Thanks for stopping by. You can watch the video made from these notes below on YouTube @genahood2818
You can watch my teachings LIVE on Wednesdays at 11 a.m., at www.MessianicLambRadio.com
Mishkan Katan 4
April 19, 2023
Ruth 1:5-14
Quickly re-capped Lot and his daughters, where we left off last time.
Back to Elimelech’s sons...
According to page Xliii of the Introduction of Megillas Ruth, the ArtScroll Tanach Series, it had been seven centuries earlier that the kingdom of Moab had been spawned. According to the Sages, the spark that Lot had kindled had traveled through the generations until it was found in one of the daughters of the Moabite king, Eglon. The ancillary sources refer to Ruth and Orpah as being sisters, princesses who were the daughters of Eglon. We are going to read about King Eglon in Judges 3. It is not a pretty tale.
12Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So, He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.b
14The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. 15And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
16Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long.c He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak 17and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
18After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it. 19But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”
“Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.
20Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
21And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 22Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied. 23Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
24After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said. 25So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.
26Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader. 28“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.”
So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.
30So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
It is possible that the story of Ruth occurred during the 80 years of “rest” the Hebrews had from the Moabites. However, historians place the reign of King Eglon too early (around 1350 BCE for this to be the case, if you try to reconcile that with when King David began to reign (1010 BCE).
Regardless, it is said in extra-scriptural midrashic texts that these two sister-princesses became sisters-in-law. This brings us back to the question of whether or not Elimelech brought his wealth with him to Moab. You can bet that women of this magnitude would not have been given in marriage to just any “Tom, Dick or Harry”. Mahlon and Chilion had to have had some financial means to gain their hands in marriage.
But, note also that this occurred after the death of Elimelech who, it could be claimed would have never allowed his sons to stoop so low. On the other hand, it did appear from the Scriptures that the family was in Moab to stay. Regardless, there is nothing in Scripture to indicate that these pagan women were required to undergo conversion or even ritual purification before their marriages.
There is a legal word in Hebrew “Laqach”, which means “to take”. It is a legal term applied to legal marriage under Torah. The word used in Ruth 1:4 is a less legally binding form of attachment, the word וַיִּשְׂא֣וּ “vye-yee-SOO". By this usage, the sages deduced that these men were not legally married to these foreign women. Even though their offspring with these women would have been considered non-Jewish, Mahlon and Chilion did not care. They were operating according to their own selfish desires.
Another way the judgment of God was revealed on this family is that neither of the women, the wives, bore any children in the ten years they were married to Mahlon and Chilion. Hope was fading for the line of Elimelech to endure. Any hope Naomi had left was beginning to fade, and the seeds of bitterness were planted in her heart.
Then, the judgment of God continued. God would exact a price for these two “princes” from the royal line of the tribe of Judah having married foreign wives.
Verse 5:
Vai-yah-moh-TOH gahm sheh-nai-HEM MachLON veh KeelYON vah-Teesh-AYR ha-ee-SHAH meesh-NAY
Yeh-lah-DEH-ha oo-may-ee-SHAH-aa
וַיָּמ֥וּתוּ גַם־שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם מַחְלֹ֣ון וְכִלְיֹ֑ון וַתִּשָּׁאֵר֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה מִשְּׁנֵ֥י יְלָדֶ֖יהָ וּמֵאִישָֽׁהּ׃
And died also the two of them, Mahlon and Chilion. So survived the woman two her sons and her husband.
Inconceivably, in episodes reminiscent of Job, both of Naomi’s sons died of illness. We can determine this because of their names. Note that in this verse the two sons are no longer referred to as Ephrathites, nor is any other honor mentioned. They died childless; so, in the terms of Hebrew theology at the time, their ancestral line had ended. Their names had been “blotted out.” Naomi had survived both her husband AND her two sons. The future of all three women was very uncertain.
Verse 6
Vah-tak-Kahn hee veh-vah-loh-TEH-hah vah-tah-SHAV mee-soh-dai Moav bee shahm-AH
beesh-day Moav bee-fah-KAHD Yahweh et ah-MOHV lah-TAYT lah-HEM lechem
וַתָּ֤קָם הִיא֙ וְכַלֹּתֶ֔יהָ וַתָּ֖שָׁב מִשְּׂדֵ֣י מֹואָ֑ב כִּ֤י שָֽׁמְעָה֙ בִּשְׂדֵ֣ה מֹואָ֔ב כִּֽי־פָקַ֤ד יְהוָה֙ אֶת־עַמֹּ֔ו לָתֵ֥ת לָהֶ֖ם לָֽחֶם׃
And arose she and with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moav. For she had heard in the country of Moav that Yahweh had attended to His people, by giving them bread.
No-oh-MEE arose, likely after the period of mourning was past. Perhaps she was afraid that she and her two daughters-in-law would die if they remained in that cursed place for one more day....We see that “she arose” is singular, which indicates that there was singularity of agreement in Naomi’s mind and that her DILs agreed afterwards with her decision. Once the famine was over in the land of Israel, Jewish peddlers again began peddling Jewish grains in the area. It is likely that from one of them Naomi heard that there was once again food in her homeland. Bread in the House of Bread, Beit Lechem (Bethlehem), the hometown of Naomi, later of Ruth, of King David and ultimately the birthplace of the Bread of Life, our Messiah.
Verse 7:
Therefore, she went out from the place where she was there, and two her daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
וַתֵּצֵ֗א מִן־הַמָּקֹום֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָיְתָה־שָׁ֔מָּה וּשְׁתֵּ֥י כַלֹּתֶ֖יהָ עִמָּ֑הּ וַתֵּלַ֣כְנָה בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ לָשׁ֖וּב אֶל־אֶ֥רֶץ יְהוּדָֽה׃
Vah-Tayt-SAY meen hah-mah-KOM ah-SHER hah-yeh-TAH shah-MAH oo-sh-TAI cah-loh-TEH-hah
eee-MAHHH vah-tay-LAKH-nah vah-DEH-rekh lah-SHUV el-Eretz Yehudah
Now, the text here says in the Hebrew “they set out” and “they walked”, which is somewhat redundant. The word “walk” in Hebrew has a dual meaning. It can mean physically walking. It can also mean journeying in general. It can also mean following the laws of God, in this case the Torah given by Moses. It is because of the redundancy of meaning that some commentators infer that Naomi was talking with the DILs about how to become a proselyte, that is, how to convert.
When I was 16 I started college, in a town about an hour and a half from my home. The college was a Bible college, a very self-contained environment, a culture all its own. The rules of decorum and behavior were quite different from how I had lived in my parents’ home, as the rules on campus were more proscribed, more strict. I was often asked by people my age how I could abide such a tangle of new rules - - rules upon rules upon rules. My response was that it was not difficult, because everyone was adhering to the same code of conduct. It was the “halacha” there on that campus.
I can see some parallels to the conversation Naomi might have had with the younger women. My guess is that Elimelech and his sons had not led particularly Torah-observant homes, in Moav. It is entirely possible the daughters-in-law did not realize “what they were getting into”, and that Naomi was teaching about the Torah-observant life as they journeyed. Perhaps she thought there was no reason to train them in the ways of the Lord, prior to this time.
We also see the phrase “lah shoov”, “to return” in this verse. Again, superfluous, for the sake of efficiency... The verse could have merely read “they went on the way to the land of Judah”. Why mention the word “return”.... Well, “return” and “repentance” are closely-related concepts in Scripture. According to Strong’s concordance the word is used over 1000 times. Sometimes, it merely means to go back to where you have been. Other times, such as in Zechariah 1.3 and 2 Chron. 30:9, it means “Return unto the Lord.” There are never any accidents or superfluous words in Scripture. Perhaps this seeming redundancy is present because it means to indicate that Naomi was returning in more ways than just the physical, and that she was taking up the duty of a God-fearing family matriarch, to school her daughters-in-law in the ways of the Lord God. Of course, neither Orpah nor Ruth had ever been to Judah or to larger Israel; so here in the text, the only one who could actually, physically return was Naomi.
Do you think she started her return journey with trepidation in her heart? After all, if she and her family were perceived as some sort of deserters, would she be welcomed back in? She was returning home with little to nothing. How would she and her daughters-in-laws live?! Perhaps it was thoughts like these that caused her to pause on the journey and have a frank conversation with Orpah and Ruth. And, what must the two younger women have thought about the lifestyle changes that would be associated with “walking like a Hebrew”...
Verse 8:
And said, Naomi, to two her daughters-in-law, go return each to house of her mother, deal Yahweh with you(pl) lovingkindness (chesed), as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.
וַתֹּ֤אמֶר נָעֳמִי֙ לִשְׁתֵּ֣י כַלֹּתֶ֔יהָ לֵ֣כְנָה שֹּׁ֔בְנָה אִשָּׁ֖ה לְבֵ֣ית אִמָּ֑הּ [יַעֲשֶׂה כ] (יַ֣עַשׂ ק) יְהוָ֤ה עִמָּכֶם֙ חֶ֔סֶד כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר עֲשִׂיתֶ֛ם עִם־הַמֵּתִ֖ים וְעִמָּדִֽי׃
Vai-toh-MER No-oh-MEE Leesh-TAI Cai-TEH-hah layk-NAH showv-NAH ee-SHAH leh-BAYT
ee-MAHHH yah-ah-SEH or yah-ahs kuh/keh Yahweh ee-mah-CHEM KEH-sed cah-ah-SHER ah-see-TEM
Eem hah-may-TEEM veh-ee-mah-dee
Now, note something interesting in this verse. Naomi is enjoining the two young women to return to the home of their mother. Could it be that no father was mentioned because the King was dead, having been killed by Elud, one of the judges? Could it be that “their mother” indicates they were, indeed, sisters who shared the same mother? Could it be that, in her teaching of them along the road, she had picked up some reticence, some slight rejection of the Torah life she was describing, from Orpah? Regardless, she addressed her comments to both young women, showing no bias toward Ruth, whether she realized the strength of Ruth’s commitment or not. Other commentators theorize she did not want to be embarrassed by returning home with a couple of Moabitesses in tow.
But, I want to tell you about a practice in conversion to Judaism, that is in practice to this day. The rabbis over the years have ruled that one must attempt to dissuade a would-be convert three times before proceeding on with the conversion process. This attempt in verse 8 is that first attempt to dissuade. (Just a look ahead: The other two attempts are in vs. 11 and 12.) It is believed, though, that this attempt was more than a mere attempt to dissuade from conversion, that it was a sincere attempt to provide for the well-being of these young women. The reason this is said is due to the word “go” being used in addition to “return”. “Return” would have been the traditional word used in dissuading; “go” is more forceful. It is in the imperative form, a command.
What an unselfish act on Naomi’s part! She was willing to face the future alone, rather than encumber her daughters-in-law with her welfare. Then, she blessed them, regardless of their choice, she gave them a blessing. Blessings were not given lightly; they had great significance.
The word “chesed” in Scripture is one of the most beautiful descriptors of God. It is often translated “lovingkindness”. According to Strong’s concordance, “chesed” appears 247 times and is translated most often “lovingkindness”, “mercy”, but also as “piety” or “loyalty”. In the greatest majority of the time, it is a characteristic ascribed to God, although in a few instances it is used to describe godly people.
The verb tense of “chesed” used here in this verse is the future tense, “He will CERTAINLY deal kindly” is the meaning.
When Naomi says that the women have dealt kindly with “the dead”, she is not only paying tribute to their devotion to their husbands during the men’s lifetimes, but also to their devotion in going through the period of mourning, and additionally their
posthumous kindnesses to Naomi. Even though neither had children, they had not rushed to re-marry. They had gone “above and beyond”.
These women had had marriages which were, at best, overshadowed by sadness because neither had been able to bear children. For ten years. Then, their husbands had died, possibly KilYON after an extended, wasting illness. Then, there had been a year of the mourning period. They had (possibly) been Moabite princesses
Vs. 9
יִתֵּ֤ן יְהוָה֙ לָכֶ֔ם וּמְצֶ֣אןָ מְנוּחָ֔ה אִשָּׁ֖ה בֵּ֣ית אִישָׁ֑הּ וַתִּשַּׁ֣ק לָהֶ֔ן וַתִּשֶּׂ֥אנָה קֹולָ֖ן וַתִּבְכֶּֽינָה׃
Yee-TAYN Yahweh. lah-CHEM. oo-meh-tseh-neh meh-NOO-kah ee-SHAH. bayt ee-SHAHHH
Vah-tee-SHAK. Lah-HEN. koh-LAHN Vah-tee-SEH-nah
He will give, Yahweh, to you and you will find rest each in the house of her husband; and she kissed to them and they lifted up their voice and wept.
In this verse, Naomi elaborates on her blessing that she began to pronounce in verse 8. She specifically prays that the Lord would bless the women with domestic contentment…that each of them would marry again and that those unions would be good ones. That they would be secure. Isn’t security very important to us women? It is one of the highest priorities to a woman. Men are very different. They do not usually marry for purposes of “security”. I know in my own home, I am the one who insists on us setting the alarm system, for instance. My husband just does not think about it. That’s just one silly example. The stakes were much higher in biblical times, and in some world cultures today. A woman without a husband in those days was quite vulnerable, quite “insecure” you might say.
Interestingly, the Hebrew word for “husband” is baal, which when the first letter is capitalized becomes Baal. The word means “Lord”. Isn’t that fascinating?
Why do you think she kissed them, and that the Bible mentions this? What do you believe this conveys? {A parting embrace, most likely, as well as a gesture of deep affection}
It is not clear from the text who is judged to be weeping here. The plural “they” is used, but that could mean only the daughters-in-law or it could be all three of them. (Or, in a long shot, it could have been one DIL and Naomi…). Perhaps Naomi cried because in sending them back, she was severing a last connection with her dead sons. That would have made me cry, for sure. And, they had been “family” for over 11 years. Don’t you imagine she thought of them as “daughters”? So, now, after losing a husband, two grown sons and her financial sustenance, she is (in an act of supreme self-sacrifice) willing to send away the other two humans closest to her in this world? Wow, that’s….stunning.
Vs. 10
וַתֹּאמַ֖רְנָה־לָּ֑הּ כִּי־אִתָּ֥ךְ נָשׁ֖וּב לְעַמֵּֽךְ׃
Vah-toh-MAR-nah. Lahhhh. Kee ee-TAHK. nah-SHOOV. leh-ah-MAKE
And they said to her, “Surely, with you, we will return to your people.”
This is the first joint declaration by the younger women that they will go on with Naomi. It is interesting, though, that they refer to the nation of Israel as “your people”. Some see this statement as indicative of merely settling with the Jews, but not a willingness to convert. However, one cannot join the Jewish nation without converting to Judaism. It was that way then, and it is that way now. Say you wanted to go live in Israel, but you cannot prove Jewish bloodline/heritage. You would have to marry an Israeli citizen in a marriage ceremony approved in advance by the State, and you would have to convert to the religion of the citizen you were marrying. Very hard to emigrate to Israel.
Ok, back to our story. In Naomi’s mind, if they proceeded on with her, they would be whole-heartedly converting.
Vs. 11
וַתֹּ֤אמֶר נָעֳמִי֙ שֹׁ֣בְנָה בְנֹתַ֔י לָ֥מָּה תֵלַ֖כְנָה עִמִּ֑י הַֽעֹֽוד־לִ֤י בָנִים֙ בְּֽמֵעַ֔י וְהָי֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם לַאֲנָשִֽׁים׃
Vah-TOH-mer no-oh-MEE. SHOAV-nah. beh-no-TAI. LAH-mah. tay-LAHV-nah ee-MEE. hah-OHD. Lee. bah-NEEM. beh-MAY-ah. veh-hah-YOO. lah-CHEM. Lah-ah-nah-SHEEM.
And she said, No-oh-mee, “Turn back, my daughters! Why you will go with me? Still to me are sons in my womb, and they will be to you husbands?!”
As previously mentioned, this was the second attempt to dissuade the women from continuing on to Judah. With her metaphorical statement, Naomi is declaring Elimelech’s bloodline as good as dead. The secret she was keeping, however, was Levirate marriage, which we will delve into in more detail later. Even Levirate marriage would not apply to a son yet unborn, however. Her somewhat sarcastic question to them was actually a loving gesture. If she could produce more sons for them to marry, she would. Naomi faced a lonely, barren future, one from which she wanted to spare her beloved “daughters”.
Vs. 12-13
שֹׁ֤בְנָה בְנֹתַי֙ לֵ֔כְןָ כִּ֥י זָקַ֖נְתִּי מִהְיֹ֣ות לְאִ֑ישׁ כִּ֤י אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ יֶשׁ־לִ֣י תִקְוָ֔ה גַּ֣ם הָיִ֤יתִי הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ לְאִ֔ישׁ וְגַ֖ם יָלַ֥דְתִּי בָנִֽים׃
הֲלָהֵ֣ן ׀ תְּשַׂבֵּ֗רְנָה עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִגְדָּ֔לוּ הֲלָהֵן֙ תֵּֽעָגֵ֔נָה לְבִלְתִּ֖י הֱיֹ֣ות לְאִ֑ישׁ אַ֣ל בְּנֹתַ֗י כִּֽי־מַר־לִ֤י מְאֹד֙ מִכֶּ֔ם כִּֽי־יָצְאָ֥ה בִ֖י יַד־יְהוָֽה׃
SHOAV-nah beh-noh-TAI. Lay-kh-NAH. kee zah-KAHN-tee mee-YOHT leh-EESH. kee. ah-MAR-tee
yesh-LEE. TEEk-vah. gahm. hah-YEE-tee. hah-LAI-lah leh-EESH veh-GAHM. yah-LAHD-tee. bah-NEEM
Hah-lah-HAYN. teesh-BAYR-nah. ahd-ah-SHER. yeeg-dah-LOO. hah-lah-HAYN. tay-ah-GAY-nah
Leh-beel-TEE. heh-YOHT. leh-EESH. ahl beh-noh-TAI. kee. mahr-LEE. meh-OHD. mee-CHEM. Kee
Yah-Tseh-AH. bee. yahd. Yahweh
Return, my daughters. GO! Because I am too old from having to a husband .
If I will say have to me hope, also should I have tonight to husband, and also I will bear sons
Would for them you wait until which they were grown? Would you tie yourselves up from having husbands? No, my daughters. Because grief to me, very much, from you, because she has gone forth against me, the hand of Yahweh.
Here we see the third attempt to dissuade; if a potential convert persists through the 3rd attempt, then he or she is accepted into the Jewish faith. So, it is here that Naomi’s argument becomes even more impassioned. Since Levirate marriage would not apply to any of Naomi’s unborn sons, and since she was too old to bear besides, the younger women would be too old to bear when the sons reached the age of maturity, an age where they could marry them. The whole argument demonstrated the “impossibility” of trying to perpetuate Elimelech’s line through Naomi. Notice that Naomi had not yet absolutely forbidden the daughters-in-law to come with her. She used the Hebrew word “al”, translated “do not”, which is Hebrew leaves “wiggle room” and has a portion of “entreaty” in it. “Do not” leaves room for argument. Had she meant an absolute negation, a firm command, she would have used the Hebrew word “lo” which is often translated “Thou Shalt Not”, as it is seen in the 10 Commandments.
Naomi goes on to say that, while her situation appears hopeless, the future for the daughters-in-law need not be similarly futile. She also gives voice to the belief that God had turned against her, much as He had against Elimelech and the two sons.
The Jewish sages have a strong agreement that the phrase “grief/bitterness to me very much from you, because has gone forth to me the hand of Yahweh” should be interpreted that the hand of Yahweh had afflicted her because of the two Moabitesses, because her sons had married pagan women and these acts are what brought about their deaths.
Vs. 14
וַתִּשֶּׂ֣נָה קֹולָ֔ן וַתִּבְכֶּ֖ינָה עֹ֑וד וַתִּשַּׁ֤ק עָרְפָּה֙ לַחֲמֹותָ֔הּ וְר֖וּת דָּ֥בְקָה בָּֽהּ׃
Vah-tee-SEH-nah koh-LAHN. vah-teev-KEH-nah. ohd. vah-tee-SHAHK. ar-PAH. lah-kah-MOH-tahhh
Veh-ROOT. dahv-KAH. bahhhh
And they lifted up their voices and wept again, and she kissed (Orpah) to her mother-in-law, and Ruth clung to her.
More weeping ensued and it is here we see two opposing reactions from the DILs.
It was at this point that Orpah’s doubts came to fruition. It is here that she kisses Naomi goodbye and turns back to Moav. It was then Naomi realized the last tie to her son KilYON was lost to her forever. The name Orpah is derived from the word “oref”, which means “nape of the neck”. And, how do you see the nape of another’s neck? When they turn their back to you. This is not a scriptural interpretation I’m about to give. But, the Jewish sages recorded that after Orpah returned Moav she re-married and produced four very tall and mighty sons, giants even. Four of them were killed in battle by David or by some of his “mighty men”, an elite fighting force, and the last one, Goliath, was killed by David in the famous slingshot episode.
Shared about various instances of the number 14 in the Bible. {just over 58 minutes}
No comments:
Post a Comment