Ruth 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 1
Naomi in Moab. 1 Once back in the time of the judges[a] there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. 2 The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the plateau of Moab, 3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys[b] nor her husband.
6 She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the Lord had seen to his people’s needs[c] and given them food. 7 She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. On the road back to the land of Judah, 8 Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s house.[d] May the Lord show you the same kindness as you have shown to the deceased and to me. 9 (A)May the Lord guide each of you to find a husband and a home in which you will be at rest.” She kissed them good-bye, but they wept aloud, 10 crying, “No! We will go back with you, to your people.” 11 Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who could become your husbands?[e] 12 Go, my daughters, for I am too old to marry again. Even if I had any such hope, or if tonight I had a husband and were to bear sons, 13 would you wait for them and deprive yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters, my lot is too bitter for you, because the Lord has extended his hand against me.” 14 Again they wept aloud; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “See now,” she said, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!” 16 [f]But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you!
Wherever you go I will go,
wherever you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people
and your God, my God.
17 Where you die I will die,
and there be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!” 18 Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.
The Return to Bethlehem. 19 So they went on together until they reached Bethlehem. On their arrival there, the whole town was excited about them, and the women asked: “Can this be Naomi?” 20 (B)But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi [‘Sweet’]. Call me Mara [‘Bitter’], for the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 [g](C)I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me ‘Sweet,’ since the Lord has brought me to trial, and the Almighty has pronounced evil sentence on me.” 22 Thus it was that Naomi came back with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.[h]
Footnotes
- 1:1–2 Back in the time of the judges: the story looks back three generations before King David (4:17) into the time of the tribal confederation described in the Book of Judges. David’s Moabite connections are implied in 1 Sm 22:3–4. Bethlehem of Judah: Bethlehem, a town in which part of the Judean clan-division called Ephrathah lived; cf. 1 Chr 2:50–51; 4:4; Mi 5:1. Jos 19:15 mentions a different Bethlehem in the north. The plateau of Moab: on the east side of the Jordan valley rift, where the hills facing west get more rain, and where agricultural conditions differ from those in Judah. Ephrathites: a reminder of David’s origins; cf. Mi 5:1.
- 1:5 Boys: the way the storyteller chooses certain words as guides is shown here; “boy” will not appear again until 4:16.
- 1:6 Had seen to his people’s needs: lit., “had visited his people.”
- 1:8 Mother’s house: the women’s part of the home, but also perhaps the proper location for arranging marriage; Sg 3:4; 8:2; Gn 24:28. Kindness: Hebrew hesed. The powerful relationship term used here will recur in 2:20 and 3:10; kindness operates on both the divine-human and human-human level in Ruth.
- 1:11 Other sons…husbands: a reference to a customary practice known from Dt 25:5–10, levirate marriage, which assigns responsibility to the brother-in-law to produce heirs in order to perpetuate the name and hold the patrimonial land of a man who died childless. How far the responsibility extended beyond blood brothers is unclear; cf. Gn 38:8 and the upcoming scene in Ru 4:5–6. Naomi imagines the impossible: were she to have more sons they could take Ruth and Orpah as their wives.
- 1:16–17 Ruth’s adherence to her mother-in-law in 1:14 is now expressed in a profound oath of loyalty, culminating in a formulary found frequently in Samuel and Kings; cf. especially 1 Sm 20:13. Even death: burial in Naomi’s family tomb means that not even death will separate them.
- 1:21 Naomi’s despair is made clear by her play on the meaning of her name in v. 20 and now by her accusation, like that in many psalms and in Job, that God has acted harshly toward her. The language belongs to the realm of judicial proceedings. By crying out in this way, the faithful Israelite opens the door to change, since the cry assumes that God hears and will do something about such seemingly unjust circumstances.
- 1:22 Barley and wheat harvests come in succession, from as early as April–May into June–July; Dt 16:9–12 suggests that the grain harvest lasts about seven weeks. The time reference leads effectively to the next episode.
Рут 1
Библия, синодално издание
1 (A)В онова време, когато управляваха съдиите, настана глад в страната. И един човек от Витлеем Иудейски отиде да живее в Моавските поля заедно с жена си и двамата си сина.
2 (B)Името на тоя човек беше Елимелех, името на жена му – Ноемин, а двамата му синове се наричаха Махлон и Хилеон: те бяха ефратци от Витлеем Иудейски. И дойдоха в Моавските поля и останаха там.
3 Елимелех, мъжът на Ноемин, умря, и тя остана с двамата си сина.
4 (C)Те си взеха за жени моавки, – на едната името беше Орфа, а на другата – Рут; и живяха там около десет години.
5 Но сетне и двамата (ѝ сина), Махлон и Хилеон, умряха, и остана тая жена след двамата си сина и след мъжа си.
6 (D)Тогава тя се дигна със снахите си и се върна от Моавските поля, понеже бе чула в Моавските поля, че Бог посетил Своя народ и му дал хляб.
7 И тя тръгна от онова място, дето живееше, и двете ѝ снахи с нея. Когато вървяха по пътя, връщайки се в Иудейската земя,
8 (E)Ноемин каза на двете си снахи: идете, върнете се всяка в майчината си къща; нека Господ ви стори милост, според както сте постъпвали с покойните и с мене!
9 (F)Да ви даде Господ да намерите прибежище всяка в къщата на своя мъж! И ги целуна. Но те викнаха, та заплакаха
10 и казаха: не, ние ще се върнем с тебе при твоя народ.
11 А Ноемин рече: върнете се, дъщери мои; защо ще дойдете с мене? Нима имам още в утробата си синове, които да ви станат мъже?
12 върнете се, дъщери мои, идете си, защото аз съм вече стара и не мога да се омъжа; та и да кажех: „имам още надежда“, и дори тая нощ да бих се омъжила и сетне да бих родила синове,
13 ще можете ли чака, докле пораснат? Можете ли се удържа да се не омъжите? Не, дъщери мои, много ми е жално за вас, защото ръката Господня ме порази.
14 Те викнаха и пак заплакаха. И Орфа се прости със свекърва си (и се върна при народа си), а Рут остана с нея.
15 Ноемин рече (на Рут): ето, етърва ти се върна при народа си и при боговете си; върни се и ти след етърва си.
16 (G)Но Рут отговори: не ме принуждавай да те оставя и да се отделя от тебе; но където идеш ти, там ще дойда и аз, и дето живееш ти, там ще живея и аз; твоят народ ще бъде мой народ, и твоят Бог – мой Бог;
17 (H)и дето умреш ти, там и аз ще умра и ще бъда погребана; нека Господ ми стори това и това, и нещо повече да стори; само една смърт ще ме раздели от тебе.
18 Ноемин, като видя, че тя твърдо е решена да отиде с нея, престана да я придумва.
19 И вървяха те двете, докле стигнаха до Витлеем. Когато дойдоха във Витлеем, цял град се раздвижи поради тях, и казваха: тая ли е Ноемин?
20 (I)Тя им рече: не ме наричайте Ноемин[a], наричайте ме Мара[b], защото Вседържителят ми прати голяма горчивина;
21 (J)аз излязох оттука заможна, а Господ ме върна с празни ръце: защо ще ме наричате Ноемин, когато Господ ме накара да страдам, и Вседържителят ми прати нещастие?
22 И Ноемин се върна, а заедно с нея и снаха ѝ, моавката Рут, която дойде от Моавските поля; те пристигнаха във Витлеем, когато се бе наченала ечемичната жетва.
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