I’m preparing to teach the book of Ruth for the first time.\u00a0 In fact, to even study it!\u00a0 I’m a bit confused as to why Naomi insisted that her daughters-in-law not go with her to her homeland in Judah when Moab was a land full of idolatry.\u00a0 If her daughters-in-law married men there, would they not be men who were not believers in the true God?<\/p>\n
Also, wasn’t it “Naomi” that when she saw how determined that\u00a0“Ruth”\u00a0was that she didn’t say another word.?\u00a0 (1:18)<\/p>\n
Were Naomi’s daughters-in-law sisters or sisters-in-law?<\/p>\n\t
While you are looking at it from a spiritual standpoint, I believe Naomi was at the time looking at matters from a financial viewpoint. Her husband had died along with her two sons. The reason she was returning is that there was food available there (Ruth 1:6). She told her daughters-in-law to return because she had nothing to offer them. She couldn’t offer them husbands, such as under the old custom of a widow being married to her dead husband’s brother, as she had no surviving children, she was too old to have children, and even if she could have more, it would be too long of a wait for two young women. It is not that she didn’t love them or that they didn’t love her, it was a simple fact that she had nothing. One sorrowfully left knowing that what Naomi said was true. The other, Ruth, didn’t care that Naomi couldn’t offer her anything; she was going anyway.<\/p>\n
Yes, if her daughters-in-law remained in Moab, they might not marry godly men as they had before. But they might not find any husband at all. But they would at least have their families there to support them. Still, Naomi couldn’t offer them prospective husbands in Israel and she would not be able to support them while they remained unmarried.<\/p>\n
Yes, when Naomi saw that Ruth could not be dissuaded she stopped trying to talk her out of coming to Israel with her.<\/p>\n
There is nothing in Ruth to indicate that Orpah and Ruth were sisters, so there is no reason to conclude such a relationship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I’m preparing to teach the book of Ruth for the first time.\u00a0 In fact, to even study it!\u00a0 I’m a bit confused as to why Naomi insisted that her daughters-in-law not go with her to her homeland in Judah when Moab was a land full of idolatry.\u00a0 If her daughters-in-law married men there, would…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-13435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-ruth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-naomi-related-to-obed-in-any-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":0},"title":"Was Naomi related to Obed in any way?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Naomi Obed's grandmother or even related to him in any way? Answer: Obed was the son born to Boaz and Ruth. Ruth was Naomi's widowed daughter-in-law. She had married Naomi's son who had died. Boaz married Ruth in part because he was a near kinsman to Ruth's husband.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58880,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-life-defined-by-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":1},"title":"A Life Defined by Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 16:13-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The story of Ruth is a popular love story from the Bible \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It isn\u2019t how most people see as a typical love story. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She doesn\u2019t go out searching for love but she eventually finds it anyway \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rather, we see the story\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-ruth-uncover-boazs-feet\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":2},"title":"Why did Ruth uncover Boaz’s feet?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Ruth uncover Boaz's feet? Answer: In the story of Ruth, Ruth worked in the fields as a charity case to supply food for her mother-in-law and herself. Ruth didn't realize it, but the field she selected was owned by a relative of her deceased father-in-law. Boaz spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32597,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-did-ruth-convert-to-judaism\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":3},"title":"When did Ruth convert to Judaism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Ruth converted to Judaism in the Book of Ruth? If yes, when did it happen? By the time she marries Mahlon, or by the time she follows Naomi to Bethlehem, or by the time she marries Boaz or none of the above? Answer: Ruth's decision to follow the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-raised-obed\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":4},"title":"Who raised Obed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just finished Ruth. In Ruth 4:16, it states,\u00a0\"Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse\".\u00a0 There is a footnote in the NASB that says the term, \"laid in her lap\" is an example of taking \"as her own\". So, did Naomi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ruth-a-woman-of-virtue\/","url_meta":{"origin":13435,"position":5},"title":"Ruth – A Woman of Virtue","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: Ruth 3:11 Defining Virtuous Brown Driver & Briggs - strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army Strong's - probably a force; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength Army 56x Man of valor 37x Host 29x Forces 14x Valiant 13x Strength 12x Riches 11x Wealth 10x Power 9x Substance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}