i 1 And it was in the days of the judging ii of the judges, so a famine was in all the land. And a man from House of Bread in Judah went to sojourn in fields of Moab, he and his woman and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, iii and his woman's name was Naomi, iv and name of his two sons, Mahlon v and Chilion vi Ephraimites from House of Bread, Judah. And they came in to fields of Moab and were there.
3 And Elimelech, Naomi's man, died, and she was left and her two sons. 4 And they took for themselves Moabite women, vii the name of the one, Orpah, and the name of the second, Ruth. viii And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 And also two of them, Mahlon and Chilion, died, and the woman was left from her two children and from her man.
6 And she arose (and her daughter-in-laws) and returned from fields of Moab, because she heard in fields of Moab that Yehvah had visited his people to give to them bread. ix 7 And she went out from the place where she was there, and her two daughter-in-laws with her, and they went on the way to return to land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said to her two daughter-in-laws, “Go, return, each to her mother's house. Yehvah deal with you kindly, just as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 Yehvah give to you and find rest, each her man's house.” And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.
10 And they said to her, “Surely, we shall return with you to your people.” 11 And Naomi said, “Return my daughters. Why go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, and they be for you for men? 12 Return, my daughters, go, for I am too old to belong to a man. If I say, 'I have hope. Also, tonight I belong to a man and also bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until when they grow up? Would you therefore be restrained to not belong to a man? No, my daughters, for it is much more bitter to me than for you that hand of Yehvah has gone out against me.” 14 And they lifted up their voice and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; and Ruth clung to her.
15 And she said to her, “Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her Gods. Return after your sister-in-law.” 16 And Ruth said, “Do not entreat me to leave you to return from after you. For, to where you go, I will go, and in where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people are my people, and your Gods, my Gods. 17 In where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus Yehvah do to me, and thus do again, if the death divides between me and you.” x 18 And she saw that she was determined to go with her, so she stopped speaking to her.
19 And the two of them went until coming to House of Bread. And it was, when coming to House of Bread, so all the city was stirred up because of them; and they said, xi “Is this Naomi?” 20 And she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi. Call me Bitter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went full and Yehvah brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, and Yehvah has answered against me; and the Almighty has done bad to me?”
22 And Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from fields of Moab. And they came to House of Bread at beginning of barely harvest.
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf.
- This is both the Hebrew, ת רו) Rut), and Greek, LXX Ρουθ (Routh), title. Up until this point, Genesis through Judges are all in the same order in the Hebrew and English Bibles. Ruth, on the other hand, is the eighth book in the English Bible and the twenty eighth book in the Hebrew Bible, just after Proverbs. ^
- טט שפ) shephot) “judging” YLT, CJB; “judged” Green, ASV, WEB; “ruled” NKJV, KJV, etc.; “governed” NAS. ^
- ךְךלְללמיימִא') eliymelech) “Elimelech” = “my God is king” - found also in Ruth 1:3; 2:1, 3; 4:3, 9. ^
- ממייִעעֳנ) nâ'âmiy) “Naomi” - found also in Ruth 1:3, 8, 11, 19-22, 2:1-2, 6, 20, 22; 3:1; 4:3, 5, 9, 14, 16-17. ^
- ן חחפלוְמ) machlon) “Mahlon” - found also in Ruth 1:5; 4:9-10. ^
- ן יו לפ כמי) khilon) “Chilion” - found also in Ruth 1:5; 4:9. ^
- Moabites are descendents of Lot (Genesis 19:37 see footnote). The Israelites committed sexual immorality and idolatry with Moabite women in Numbers 25:1-5. The Moabites are not in the list of forbidden marriages in Deuteronomy 7. Yet, Ezra condemns the Jews for marrying Moabite women in Nehemiah 13. Why? The concern given is their pagan faith. See Nehemiah 13:23-27. This concern is along the lines of Proverbs 12:26; 13:20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. ^
- ת רו) rut) “Ruth” - found also in Ruth 1:14, 16, 22; 2:2, 8, 21-22; 3:9; 4:5, 10, 13. ^
- םְעחֳל ךםְעהֳל) lâhem lâhem) “to them bread” - same words here - “to them” is the first word, “bread” is the second. ^
- With Ruth saying she will be buried where Naomi is buried, she declares death won't even separate them! ^
- ה עֳנ רפ חְטאמ ת) to'marnâh) “they said” KJV - feminine plural “they,” thus NKJV, NAS “the women said.” ^
And it was, as the ark of the covenant of Yehvah came into the camp that all Israel shouted a great shout, and the earth echoed. -- תזהשם) têhom) “echoed”; BDB “re-echoing”; KJV “rang again”; NAS “resounded”; NKJV, Green “shook” - same exact word as in Ruth 1:19 where the city was “stirred up” (TT), “excited” (NKJV).