A study of Ruth 1:19–22
“So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, “Is this Naomi?” And she said to them, “You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has caused me to be very bitter. I went away full, but Yahweh brought me back empty-handed! Why call me Naomi when Yahweh has testified against me and Shaddai has brought calamity upon me?” So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, returning from the countryside of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest of barley.”
Ruth 1:19-22 LEB
Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:
-Bethlehem: “בֵּ֣ית לָ֑חֶם”, “bêṯʹ lāʹ·ḥěm”; noun, proper, singular, absolute — Bethlehem = ‘house of bread’ or ‘place of bread (food)’; a city in Judah or present day Palestine, the birthplace of David and Jesus.
-Was Stirred: “וַתֵּהֹ֤ם”, “wa-tē·hōmʹ”; verb, Nifʿal, wayyiqtōl (waw-consecutive + imperfect), third person, feminine, singular — of a city: be in a stir.
-Naomi: “נָעֳמִֽי׃”, “nǒ·ʿǒmîʹ”; noun, proper, feminine, singular, absolute — Naomi = ‘my delight’ or ‘pleasant’, wife of Elimelech, mother of Mahlon and Chilion, mother-in-law of Ruth and Orpah.
-Mara: “מָרָ֔א”, “mā·rā(ʾ)ʹ”; adjective, feminine, singular, absolute — Mara = ‘bitter’ or ‘bitterness,’ a name that Naomi called herself due to her calamities; angry, chafed, discontented.
-Shaddai: “שַׁדַּ֛י”, “šǎd·dǎyʹ”; noun, proper, masculine, singular, absolute — the Almighty, Almighty, Most Powerful.
-Has Caused (Dealt With Me) Me To Be Bitter: “הֵמַ֥ר”, “hē·mǎrʹ”; verb, Hifʿîl, qātal (perfect), third person, masculine, singular — be bitter; be desperate, bewildered; make bitter.
-Full: “מְלֵאָ֣ה”, “melē·ʾā(h)ʹ”; adjective, feminine, singular, absolute — full, full of.
-Yahweh: “יְהוָ֥ה”, “YHWH”; noun, proper, masculine, singular, absolute — the Lord, the proper name of the one true God.
-Empty(-Handed): “רֵיקָ֖ם”, “rê·qāmʹ”; adverb — emptily, in empty condition, with empty hands; without possessions.
-Has Testified: “עָ֣נָה”, “āʹ·nā(h)”; verb, Qal, qātal (perfect), third person, masculine, singular — specifically: respond as a witness, testify; in Ruth 1:21: testify against.
-Has Brought Calamity (Has Afflicted): “הֵ֥רַֽע”, “hē·rǎʿʹ”; verb, Hifʿîl, qātal (perfect), third person, masculine, singular — to do evil or bad; treat badly.
Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):
When Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem the entire town was stirred up, and the people of the town saw Naomi and asked if it was in fact her. They recognized her correctly, but Naomi told them to call her “Mara,” which means bitter, because she “went away full” but the Lord, Yahweh, brought her back “empty-handed.” Naomi also asked, “Why call me “Naomi…” which means pleasant, “…when Yahweh has testified against me, and Shaddai (the Almighty) has brought calamity upon me?”
Implication (what does this mean to us):
These verses take place after the long, sorrowful and drawn out farewell between Naomi, Orpah and Ruth. Faced with first, the death of her husband about a decade prior, and now the death of her two sons, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem because she heard that Yahweh had brought an end to the famine. As a widow with no children, Naomi was in a very desperate economic situation in addition to grieving the loss of her husband and sons, and the break up of her family. And she urged Ruth and Orpah not to accompany her to Israel, but to instead return to their land, families and gods in Moab, where they would have a far higher chance at remarrying and enjoying a prosperous life in this world. But Naomi was not only concerned with their earthly well-being, she believed Yahweh was against her, and she was very bitter (v.13, 20–21). In addition to urging them to return to their families, in spite of their offers to go with her, Naomi also told them they shouldn’t stay with her because Yahweh was against her. She simultaneously declared the absolute sovereignty of Yahweh, even in pagan lands, and also essentially told them, “You should stay away from me, and away from Israel, because Yahweh is against me. Return to your land, families and gods so that it might go better for you” (v.8–9, 13, 15).
After quite a bit of tearful back and forth, Orpah kissed Naomi and went back to Moab, but Ruth clung to Naomi and would not leave her. Naomi urged her to follow Orpah back to “her people and to her gods,” but Ruth refused again and told Naomi to stop telling her to leave. Ruth declared that wherever Naomi went, lived and died, so would she. And she also declared that Naomi’s God, Yahweh, would be her God too. In spite of the fact that staying with Naomi and following Yahweh would likely mean a hard life as a destitute widow, Ruth considered the cost, and wisely determined it was worth it. We must make the same decision today. Jesus Christ is Yahweh. And when He calls us to follow Him, we must choose to value Him above anything in this world, even our own lives and families if that is what it takes (Luke 14:25–33). As we make the choice to follow Him, we must ask ourselves, “Is He worth it? Is He worthy?” And we must also remember that in Luke 18:29–30 (ESV) He said, “…Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
In these final verses of chapter 1, we read of Naomi and Ruth’s arrival in Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem. After making the long, mostly uphill journey from Moab to Bethlehem on foot, they arrived and the town was “stirred up” on account of their arrival. This means there was a type of excitement running through the town as word spread that Naomi had returned. Bethlehem was really just a large village, so everyone knew everyone else. They remembered her, but after about a decade away, they asked, “Is this Naomi?”. This is the same thing we often do when we see someone we have not seen for a while. We say things like, “Is that really you?”, or “How long has it been?”…etc. That is the general nature of this excitement. They had no social media or even a reliable postal service to keep in touch, and it had been around 10 years since Naomi left, so there was a hum of excitement running through the town as news of Naomi’s return spread.
In response to the people asking, “Is this Naomi?”, she replied, “You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has caused me to be very bitter.” Naomi means pleasant, and Mara means bitter. In Exodus 15:23–25, we read of a spring of bitter water, called “Marah,” that the people of Israel could not drink from, but that the Lord made sweet, even though they “grumbled” against Him. In Naomi we see a bitter follower of Yahweh, who He will soon make sweet with His tender mercies and loyal love. But at this stage Naomi is grieving the deaths of her sons and husband, and she is very bitter. Naomi does not sugar coat anything or put on a brave face. She tells the people to call her Mara, because life had not gone pleasantly for her in her time away from Yahweh’s people and land of promise, a place where Israelites were commanded to stay in Naomi’s day. There are a number of name changes in the Bible that reflect a person’s change in character or circumstances, such as when God changed Abram and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah. But Naomi’s self-inflicted name change is never honored by the author of Ruth. Unlike other name changes in the Bible, Naomi is never referred to by her chosen name “Mara” because God did not deal bitterly with her. In fact by the end of this book we will see Yahweh bless Naomi abundantly.
But Naomi is understandably having a hard time seeing the goodness of God in her life at this moment. As she took the final steps to Bethlehem, and saw the many familiar sights, she would have remembered when she left Bethlehem with her husband and two sons about 10 years prior. This would have likely made the pain of their loss all the more vibrant in her heart. And she tells the people of her hometown to call her Mara, because Shaddai had caused her to be very bitter. She went away “full,” but Yahweh brought her back empty handed. Shaddai means “Almighty”, and Yahweh is the divine name for the one true God. Naomi acknowledged that Yahweh, El Shaddai, the Almighty, is sovereign over all of time and space. Nothing that He has not allowed or commanded to happen, will happen, and that includes even calamity and afflictions (Deut. 32:23–24, 35, 39, 43; Is. 45:7; Amos 3:6; Jer. 18:11; Lam. 3:38;). But the difficulties that God sends or allows must always be understood in light of the character of God revealed in the context of the whole Bible. In whatever Yahweh decrees or allows, He is always perfectly just, all-knowing, loving and good (Deut. 32:4). Calamities and afflictions, at least in part, are meant to show us the danger of sin, and to alert us to our need for salvation and protection that can only be found in Yahweh, the Most High.
But Naomi went farther than recognizing God’s sovereignty over her suffering. By using a derivative of the term “ra’a’” in Hebrew, she accused Him of treating her unjustly when she said that He “brought calamity upon her”. The term ra’a’ is often used in the Bible when a person accuses God of unjustly harming them (Exodus 5:22; Num 11:11; 1 Kings 17:20). This is reminiscent of the accusations of Job against God as he wrestled with the suffering in His life (Job 16:9, 19:11). But similar to Job, Naomi will eventually experience abundant blessing from God. What Naomi, Job, and all of us today lack is the ability to see the end of the road of life. Yahweh, El Shaddai, Jesus our Lord, knows the beginning from the end. And He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This even includes those of us, like Job and Naomi, who worship and love Him, but are struggling with bitterness over the pain He has allowed or caused us to experience. Perfect obedience or response is not a requirement for God’s blessing. The perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ is the requirement, and this is freely available to everyone by grace alone through faith alone.
Once we are saved, we are not saved from calamity in this world, but we are saved for eternal, unending, overflowing pleasure and joy after our short lives in this world. We will all likely struggle with the kinds of thoughts and emotions Naomi struggled with. And the Bible provides many examples of faithful followers of Yahweh, like Naomi, who also struggled with these things. But the long story arc of the Bible reveals that the Almighty is working through the brokenness and suffering of this sinful world, to bring about a great and eternal deliverance of His people. Jesus uses the pain that the enemy tries to drown us with, to increase our reliance on Him, and to train us in righteousness. These temporary pains are bad, but Jesus will absolutely bring eternal good from them. We must pursue an eternal perspective of life and calamities that come. We must remember that this life is not the end, and Yahweh is not working against us. He works against our sinful nature and desires because He is our loving Father, and He wants what is best for us. But He does not work against us. He loves us and gave His only Son for us, how much more so will He continue to supply all our needs and shepherd us into His eternal and loving Kingdom? Shaddai is for us, even and especially when He sends calamity.
And as another reminder of what He is working to bring us into and save us from, we should read passages like Revelation 21:1–8 often that speak of the day when Yahweh will make all things new, and suffering, mourning and death will be no more. And He will dwell with us, and we will dwell with Him forever. We have a certain and confident hope in Christ.
Even as Naomi struggled with bitterness and grief over her loss, she humbly acknowledged Yahweh’s sovereignty over her suffering, and she moved closer to Him in a sense, by returning to Bethlehem and being obedient to the command Israelites at this time had to remain in the land and be separate from the pagan nations around them. And although she may have returned empty handed, by the end of this book, we will see Yahweh make her “full” again. For us as followers of Jesus today, we will experience things that make us feel empty. We will all experience loss of one kind or another, whether it is loved ones, dreams, or aspirations. But we must look up from our pain to our loving Father in heaven.
As followers of Jesus, we have been given treasure of which we can never be emptied. We have been given the bread of life and living water that satisfies for eternity. We have the very Spirit of Christ Himself dwelling inside of us in full and overflowing measure. As we follow Christ we will join Him in drinking from the bitter cup of suffering and affliction, but as Romans 8:17 says, we who suffer with Him, will also be glorified with Him. Suffering and affliction are bad, but it is good for us to experience humbling circumstances that strip us of pride and self-reliance. Affliction by itself does us no good, but affliction endured in reliance on Christ, is an incredibly powerful catalyst for change and growth in the Holy Spirit.
Naomi came back to Bethlehem bitter and sorrowful. But she also came back humble and honest about her pain. And it is humility and repentance that lead to blessing. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So let us, in reliance on the Holy Spirit in us, turn to God in humble repentance, and humble reliance on Him in seasons of plenty and in seasons of suffering. The calamities God sends or allows, are His loving way of training us and emptying us of sin, so that He can fill us with His Spirit and love. We can and should lament the pain we experience, but we must also cling to God and turn from lament to praise and thanksgiving because He is worthy of our worship, love and adoration at all times.
Finally, in verse 22 we read that Naomi returned to Bethlehem, with her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess, at the beginning of the barley harvest. God had brought an end to the famine, and as Naomi returned, the harvest season had just begun, starting with the barley crops. It is believed that this harvest generally began around the end of April.
Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):
This passage should cause us to honestly acknowledge the pain and suffering in our lives as being from God, because He is sovereign over every single detail of time and space. But it should also cause us to prayerfully consider His character in light of what we know about Him. In our sinfulness and finitude, whatever we do not know or understand about our suffering does not change what we do know. God is for us, and as we cling to Him in times of suffering and affliction, He will refine us and shape us more and more into His glorious image. He will use painful circumstances to purify us of sin, as He trains us in righteousness because He is our loving Father. He gives good gifts to us, and He uses the attacks of the enemy and the suffering that is unavoidable in a fallen world to rescue us from sin and the eternal condemnation that awaits all those who do not take refuge in Christ Jesus.
This knowledge should cause us to honestly lament the pain we experience, as we also turn from lament to praise and thanksgiving. These short, painful lives, will burst forth into glorious, eternal and joyful life one day for all those who put their faith in Jesus. When we feel empty, and this world will empty us, we must come to the fountain of life and be filled. We must come to Christ, and live.
Self Reflection:
What circumstances in my life are causing me to wrestle with bitterness, sorrow and feelings of emptiness?
What promises from God in the Bible has He given to us to encourage us and give us an eternal perspective and hope in the middle of temporary affliction and suffering?
Is Jesus worthy of my praise and adoration in all seasons of life? Is He worth it?
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