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which are sometimes quoted as proof to the contrary, are not in point, since they refer to
the marriage of Hebrews in the land of Israel, not to that of those resident outside its
boundaries (comp. Deuteronomy 7:3), and in the case of such marriages this is
evidently an important element.
And now tidings reached Moab, that "Jehovah had visited his people to give them
bread." Naomi heard in it a call to return to her own land and home. According to
eastern fashion, her daughters-in-law accompanied her on the way. When Naomi
deemed that duty of proper respect sufficiently discharged, she stopped to dismiss them
- as she delicately put it - to their "mother's" houses, with tenderly spoken prayer, that
after all their sorrow the God of Israel would give them rest in a new relationship, as
they had dealt lovingly both with the dead and with her. Closely examined, her words
are found to convey, although with most exquisite delicacy, that, if her daughters-in-law
went with her, they must expect to remain for ever homeless and strangers. She could
offer them no prospect of wedded happiness in her own family, and she wished to
convey to them, that no Israelite in his own land would ever wed a daughter of Moab. It
was a noble act of self-denial on the part of the aged Hebrew widow by this plain
speaking to strip herself of all remaining comfort, and to face the dark future, utterly
childless, alone, and helpless. And when one of them, Orpah, turned back, though with
bitter sorrow at the parting, Naomi had a yet more trying task before her. Ruth had,
indeed, fully understood her mother-in-law's meaning; but there was another sacrifice
which she must be prepared to make, if she followed Naomi. She must not only be
parted from her people, and give up for ever all worldly prospects, but she must also be
prepared to turn her back upon her ancestral religion. But Ruth had long made her
choice, and the words in which she intimated it have deservedly become almost
proverbial in the church. There is such ardor and earnestness about them, such
resolution and calmness, as to lift them far above the sphere of mere natural affection or
sense of duty. They intimate the deliberate choice of a heart which belongs in the first
place to Jehovah, the God of Israel (1:17), and which has learned to count all things but
loss for the excellency of this knowledge. Although the story of Ruth has been invested
with romance from its sequel, there is nothing romantic about her present resolve. Only
the sternest prose of poverty is before her. Not to speak of the exceedingly depressing
influence of her language (1:13, 20, 21), Naomi had been careful to take from her any
hope of a future, such as she had enjoyed in the past. In truth, the choice of Ruth is
wholly unaccountable, except on the ground that she felt herself in heart and by
conviction one of a Hebrew household - an Israelitish woman in soul and life, and that
although she should in a sense be disowned by those with whom she had resolved to
cast in her lot.
There was stir in the quiet little village of Bethlehem -especially among the women^327 -
when Naomi unexpectedly returned after her long absence, and that in so altered
circumstances. The lamentations of the widow herself made her even repudiate the old
(^)