Ruth 1:12b-14a
Ruth 1:12 “Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband.
If I said there is hope for me,
if I even had a husband this very night and also bore sons,
13 would you therefore bring yourselves to wait until they are grown?
Would you therefore shut yourselves off so as not to remarry?
No, my daughters;
for it is exceedingly more bitter for me than for you,
for the hand of YHWH has gone out against me.”
14 And they lifted up their voice and wept again;
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of the book of Ruth.
Notice then the story thus far: Naomi (My Pleasant One) and her two young daughters-in- law are standing on the side of the road that leads to Bethlehem weeping. The two girls are recently widowed. And Naomi knows that if they go back with her to a land that forbids pagan intermarriage, it 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.
However, something unexpected happens. The two girls refuse to leave Naomi. Instead, their genuine love for Naomi has them insisting on going with her.
But Naomi also loves these girls. Therefore, she explains to them why their departure is best. However, as we listen to Naomi we realize that Naomi’s proposal is all wrong. She does not see God’s hand at work and therefore her plans are simply based on what seems best in her own eyes. Importance: remember, in Ruth, the central theme of returning always points to the spiritual factors that motivate the action. And for now, those spiritual factors are all muddled.
In our text this morning Naomi continues to give the reasons why it is best that the girls take their release and go home.
Verse 1:12
Review: Notice at once, for the second time, Naomi orders/commands the girls to leave. Not only that, notice the emotional elevation of the conversation. For all extents and purposes Naomi tells the girls to scat, get gone, go! Importance: as the emotion of the conversation builds and wind up like a spring, it is preparing us to see the sharpness of its sudden resolve FN#1. 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 and thus too old to have any more sons. Importance: The Old Testament law of Levirate Marriage requires a brother to marry his brother’s widow (Deut 25:5). Thus, Naomi’s future sons (who would be the brothers of the girls’ dead husbands) are the girls’ only option for remarriage and stability in Judah FN#2. Notice then, Naomi’s point: She is beyond childbearing years. As such, the girls’ only option is closed. Therefore, they are better off returning home.
Next, notice Naomi’s third reason that the girls should leave: not only that, notice how Naomi begins her third reason: Naomi says, even if I said/claimed that there is hope for me. Importance: at once verse 12 shows us Naomi’s frame of mind (remember watch the feet and you will see the heart). Simply put, Naomi does not yet see/recognize God’s hand at work in her situation. Instead, she is resigned to what seems to her a hopeless fate. Therefore, Naomi is arguing, on a purely pragmatic basis, that the girls should return to pagan Moab. But Naomi is wrong. In fact, Naomi’s ill-advised return shows us Naomi’s clouded heart. Notice the result: in verse 12 we see a genuine believer going through a real situation like we often do (flipped out and blind to God’s quiet hand of ongoing care). However, God’s hand is there for her just like it is there for you.
Next, notice the content of Naomi’s third argument: Naomi says, if I even had a husband this very night and also bore sons. Importance: in the Hebrew, both of the verbs in Naomi’s third reason (had and bore) serve as Instantaneous Perfects. That is, they depict actions that are completed at once. Not only that, her whole third argument is colored by an emphatic notion of impossibility. Thus she says, if I had a husband even this very night and also bore. Notice then Naomi’s third argument opens by throwing out three highly unlikely scenarios: first, that despite her age, she would still be considered marriage eligible by someone. Second, that out of nowhere, on that very night, there on the side of the road, she would meet that someone, get married, and in the process of consummating the marriage would immediately conceive; and third, that as a result she would then bear (not just a child, not just a male child but) twin boys for both her daughters-in-law to wed. Simply put, Naomi sets up this ridiculous scenario because she leading the girls to see that even if this magical and immediate hope were hers, their problems still aren’t fixed. Instead, it is still only hardship and sorrow that await the girls.
Verse 13
Next, notice Naomi asks the girls, even if this ridiculous hope/scenario were true, would you therefore bring yourselves to wait until the twins are grown to get married. Importance: the Hebrew verb here for grown by extension means to be great or become wealthy. Thus, Naomi’s question, “until they are grown” registers lexically and emotionally as “until they are grown, established, and successful thereby fixing all your problems” FN#3. In other words, the magical, immediate scenario is no quick fix solution. Even in the best case, it will require a good deal of time to resolve. Notice then, Naomi asks, could you bring yourselves to wait. That is, are you ready to endure the years of hardship and poverty while you wait for the twins to grow up? Simply put, Naomi confronts the girls with the issue of time and the prolonged difficulty that even this magical, best case scenario will involve.
Next, Naomi drives her point home by asking the girls, would you really shut yourselves off so as not to remarry FN#4. In other words, in addition to the prolonged poverty, Naomi underscores the loneliness and seclusion (the shutting off from life, society, and companionship) that waiting for these boys to grow up would mean. Simply put, Naomi piles on one hardship after another to show the useless uphill climb that going with her would mean. Even if this impossible scenario were to magically come about that very night, it would still mean nothing but long term hardship, isolation, and sorrow for the girls. Not only that, at the end of the day, it would actually resolve nothing. Why? The vast majority of the girls’ life would have passed in misery. In turn, it is very likely that by the time the boys are grown and established, the girls too would be beyond their childbearing age.
Finally, notice that Naomi ends her case for the girls return and gives her final answer to their request to stay; She says, “No my daughters”. In other words, “No” is her final decision. Not only that, notice you can hear the sigh, the sorrow, and the resignation in Naomi’s voice FN#5. She sees no light ahead. And yet despite the difficulty that the girls’ departure will mean to her, she is persuaded that their return is what is best for them. Therefore, she sends the girls home.
Next, notice the reason for Naomi’s final decision: Naomi says it is exceedingly more bitter for me than for you. In other words, Naomi contrasts the hopelessness of her situation with the realistic potential that the girls have back home. Not only that, Naomi goes on to explain the primary cause of her situation. She says that YHWH’s hand has gone forth against her FN#6. In other words, Naomi (just like us when things get hard) believes that God is angry with her. However, God is not a sniper. When He corrects you, you don’t have guess/imagine the reasons. You already know because He has been calling/convicting you for quite a while FN#7. Importance: Naomi’s miss-assessment of her situation explains her hopelessness. Not only that, it also explains the fact that what she seeks for the girls is only the best that the world has to offer. She believes that YHWH’s favor does not go with her. Therefore, in her mind, the best that the world has is all that is left for the two girls. In the end, Naomi does not see God’s hand/love and therefore her response to the situation threatens to only compound the problem FN#8.
Verse 14a
Finally, notice after Naomi gives her final answer, verse 14 tells us that they lifted up their voice (singular) and with one heart wept FN#9. Importance: one last time before the resolve (before we see how everything shakes out), the text underscores that the love of all three women is genuine/sincere. In other words, the reason for the outcome that we are about to see is to be sought in the spiritual not the cynical.
Bottom line: notice, after all that has unfolded since verse 9, we are right back where we started: Naomi has denied the girls appeal to stay; she has sent them home; and now the three women are once again on the side of the road bawling. Oh yea, and God’s hand is still quietly working (unnoticed) on behalf of “His Pleasant One”. FN#10
Footnotes
1] In other words, the build in emotional intensity has us sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the resolve. The author has our attention and has us looking for the resolve.
2] 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).
3] This sense of grown, as also conveying established and successful carries forward in the English as well. We know that Naomi is not merely asking if the girls will wait until the boys are taller or begin to have facial hair. She is asking if they will wait until the boys have grown and are in a position to provide for the family.
4] The Hebrew verb here (עגן) means to “shut one’s self off”. However, many English translations gloss the word to read “remain unmarried”. Now while this is certainly the sense of the passage, the unnecessary gloss loses so much of the emotional punch that Naomi’s question actually brings. Instead, Naomi’s question actually paints a picture of what remaining unmarried will mean.
5] Listen to Scripture, pay attention to both what is said and how it is said. Case in point: the firm and final “No” is softened by the affectionate “my daughters”. Such then combines to allow us to hear the sorrow and sigh with which Naomi’s final decision is given.
6] Notice the harsh and hostile military image that Naomi presents here: she depicts God’s hand “going forth” against her like an army “going forth” from the gates of a citadel to strike down its enemy. It is utterly terrifying. In fact, the emotional severity of the imagery shows us the desperate state of Naomi’s heart. She literally feels struck down by God and an object of His abiding wrath.
7] We can all but hear Naomi’s thought process: life has taken an exceedingly tragic turn and she sees no possible resolve. Therefore, she believes that God is angry with her. As such, like we so often times do, Naomi begins to speculate and fill in the blanks. That is, she begins invent the reasons why God is mad: maybe I am to blame for being in this pagan land; maybe there was something more I could have done; maybe I should have pressed harder to go home; maybe I should have tried to leverage the situation. However, for Naomi and us as well, God is not a sniper. When He corrects, you don’t have to invent or guess the reasons why. You already know because He has been calling/convicting/addressing you for quite some time.
8] Naomi is correct about one thing: her condition is from God. However, there are two things that she has not considered: (1) that her faithfulness and witness have, in fact, been “Pleasant to God” and (2) that what she sees as hostility from God is actually His merciful deliverance (God has delivered her from the faithless leadership of her husband and two apostate sons). In other words, God is working in her life in ways that she has yet to imagine.
9] In other words, the author’s deliberate use of the singular (voice) where the plural “voices” would be expected, indicates that they all wept with one voice and one heart. Simply put, this is not fake grief nor is it an easy decision for any of them. Importance: the text will not allow us to be cynical. 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 the sincerity of both girls. In fact, the text has gone out of its way to repeatedly show us that in all outward factors (their love, their commitment to Naomi, and the sacrifice involved) the girls are exactly equal. Therefore, the text is preparing us to see that at the end of the day and despite all the extraneous factors, each girl’s decision will come down to the spiritual. That is, it will come down to what they truly worship.
10] We are right back where we started. However, notice the point: every detail of the women’s conversation that we just heard (all of its reasons, its emotional build up, and its tears) is provided so that we will be in a place to see the spiritual nature of the resolve that is about to happen. In other words, the text not only has us on the edge of our seats waiting for the resolve, it has also alerted us to what exactly we are looking for.