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Page 32
THE STORY OF RUTH, THE GLEANER
In the time of the Judges in Israel, a man named Elimelech was living in
the town of Bethlehem, in the tribe of Judah, about six miles south of
Jerusalem. His wife's name was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and
Chilion. For some years the crops were poor, and food was scarce in
Judah; and Elimelech with his family went to live in the land of Moab,
which was on the east of the Dead Sea, as Judah was on the west.
There they stayed ten years, and in that time Elimelech died. His two
sons married women of the country of Moab, one named Orpah, the other
named Ruth. But the two young men also died in the land of Moab; so that
Naomi and her two daughters-in-law were all left widows.
Naomi heard that God had again given good harvests and bread to the land
of Judah, and she rose up to go from Moab back to her own land and her
own town of Bethlehem. The two daughters-in-law loved her, and both
would have gone with her, though the land of Judah was a strange land to
them, for they were of the Moabite people.
Naomi said to them: "Go back, my daughters, to your own mothers' homes.
May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have been kind to your
husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you may yet find
another husband and a happy home."
Then Naomi kissed them in farewell, and the three women all wept
together. The two young widows said to her:
"You have been a good mother to us, and we will go with you, and live
among your people."
"No, no," said Naomi. "You are young, and I am old. Go back and be happy
among your own people."
Then Orpah kissed Naomi, and went back to her people; but Ruth would not
leave her. She said:
"Do not ask me to leave you, for I never will. Where you go, I will go;
where you live, I will live; your people shall be my people; and your
God shall be my God. Where you die, I will die, and be buried. Nothing
but death itself shall part you and me."
When Naomi saw that Ruth was firm in her purpose, she ceased trying to
persuade her; so the two women went on together. They walked around the
Dead Sea, and crossed the river Jordan, and climbed the mountains of
Judah, and came to Bethlehem.
Naomi had been absent from Bethlehem for ten years, but her friends
were all glad to see her again. They said:
"Is this Naomi, whom we knew years ago?"
Now the name Naomi means "pleasant." And Naomi said:
"Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Lord has made my life bitter.
I went out full, with my husband and two sons; now I come home empty,
without them. Do not call me 'Pleasant,' call me 'Bitter.'"
The name "Mara," by which Naomi wished to be called means "bitter." But
Naomi learned later that "Pleasant" was the right name after all.
There was living in Bethlehem at that time a very rich man named Boaz.
He owned large fields that were abundant in their harvests; and he was
related to the family of Elimelech, Naomi's husband, who had died.
It was the custom in Israel when they reaped the grain not to gather all
the stalks, but to leave some for the poor people, who followed after
the reapers with their sickles, and gathered what was left. When Naomi
and Ruth came to Bethlehem, it was the time of the barley harvest; and
Ruth went out into the fields to glean the grain which the reapers had
left. It so happened that she was gleaning in the field that belonged to
Boaz, this rich man.
Boaz came out from the town to see his men reaping, and he said to
them, "The Lord be with you"; and they answered him, "The Lord bless
you."
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