A Destitute Widow in a Foreign Land

A Study of Ruth 1:2–5

”The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.“
‭‭Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Elimelech: “אֱלִימֶלֶךְ”, “‘ĕlîmeleḵ”; noun, proper, masculine, singular, absolute — Elimelech = ‘God is King’, Naomi’s husband.

-Wife: “אִשְׁתּ֨”, “ʾištʹ”; noun, common, feminine, singular, construct — woman, wife, female.

-Naomi: “נָעֳמִ֜י”, “nǒ·ʿǒmîʹ”; noun, proper, feminine, singular, absolute — Naomi = ‘pleasant’ or ‘my delight’; the wife of Elimelech, the mother in law of Ruth.

-Mahlon: “מַחְל֤וֹן”, “mǎḥ·lônʹ”; noun, proper, masculine, singular, absolute — Mahlon = ‘sick’, the son of Elimelech and Naomi.

-Chilion: “כִלְיוֹן”, “ḵil·yônʹ”; noun, proper, masculine, singular, absolute — Chilion = ‘pining/wasting ;’ the son of Elimelech and Naomi.

-Ephrathites: “אֶפְרָתִ֔ים”, “ʾěp̄·rā·ṯîmʹ”; adjective, masculine, plural, absolute — Ephrathite = ‘ashiness: fruitfulness’, a descendant of Ephraim, an inhabitant of Bethlehem.

-Bethlehem: “בֵּ֧ית לֶ֣חֶם”, “bêṯʹ lěʹ·ḥěm”; noun, proper, singular, absolute — Beth-lehem = ‘house of bread’; a city in Judah, the birthplace of king David and King Jesus.

-Judah: “יְהוּדָה”, “yᵊhûḏâ”; noun, proper, singular, absolute — Judah = ‘praised’, the territory occupied by the tribe of Judah.

-Moab: “מוֹאָב”, “mô’āḇ”; noun, proper, singular, absolute — Moab = ‘of his father’, the territory of Moab. Moab was the son of Lot’s eldest daughter.

-Husband: “‎אִישׁ”, “îšʹ”; noun, common, singular, construct — man, husband,

-Died: “וַיָּמָת”, “yāʹ·mǒṯ”; verb, Qal, wayyiqtōl (waw-consecutive + imperfect), third person, masculine, singular — (Qal) to die, perish.

-Wives: “נָשִׁים֙”, “nā·šîmʹ”; noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — woman, wife, female.

-Orpah: “עָרְפָּה”, “ǒr·pā(h)ʹ”; noun, proper, feminine, singular, absolute — Orpah = ‘gazelle’, the sister in law of Ruth.

-Ruth: “ר֑וּת”, “rûṯʹ”; noun, proper, feminine, singular, absolute — Ruth = ‘friend’ or ‘friendship’, daughter in law of Naomi, wife of Boaz, great-grandmother of David.

-Lived: “יֵּ֥שְׁבוּ”, “yēʹ·šeḇû”; verb, Qal, wayyiqtōl (waw-consecutive + imperfect), third person, masculine, plural — (Qal) to dwell, live, remain, stay.

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

A man named Elimelech moved from Bethlehem in Judah, to the country of Moab with his wife Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, because there was a famine in their homeland. While they lived there, Elimelech died, and his two sons each married a Moabite woman. One of the women was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. They lived in Moab for about 10 years, but then Mahlon and Chilion also died without having any children. At this point Naomi was left a childless widow in a foreign land with her two childless, daughter in laws.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In the first verse of this chapter, we read of a “certain man” from Bethlehem in Judah, who took his family to Moab because of famine in his own land. This was during the time when Judges ruled Israel. The Judges were people God raised up and empowered to defeat specific enemies who were oppressing Israel. And they included famous figures like Gideon, Samson, and Deborah, just to name a few. These were incredibly dark times in Israel’s history. They were supposed to unite as a people under God as their King. But they frequently rebelled and worshiped the gods of the pagan nations around them. God had commanded them not to do this, but they did it anyway.

As the people rebelled and worshiped other Gods, God would essentially hold His hands up and say, “Fine. You want these gods? Then let them protect you and provide for you.” But of course, only the one true God, Yahweh, could be their provider and protector. So, when He removed His protection, they would be oppressed by other nations and experience things like famine, enslavement and death. The people would then cry out to the Lord and repent of their rebellious wickedness, and God would raise up a Judge to rescue them and lead them back to Himself. These were the times of the Judges. And the book of Ruth opens with a “certain man” and his family caught in one of these cycles. During a time of famine this “certain man” led his family out of the promised land, and into pagan territory in search of food and a new life.

This man’s name was “Elimelech,” and his wife’s name was Naomi. Elimelech means “God is King,” but sadly, Elimelech did not live that way. At this time the people of Israel were commanded to remain in the promised land, and not to associate or intermarry with the pagan nations around them. Pagan people could come to Israel and convert to the worship of Yahweh, but Israelites were never to leave and convert to pagan worship. And hard times in Israel were never cited as an acceptable reason to flee to pagan lands. The idea is that it is better to obey God than to disobey, even if it costs you your life. As Christians we do not have a command to remain in a specific location. When hard times come, it might be God’s will for us to stay put, or it might be for us to move on. Each situation must be handled on a case by case basis. What we are supposed to see is our command to remain in Christ and in His revealed will no matter what.

Difficult circumstances are never an excuse to violate God’s expressly stated will. As an Israelite at this time, Elimelech was violating God’s commands to remain in the land and to remain separate from the pagan nations around them. They were to be “holy” as God is holy. Holy means ‘set apart.’ They were to remain set apart as a people in covenant relationship with the Lord. But when times got hard, and it looked like it might cost him his life to obey the Lord, Elimelech buckled and fled. How do we respond to hard times and painful circumstances? Do we start to make sinful compromises? Or do we lean into Christ and cling to Him all the more? We must remain, or “abide” in Christ, by the power of His Spirit in us, and in total reliance on Him, no matter what sort of public shame, discomfort, suffering or calamity comes our way. Because Jesus is worthy of our trust at all times, and He will absolutely shepherd us through every dark valley we have to walk through in this life, into a glorious, perfect eternity.

With the scene now set for us, we turn to Naomi and the rest of the family. Naomi was Elimelech’s wife, and her name is derived from a Hebrew word that means “pleasant.” They had two sons named “Mahlon” and “Chilion,” and their names are derived from words that mean “sickness” and “wasting/pining” respectively. Although, the meaning of Chilion is less certain. Maybe their names had something to do with a sickly, physical nature, or maybe their names are recorded this way by the author of Ruth simply to foreshadow their early deaths. Whatever the case though, they were the sons of Elimelech and Naomi. And this family was from Behtlehem in Judah, the city where both David, and eventually Jesus would be born.

Verse 3 tells us this family went into Moab and remained there. Instead of remaining in the promised land, they went to a pagan land and “remained” there. We should think of the word “abide” when we hear the word “remain,” because that is what it means. And we should think of the words of Jesus when He said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭9‬-‭11).‬

But they did not abide in the Lord and obey His command to remain in the land. They went to Moab. This detail would have been quite shocking to people in this time and place. Moab was originally the son of Abraham’s nephew Lot (Gen 19:30–38), and from him came the nation of Moab. Israel and Moab also had a violent history. A Moabite king had tried to destroy Israel on their way to the promised land, and Moab and Israel fought a lot during the time of the Judges. There is even some pretty harsh prophecy of judgment against Moab for their treatment of Israel in Isaiah 25:10, “For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.” In that verse from Isaiah, Moab is used to represent all the nations who will be judged and brought low on the day of Christ’s second coming. So, we can see from this, that at the very least, Moab and Israel had a turbulent history, and Elimelech’s decision to flee there illustrates the level of desperation he felt, and his lack of trust in God. His desire to provide for his family is admirable, but his decision to disobey God was in no way justified by his good desire to provide. The end never justifies the means. The sinfulness of man can never accomplish the righteousness of God.

In verse 3 we read that Elimelech died in Moab, and it seems he may have died not long after they got there. This means Naomi was left alone with her two sons Mahon and Chilion. They had fled outside of God’s will for them to stay in Israel, and their lives did not get easier. We have no reason to believe Elimelech died as a result of direct judgment for leaving the promised land. What we do know is that now, Naomi and his children had to bear the grief and hardship of losing the husband and father of the home in a foreign land, far away from their friends and family. This was intended to be a “sojourn,” meaning they likely intended to return home once the famine ended. Elimelech thought he could make this one little compromise and then return. But one way or another, sin always has consequences. We don’t know why Elimelech died, so we shouldn’t assume it was precisely because they left Bethlehem. But we do know they should not have gone to Moab, and now, because Elimelech died, Naomi and her sons are in an even tougher situation than they were before.

Instead of stopping the rot, cutting their losses, and making the difficult journey home, they remained in Moab, and Mahlon and Chilion each married Moabite women, Ruth and Oprah. It is not entirely clear who married who, but the main point is this was further disobedience to God. Now, they had violated God’s command not to intermarry with the pagan nations around them. One compromise with sin, only led to another. As their father had disregarded the Lord’s command to remain separate in their own land, they went a step further and married women from that land and culture.

Next, we read that they lived there for about 10 years, and then both Mahlon and Chilion died without having sired any children. Now, Naomi has also lost her two sons, and is left a destitute widow, with her two widowed daughter in laws. This meant a future of abject poverty for Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. Widows were on the lowest rung of the economic ladder in this time and place, because they had no one to support them. And Naomi is in an even more difficult place because she has been left widowed in a foreign land, far away from her family and friends. There were no non-profits or government programs she could go to for help. She had to rely completely on the generosity of people around her, and this generosity would probably be much harder to come by as a foreigner in a foreign land. This is the opening to the book of Ruth, and the situation described could hardly be more desperate.

Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to prayerfully examine where we are struggling to abide in Christ and in His love through obedience to His commands. In other words, as we read this passage we should consider where we are in jeopardy of compromising on sin because of difficult or even painful circumstances in our own lives. To abide in Jesus and His love, means to obey His commands. We can’t obey perfectly, and obedience is not something we do to get something from God. Obedience to God is something that we grow in because we abide in Him. Obedience flows from the love of Christ and love for Christ in us. Obedience is not how we abide in Jesus and His love. Obedience is the result of abiding in Jesus and in His love.

If we are trapped in a cycle of disobedience in an area where we have compromised, we do not need to stop it and clean ourselves up in order to come to God. We need to stop the rot by coming to God right in the middle of our sin. Whether we are contemplating sin or actively engaging in it, we must go to God in prayer. He is the only one who can free us from our sin and make us clean. If we have journeyed into spiritually, pagan territory, we must stop the rot and leave, no matter how hard it might be. We must not settle down further and marry ourselves to the sinful passions we are tempted by. Going deeper will only make things worse. Going deeper into sin only produces more heartache and death. We can’t compromise with sin or control it. Sin is a cruel master that entices with sweet words and gentle coos, but once it has bound its victim tightly, it will kill them and dance on their grave.

Most importantly, freedom from sin is only possible by the power of Jesus Christ. It is only by the power of His Spirit in us, which He gives to all Christians immediately upon receiving salvation, that sin can be mastered and defeated. Therefore, we must never try to clean ourselves up by our own power to “get right with God.” It is only by coming to God, honestly confessing our sin, and asking for His forgiveness and help to overcome it, that we can be made right with Him. Jesus has defeated sin and death, and He freely offers to share this victory with us, when we confess our sin, and believe in Him alone as our Lord and Savior.

Self Reflection:

Where am I struggling to abide in Christ right now?

How can I grow in the practice of honestly telling God what sin I am struggling with? And how can I begin to daily, even minute by minute sometimes, rely on Him and plead for deliverance from the sin that seeks to master me?

How does the knowledge that Jesus Christ has completely conquered the power of sin and death give me bold confidence of victory in this battle against sin?