the best that the world has to offer (a new husband, a happy home, and a brighter future). In turn, Naomi is now insistently attempting to send them back into the pagan world. Simply put, her motives may be admirable but her blessing/objective is all wrong. Instead, seeing no hope, she is doing what seems best in her own eyes (as is indicative of the time of the Judges, during which the account of Ruth takes place- 1:1). That said, something is about to wake Naomi up, to alert her to God’s hand at work, and to remind her to think through things facing Him (c.f. 1:14-15).
4] Note: while it was required by law for a brother to marry his brother’s widow and raise up an heir in his name (Deut 25:5-6), it seems that by the time we reach the book of Ruth, this principle has been extended as an option (not requirement) to the closest kin of the deceased man. This is exactly what we will see later in the book. However, the close kin could refuse the option without any of the shame that came with a brother’s refusal (Deut 25:8-10). In turn, this looser obligation concerning a kinsman means that a marriage like that to these Moabite girls was either prohibited by default or expectedly refused by the scruples of a kosher kinsman. The result is that without the binding Levirate law regarding a direct brother, the girls’ potential for remarriage in Judah is next to nothing.
Case in point: Boaz is not Naomi’s son and thus not a legally obligated brother to the girls’ dead husbands. Instead, as a kinsman he has the option to marry Ruth. However, for such an option to be entertained, much less permitted, other requirements have to be met first: to start with, the woman cannot be a pagan; and second, if there be any closer kin, that kin must be given his right of first refusal. In other words, as it stands now (based exclusively on what the text has told you thus far), Boaz or some other such kinsman is not an option for these girls. Therefore, such a consideration does not enter into Naomi’s thought process in our passage.
One last point: is it really the case that the girls would be allowed to marry Naomi’s future hypothetical sons because they were already married to their Hebrew brothers? Possibly. However, it does kind of seem like a case of two wrongs don’t make a right. Thus, just because one sin was committed, that does not make provision for the same sin to be committed a second time. The result is there is another option open to us. What we might be looking at here is just how frantically and thoroughly Naomi has tried to make the girls going with her work, to the point that she thinks she sees a possible loophole in the Law (they could marry the deceased men’s brothers). However, the further down the road she gets, the more she must admit that even this loophole and faint glimmer of hope is not open to her. It is too late for her to have more sons. Therefore, she releases the girls and now argues the futility of them remaining with her (even if the doubtful loophole could have ever worked).
5] I hope you are not waiting for the quiet hand of God to say that marring a pagan Moabite is ok just this time. Such would introduce duplicity and compromise into the very line of the Messiah. In fact, if God can just wave sin away in this instance, He can do it in every instance. Thus, there is no need for a Messiah at all. Instead, what God has in store is far more wonderful than sordid duplicity could ever be.
6] What a mess. If you are keeping score at home, notice the tally thus far: everybody here loves everybody so much that nobody is doing what anybody wants (the girls won’t leave and Naomi won’t let them stay). At the same time, everybody is looking at the outward factors and deciding what seems best in their own eyes. Thus, everybody’s proposals are wrong, everybody is crying, and no one is moving forward. They’re all just sitting there on the side of the road. And yet, God’s plan, quietly and without a glitch, continues to unfold.