The big picture
Naomi, the wife of Elimelech, leaves home with him during a famine. They are from Beth-lehem-judah, a town in the nation of Israel. They settle in Moab, a nearby country, with their two sons. Death leaves Naomi and her sons' wives without husbands. Naomi decides to return when she hears that God has given food to his people. Ruth, one daughter-in-law, insists on going with her. Their arrival at harvest time places deep grief beside the beginning of a new season.
In this chapter
- Famine Leads a Family Away from Home Ruth 1:1-5
During the time of the judges, a famine drives Elimelech's family from Beth-lehem-judah to Moab.
- Ruth Refuses to Leave Naomi Ruth 1:6-18
News reaches Naomi that the famine has ended through God's care, so she starts home.
- Naomi Names Her Bitter Experience Ruth 1:19-22
The two women reach Beth-lehem, and the town is stirred by Naomi's return.
Central truth
Ruth binds herself to Naomi and her God, while Naomi returns home carrying grief that the first signs of harvest do not erase.
Scripture beside the summary
Ruth · King James Version · 22Ruth 1:1-5
Famine Leads a Family Away from Home
During the time of the judges, a famine drives Elimelech's family from Beth-lehem-judah to Moab. His wife Naomi and sons Mahlon and Chilion settle there with him. Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi with the two sons. They marry Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. After about ten years, both sons die as well. Naomi is left without her husband or either son. The move began as a search for food and life, but repeated deaths leave the household with losses that a change of place has not prevented.
In everyday life
A migrant grandmother sorts three coats that no one in her household will wear again. The family moved for work and a safer income, but deaths have changed what the new home means. She folds each coat slowly before calling her daughters-in-law. Naomi's losses belong to a family whose return will connect Ruth with Israel and its God.
Notice
Ruth 1:5 The loss is counted through both sons and the husband. Naomi's condition at the end is shaped by repeated bereavement, not only the hardship of the original famine.
Ruth 1:1-5
King James Version1Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
3And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Ruth 1:6-18
Ruth Refuses to Leave Naomi
News reaches Naomi that the famine has ended through God's care, so she starts home. She urges both daughters-in-law to return to their mothers and find new husbands. She blesses their kindness but sees no future she can offer them. Orpah weeps and leaves. Ruth stays, refusing to be sent away. She commits herself to Naomi's home, people and God, and says even burial will be shared. Naomi stops pressing when she sees Ruth's resolve. Ruth's choice reaches past immediate comfort into a whole life joined to Naomi.
In everyday life
The adult student declines a funded move so she can remain with the aunt who raised her. She names the practical costs and still makes the choice without demanding repayment. The aunt stops trying to send her away when she hears that firm resolve. Ruth's pledge also includes Naomi's people, God, death and burial.
Notice
Ruth 1:16 Ruth joins commitment to Naomi with commitment to Naomi's people and God. Her answer is larger than an offer to accompany an older relative for a short visit.
Ruth 1:6-18
King James Version6Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
7Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
8And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
9The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
10And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
11And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
12Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
13Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
14And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
15And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
17Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
18When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
Ruth 1:19-22
Naomi Names Her Bitter Experience
The two women reach Beth-lehem, and the town is stirred by Naomi's return. She asks to be called Mara, a name linked with bitterness, because she believes God has dealt harshly with her. She says she left full and has come back empty. Her words give voice to what death has taken from her. Ruth is still beside her, though Naomi speaks from deep loss. They arrive as the barley harvest begins. The season offers food, but the closing detail does not cancel the sorrow she has named.
In everyday life
The bereaved homeowner returns to a street where neighbours remember her bustling family. Their warm greetings meet a person who feels the house is empty despite their kindness. A neighbour leaves groceries without asking her to sound hopeful. Care can begin while grief still speaks plainly. Naomi interprets her losses in relation to God's own dealings with her.
Notice
Ruth 1:22 The return coincides with the start of barley harvest. That timing opens a way for food without requiring Naomi's bitter words to disappear first.
Ruth 1:19-22
King James Version19So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Ruth 1:1 begins with “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the…”
Where the chapter turns
Ruth 1:11 forms a natural hinge: “And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?”
The final note
Ruth 1:22 leaves the reader with “So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Naomi, daughters, Moab, return, sons help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
